Oklahoma’s SEC arrival is already Alabama’s nightmare scenario

Twice in the past year, the Alabama Crimson Tide had the opportunity to compete for a national championship ripped away by the Oklahoma Sooners.

On Saturday, Alabama's softball season ended in Super Regionals with a loss to OU, and in the fall, it wasn't the Sooners directly shutting down the Crimson Tide's season, but it was ultimately their fault Alabama was left out of the College Football Playoff.

Sooners responsible for death of Alabama football and softball in first SEC year

The No. 2 Sooners demolished No. 15 Alabama 13-2 in Game 2 of Super Regionals in Norman to send the Crimson Tide back to Tuscaloosa while OU plans another short trip down the road to Oklahoma City for the Women's College World Series. OU also beat Bama 3-0 in Game 1 on Friday.

The losses ended Alabama's short two-year streak of making it to the WCWS, which was the second-longest active streak behind OU's, which was extended to nine.

During football season, an Alabama team with playoff aspirations waltzed into Norman expecting a bye against a struggling OU team just trying to reach bowl eligibility. Even in those circumstances, the Sooners again handled Bama 24-3 while passing for just 68 yards and forcing three turnovers.

Two weeks later, Alabama wasn't included in the first expanded 12-team College Football Playoff, and instead, the playoff committee deemed the SMU Mustangs more worthy. The committee ultimately couldn't let a team in that was just bulldozed by a 6-6 team just a few weeks before. The Sooners, meanwhile, reached bowl eligibility and got to extend their season with the win.

Both times, the Crimson Tide got the Sooners at what was supposed to be their lowest and weakest in decades. The OU softball team rebuilt nearly its entire roster from last year and the inexperienced squad was supposed to slip up. The OU football team was nearing the end of one of its worst seasons ever and fighting to keep a 25-year bowl streak going. Yet, Alabama still choked and let the Sooners reach more postseason glory both times.

And Sooner Nation won't dare let Alabama forget about it during OU's first year in the SEC.

OU's softball team scored more than Alabama's football team by the way. Two more possessions more, in fact. Even Bama's softball team, while getting run-ruled, almost outscored its football team.

Read more about the better Crimson team