Oklahoma softball: Sooners earn No. 2 overall seed in 2024 NCAA Championship
By Chip Rouse
The three-time defending national champion Oklahoma softball team has been the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Softball Championship each of the last three seasons, but this year they enter the postseason as the No. 2 seed.
The Sooners are making their 31st consecutive appearance in the NCAA Softball Championship and 28th as a member of the Big 12. OU has made the NCAA Tournament in every season that Patty Gasso has been head coach.
Oklahoma was hoping to regain the No. 1 seed as a result of beating Texas in the Big 12 Championship, but NCAA Selection Committee chairman Kurt McGuffin said the committee has constantly ranked Texas as the No. 1 seed.
The Longhorns have 16 top-25 wins this season, McGuffin said, and he also cited their difficult nonconference schedule. Oklahoma has nine top-25 wins.
Oklahoma is one of the regional host sites. The Norman Regional will include Cleveland State (22-24), the Sooners opening round opponent on Friday night at Love's Field, Boston University (52-4, champions of the Patriot League and Oregon ( 28-19) out of the Pac-12 in the double elimination tournament.
No. 1 Texas, No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 5 Oklahoma State captured three of the top-five overall seeds and were three of the five Big 12 teams that made the 64-team tournament field (Baylor and UCF are the others). All three will serve as regional and super regional host sites as long as they advance in the tournament.
By contrast, all 13 teams from the SEC, where Oklahoma and Texas are heading after this season, made the NCAA Tournament field and eight are top-16 national seeds.