Oklahoma has won the last three Women's College World Series championships. But its rival from Red River, Texas, received the first overall seed in the 2024 NCAA softball tournament on Sunday for the first time in program history.
The Sooners (49-6) defeated the Longhorns 5-1 on Saturday night to win their ninth Big 12 tournament title. But Texas (47-7) captured the Big 12 regular-season crown in its last year as a member of the conference, highlighted by a series victory over Oklahoma in early April.
Oklahoma is in second place. SEC regular-season champion Tennessee earned the No. 3 overall seed, followed by No. 4 Florida, which won the SEC tournament title.
No. 5 Oklahoma State, No. 6 UCLA, No. 7 Missouri and No. 8 Stanford round out the top eight, all of which will host super regionals if they advance from the first round next weekend.
Texas finished the regular season with 16 consecutive wins, a streak that began with a pair of wins over Oklahoma. But the Sooners made a late push for the No. 1 spot for the fifth straight year. Oklahoma left-handed pitcher Kelly Maxwell shut down Texas' powerful lineup in the Big 12 tournament title game, striking out seven and allowing just two hits in 5â…“ innings.
Ultimately, the committee valued the Longhorns' overall work more.
“We consistently had Texas ranked number one,” selection committee chairman Kurt McGuffin said during Sunday's selection show. McGuffin added that the Longhorns' national-best 16 wins against top-25 opponents helped sway the committee.
Texas is led by Reese Atwood, who leads the country with 86 RBIs. He is hitting .427 with 22 home runs.
The Longhorns (.383) and Sooners (.367) are Nos. 1 and 2 in the country in batting average. McGuffin noted that Texas and Oklahoma were the top two finishers.
Texas will host Siena, along with Northwestern and Saint Francis (Pa.) in its regional.
The Oklahoma regional will include Cleveland State, Oregon and Boston.
Tennessee will face Dayton, Virginia and Miami (Ohio), which leads the country with 157 home runs.
The remaining top 16 seeds went to No. 9 LSU, No. 10 Duke, No. 11 Georgia, No. 12 Arkansas, No. 13 Louisiana, No. 14 Alabama, No. 15 Florida State and No. 16 Texas A&M, which finished third in the SEC standings.
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Of the top 16 seeds, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Oklahoma State, Stanford, Alabama and defending national runner-up Florida State advanced to the WCWS last year.
The SEC led the field with half of the top 16 finishers, not including Texas and Oklahoma, which will join the conference next season.
BYU, Louisville, Texas Tech and Wichita State were the first four out of the tournament, according to ESPN's selection program.
Regionals begin Friday and super regionals are scheduled for May 23-26. The Women's College World Series begins May 30 in Oklahoma City and the finals will be played June 5-7.
