Tramel's ScissorTales: Big 12 softball fortified by Arizona State, Arizona & Utah
When OU and Texas declared for the Southeastern Conference in July 2021, OSU softball seemed headed for an island.
Big 12 softball, bouyed by three marquee programs, would be down to one. The Cowgirls figured to dominate, but would that help come the postseason? Would that help in OSU’s mission to remain a Women’s College World Series regular?
We won’t have to find out.
Last week, the Big 12 added Arizona, Utah and Arizona State, all for the 2024 season.
Arizona, with eight NCAA championships, is a blueblood by any definition.
And then there's Utah, which made the 2023 WCWS field.
Arizona State, which won NCAA titles in 2008 and 2011, reached the WCWS as recently as 2018 and made a Super Regional in 2022.
Suddenly, Big 12 softball is not only stable, but deep at the top.
More: What do Arizona, Arizona State and Utah bring to the Big 12 table? Lots of tasty morsels
“I think it’s great,” OSU coach Kenny Gajewski said. “We want to be the most competitive conference we can be in, to prepare us for what the postseason brings.”
“We’re obviously losing two good programs, but we’re gaining, with the newest expansion, three really good teams. World-Series caliber teams.”
The Big 12 now has three of the top seven softball schools in terms of all-time WCWS appearances: Arizona (second, with 29), Arizona State (third, 19) and OSU (tied for fifth, 15).
Plus Utah. And Baylor, which has four WCWS appearances in the last 16 seasons. And Central Florida, which made a Super Regional in 2022. And Brigham Young, which had made 16 straight NCAA Tournaments before missing out on the last two.
“A lot of positives in this,” Gajewski said. “We’ll adjust. The biggest thing is we’re still relevant in a big way.”
Travel will be more difficult for OSU, which has been busing to all Big 12 games. The farthest trip has been Iowa State (545 miles). Now the Cowgirls must fly to two Arizona schools, two Utah schools and Orlando.
Another bummer: the conference will have 11 softball schools, meaning off weeks will be implemented into the league schedule.
A full round-robin schedule isn’t practical – it would require at least 11 weeks, meaning conference play would start in February. Doesn’t work for a league that has teams in Salt Lake City; Provo, Utah; Ames, Iowa; Lawrence, Kansas, and Stillwater.
More: Tramel's ScissorTales: Expect Greg Sankey to reopen 12-team College Football Playoff plan
An eight-game conference schedule, with games beginning in early March, is the likely result.
Small prices to pay for a conference that has been fortified.
“We just need to have enough (quality) teams that give us a legitimate league,” Gajewski said. “We’ve been the No. 2 or No. 3 RPI conference every year. That’s saying a lot. We don’t want to lose that.
“In the end, that has a lot of weight when they’re seeding in the postseason.”
Especially adding Arizona and Arizona State.
Arizona has played two seasons under coach Caitlin Lowe-Nagy, who succeeded the legendary Mike Candrea.
Arizona State is fighting the effects of constant coaching changes. Clint Myers coached the Sun Devils to two NCAA titles, but since he left for Auburn after the 2013 season, ASU is on its fifth coach. Trisha Ford was the most successful, going 212-89 from 2017-22, but she was hired away by Texas A&M.
Megan Bartlett coached the Sun Devils to a 22-26 record last season.
"Arizona State’s been down the last three or four years,” Gajewski said. “But they do have history and legacy. When you have that, it does create opportunity, like we have here at OSU. Arizona is the No. 1 or No. 2 program of all time.
“They both have the potential to be able to recruit and attract kids. Both those teams are still very relevant, they’re very good, and they’re both on the up.”
More: Tramel's ScissorTales: Is Big 12 football poised to take over 'Pac-12 After Dark' series?
Will college football games be shorter?
A timing staple of college football – the clock continuing to run after a first down – is changing. Only in the final two minutes of each half will the clock stop after a first down.
How much will that shorten games? By timing, not much. Maybe a couple of minutes. By plays, maybe 4-5 a game.
“Obviously there’s going to be fewer plays in the game,” Brent Venables said. “And the way some of these offenses run, they can’t possibly run more plays. So, there’s going to be less plays.
“If you’re an offensive guy, you think, well, that’s less opportunities to score. And if you’re defense that’s less plays you’ve got to defend.”
