OU Softball: Oklahoma Vying for Top Seed in NCAA Tournament on Selection Sunday

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma closed its final Big 12 Tournament in familiar fashion.

A crimson-clad crowd raised to its feet to cheer on OU pitcher Nicole May, who doused any Texas hopes of a late rally. 

The Sooners won the last Big 12 Tournament they’ll ever compete in, erasing the bad taste of a regular season series defeat at the hands of the No. 1 Longhorns, with a 5-1 victory in Oklahoma City on Saturday. 

The result was less a surprise and more a reminder. 

Oklahoma has won three-straight national titles, and champions never go down with throwing a flurry of punches. 

One trophy is coming back to Love’s Field. Now the Sooners will being their quest for the ultimate prize. 

Patty Gasso’s team won’t have to stress on Selection Sunday. 

How to Watch the NCAA Softball Tournament Selection Show

What: NCAA Tournament Selection Show
Time: 6 p.m.
Channel: ESPN2

The Sooners will host a Regional next weekend at Love’s Field, and a Super Regional after that should they win. 

But there is one piece of intrigue to be settled as the entire tournament field is revealed at 6 p.m. on ESPN — who will be the No. 1-overall seed?

The No. 4-ranked Sooners entered the weekend second in the country in RPI. Texas was first. 

Notching one more victory over the Longhorns, and leveling the season series at 2-2 in the process, won’t shift the metrics much.

For Gasso’s money, she was pessimistic the result of the Big 12 title game mattered much either. 

“I think it's already written right now,” Gasso said on Saturday night. “I don't know. We played really well and so hopefully people saw it and if it gets us No. 1, great.”

There’s not much to separate Oklahoma and Texas’ resumes. 

The Longhorns finished as the Big 12 regular season champions, snapping OU’s 11-year reign. 

Just like Oklahoma, Texas lost to Oklahoma State. 

The Sooners’ other loss in league play came at the hands of BYU while Texas’ lone other defeat came to Houston. 

Texas finished 30-6 in Quad 1 games to OU’s 29-6. 

OU was a perfect 11-0 in Quad 2 games to Texas’ 8-1. 

The Sooners ended up 4-0 in Quad 3 contests and 5-0 in Quad 4 matchups while Texas was just 1-0 in Quad 3 games and 8-0 in Quad 4 contests. 

Mike White’s Longhorns ended with the fifth-best non-conference strength of schedule, which he pointed to as a strength of his team’s case. 

“You just never know,” White said on Saturday night. “… There’s always the human factor behind the doors that you don’t know quite what they’re gonna do. But you look at the volume of work. 

“It’s truly about the volume of work throughout the year with our ranking in RPI, No. 1, throughout the season… It’d be tough not to put us in the top three or four for sure.”

OU’s non-conference strength of schedule ranks 29th. 

Overall, Texas ended with the fourth-best strength of schedule and Oklahoma finished 16th. 

Duke, who ended third in RPI after taking down Florida State in the ACC Tournament title, Tennessee and LSU round out the top five in RPI headed into the bracket release. 

Ultimately, the Sooners are sitting in a comfortable spot as they prepare to host their first postseason games at Love’s Field this weekend. 

“It really doesn't matter right now,” Gasso said. “I mean, if we're in the top three or four, I think we're happy with that.”