Postseason positioning up for grabs at Big 12 Tournament
May 7—Softball postseason returns this weekend, but a late slump has had an effect on the excitement coming out of Norman, and also many other teams around the country.
Three-time defending national champion Oklahoma hasn't looked as indestructible as it has over the past four seasons. The Sooners have lost five of their last 16 games and have four losses in six combined games against Texas and Oklahoma State.
A rematch with one or both of those teams could be on the horizon if they can advance past their first game.
Now ranked fourth in most major polls, it seems unlikely that the Sooners would be able to do anything this weekend at the Big 12 Tournament to continue their streak of earning the No. 1 overall seed.
Still, this weekend will likely have an effect on where the Sooners are seeded for the NCAA Tournament.
Even with their recent struggles, it seems likely the Sooners will be in line to host an NCAA Regional and Super Regional, but that's not guaranteed.
The Division I Softball Committee picks 16 teams out of the 64 teams in the NCAA Tournament field as national seeds. Most of the time these teams earn the opportunity to host a regional.
Similarly, the top eight national seeds are likely to host an NCAA Super Regional if they advance.
Oklahoma has been the No. 1 national seed five times in program history and has hosted a regional in Norman every year since 2011. It has also hosted a Super Regional every season since 2018.
In 2018 it hosted a Super Regional as a No. 7 national seed.
Oklahoma is currently No. 2 nationally in RPI and has the second most wins of any team in the country. The seedings will be released 6 p.m. Sunday on ESPN2.
Oklahoma State is currently eighth in RPI, but will almost certainly be seeded higher than their RPI. Texas is No. 1 in RPI and the national polls and is the favorite to secure the top overall national seed.
The teams just outside the top eight in RPI (Missouri, UCLA, Louisiana and Florida) all have four or more losses than the Sooners and would be a longshot to overtake them. Still, the Sooners could remove a lot of uncertainty with a strong showing at the Big 12 Tournament this weekend.
Tarik Masri is the sports editor for The Transcript covering OU athletics and area sports. You can reach him by emailing tarik@normantranscript.com