Reducing game times could produce more upsets. The longer the game, the more likely the superior teams wins out. Bigger, stronger, faster.
The changes were made for two reasons: 1) Help games better fit into television windows, and 2) Create the appearance of enhanced safety.
With the expanded College Football Playoff set in 2024 to create a longer season, the NCAA will embrace whatever it can to appear to make the game safer.
“There’s less plays, less opportunity for impact, and things like that,” Venables said. “Maybe it’s good for the players.”
College football has embraced uptempo offenses, especially compared to the National Football League. OU offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby deploys one of the nation’s most extreme hurryup offenses.
“If you watch one of those XFL games or the NFL, things look like they’re playing in slow motion,” Venables said. “I mean, there’s plenty of teams in the NFL that work at a tempo pace at times and a few that are working really fast a lot.
“But by and large, you see a shortened game other than that 60-play range. I don’t even know what the XFL is like. You turn it on and you go get a coke and popcorn, the next thing you know it’s the last drive of the game. It’s kind of fun, it happens quick and fast, but I don’t see a tremendous… We’ll see after going through it for a season, what needs to take place.”
More: Tramel: Big 12 adds stability, another football threat with Utah in conference realignment
The List: Big 12 recruiting
The class-of-2024 football recruiting rankings are quite interesting for the soon-to-be 16-member Big 12.
Recruiting rankings are tilted towards big brands – players who are committed to or have signed with national powers routinely are upgraded, and the same with Southeastern Conference recruits – so the national rankings aren’t particularly relevant. But the intraconference rankings for the 16 members are fascinating.
Here are the current 247 rankings for the future Big 12:
1. Central Florida: 17 commitments — nine 4-stars, 8 3-stars, ranked 25th nationally.
2. Arizona: One 5-star, two 4-stars and 16 overall commitments, ranked 31st.
3. Texas Tech: Four 4-stars among 16 commitments, ranked 33rd nationally
4. Cincinnati: 19 overall commitments, but 17 3-stars, ranked 39th overall.
5. West Virginia: 18 commitments, all 3-stars, ranked 42nd.
6. Kansas: 15 commitments, 3 4-stars, ranked 44th.
7. Arizona State: 15 commitments, all 3-stars, ranked 46th.
8. Texas Christian: Five 4-stars among its 12 commitments, ranked 48th.
9. Iowa State: All 16 commitments are 3-stars, ranked 52nd.
10. Oklahoma State: All 11 commitments are 3-stars, ranked 58th.
11. Baylor: All 11 commitments are 3-stars, ranked 58th.
12. Colorado: Only eight commitments, but three are 4-stars; ranked 63rd.
13. Utah: Same as Colorado; three 4-stars among the eight commitments. Ranked 67th.
14. Brigham Young: Ten commitments, with one 4-star; ranked 68th.
15. Kansas State: Only seven commitments, all 3-stars; ranked 72nd.
16. Houston: One 4-star among its seven commitments; ranked 75th.
More: Tramel's ScissorTales: Pac-12 commissioner didn't follow Bob Bowlsby's Big 12 blueprint
Mailbag: Pac-12 demise
The Pac-12 demise has plenty of readers trying to determine what happened.
Richard: “Do you think time zone had a contributing factor in the demise of the Pac-12? Football viewership is based in Eastern and Central time zones. By the time Pac-12 games kick off, everyone is done watching. Players have left the West for the East. They recognize that the best ball is played in the eastern half of the country or at the very least the best TV slots are East. Is it a perception thing because games are on so late, no one watches or are they just not as good due to exodus of top players?”
Tramel: The late time slots don't help in terms of marketing and profile, but they don’t hurt in the television contract. In some ways, they enhance the Pac-12's value, because of the late-night slot.
And the Pac was hurt by no games in the early window. The day kicks off with all kinds of games, with none of them involving the Pac-12 – the league even tried a Southern Cal-Arizona State 9 a.m. kickoff (California time) a few years ago.
In the end, the Pac-12 was hurt by profile and marketing. Things out West sometimes are overlooked because of the time difference. It takes a Lakers or a Warriors to overcome such a weight.
Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Big 12 softball fortified by Pac-12 schools Arizona, Utah, Arizona St.
