The No. 2 Oklahoma Sooners are destined to be No. 1 in college softball again when a new set of national rankings are released after taking two of three games from No. 4 Texas this weekend in Austin in what was considered OU's first real challenge of the season so far.
The Sooners were one swing away from a sweep after taking the first two games of the series on Friday and Saturday. On the same day OU clinched the series with a 4-3 win Saturday night, No. 1 Texas Tech was shut out by unranked Utah 4-0, ultimately locking in the Sooners having No. 1 next to their name for the first time 10 weeks into the season, no matter what transpired on Sunday.
Oklahoma destined for top spot in national rankings after Red River Rivalry series win
Texas squandered a lead and nearly handed the Sooners the sweep on Sunday after OU's Gabbie Garcia hit a two-run homer in the top of the seventh to push the game to extras tied 5-5. Kai Minor then singled in Sydney Barker in the top of the eighth to give OU a slim 6-5 lead. Texas, though, won the battle with a walk-off two-run shot from Katie Stewart, but by that point, the Sooners had already won the war and made their case to be college softball's top team.
The Sooners were considered unproven with a lackluster schedule after facing some of the worst competition the SEC had to offer so far. OU absolutely dominated that weak slate other than one loss to LSU and was on a historic pace offensively, but college softball fans believed, or at least hoped, the Red River Rivalry would be a reality check for the Sooners. But these Sooners are unrealistic, and that's the real reality.
Texas was preseason No. 1 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll, but after just one week of the season, Texas Tech took the top spot after the Longhorns lost to Nebraska in the third game of the season. It was then Tennessee at No. 1 in Week 2, and the Vols held firm until crashing hard when SEC play began Week 7. Texas then got No. 1 again, but a series loss to Alabama had the rankings once again go in the order from Texas to Texas Tech as the No. 1 team.
During all that, the Sooners, at 40-4, held steady as a weak schedule and lack of a statement win kept voters from bumping them up. There is no doubt now, though. National voters might have prolonged the result, but it was inevitable the Sooners would end up here.