No big surprise, Sooner softball voted No. 1 in 2024 Big 12 Preseason Poll
By Chip Rouse
After being voted the top team in the country to begin by both USA Softball and D1Softball to begin the 2024 season, it seems anticlimatic that the Sooner softball team would be picked to finish first in the Big 12
The three-time defending national champions received all nine of the available first-place votes in the preseason poll conducted by the league coaches. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team. It was the third consecutive year that Oklahoma was the unanimous No. 1 pick.
This is the 15th time in the past 16 years and 12th consecutive year that Oklahoma has been voted No. 1 in the conference's preseason poll. The Sooners garnered all 81 available points (10 for first, 9 for second, etc.). Texas was second with 73 points, Oklahoma State third (62) points and Baylor fourth (59 points)
Three new schools with softball programs join the Big 12 this season. UCF was picked fifth, BYU seventh and Houston 10th.
The Sooners were 61-1 last season and enter the 2024 season riding an NCAA record 53-game winning streak. They are 121-4 against Big 12 opponents since the 2016 season and have not lost a Big12 weekend series since 2011. OU returns four first-team All-Big 12 selections from last season's national championship squad (outfielder Jayda Coleman, infielder Tiare Jennings, catcher Kinzie Hansen and pitcher Nicole May) that was first in NCAA Division I softball in multiple statistical categories.
Oklahoma has won 23 Big 12 titles (15 regular season and eight Big 12 Tournament championships, all under head coach Patty Gasso, who is in her 30th season at OU. The Sooners are seven-time national champions and have been to the NCAA Tournament every season under Gasso.
Big 12 Preseason Softball Poll
1. Oklahoma (9 first-place votes, 81 points)
2. Texas (1 first-place vote, 73 points)
3. Oklahoma State (62 points)
4. Baylor (59 points)
5. UCF (48 points)
6. Texas Tech (35 points)
7. BYU (28 points)
8. Kansas (27 points)
9. Iowa State (20 points)
10. Houston (17 points)