The SEC just means more... than one champion.
The Oklahoma Sooners and Texas A&M Aggies were deemed co-champions of the SEC Softball Tournament after Saturday's final was ultimately canceled because of weather. However, in the eyes of the NCAA, the Sooners are champions and will receive the SEC's automatic bid for the NCAA Softball Championship since they were regular-season champions and the top seed.
Sooners, Texas A&M named co-champs after canceling SEC Softball Tournament because of weather
The chaos came after on Friday evening the original start time was already moved forward from 4 p.m. CT to noon for Saturday. That also moved the game from a slot on ESPN to SEC Network. Even with the game set to start four hours earlier, it still never even got going because there was a weather delay before first pitch.
After about only two hours, the SEC announced the Sooners and Aggies as co-champs. Inclement weather was expected in Athens, Georgia, throughout the rest of the day and selections for the NCAA tournament will be at 6 p.m. CT Sunday on ESPN2.
However, it is fair to argue that it was still worth trying to play the game later Saturday or early Sunday since there was a title on the line. Neither team really wants the bragging rights of "co-champ."
The Sooners will likely make out the best from the situation, though. OU and Texas A&M would have battled for not only the SEC crown, but also probably the top overall seed in the NCAA Softball Championship.
The two teams hadn't played yet this season, but with the Sooners being regular-season champions and getting the step above the Aggies, they should earn the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA Softball Championship.
The No. 1 team in the SEC should also be considered the No. 1 team in the country since it's by far the toughest conference in college softball. The top six seeds in the SEC Softball Tournament were ranked No. 1 at some point this season.
The odd outcome matches last weekend when the Sooners again were named champions while not even on the field. OU lost two of three to Florida, but still clinched the regular-season crown before Game 2 of the series started because of the outcome in a series between Texas A&M and Tennessee.
The Sooners accomplished all this in their first season in the SEC after leaving the Big 12 last summer.
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