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Is No. 1 overall seed at stake for OU softball in SEC Tournament?

Bob Przybyloby:Bob Przybylo•05/06/25•

BPrzybylo

Nelly McEnroeMarinas3
OU RS freshman Nelly McEnroe-Marinas. (Nathan J. Fish - Imagn Images)

We’ve said welcome to the SEC quite a few times when it comes to OU, but it remains relevant and appropriate with the SEC Tournament for softball.

To put it in perspective. LSU is No. 4 in the RPI, and the No. 9 seed in the five-day event that begins Tuesday in Athens, Ga.

The Tigers are four, and OU is No. 5. Yes, No. 5 for the regular season conference champions. The Sooners, in their initial foray into the beast, did what was necessary to earn another title.

But it’s not the best weekend to be coming off of. After taking the initial game at Florida, OU dropped the next two. The Sooners clinched the title because Tennessee beat Texas A&M, but not actually because of anything OU did.

That brings us to what should be an insane five days in Georgia. And hopefully the weather cooperates the entire stretch.

Get ready for wonkiness, period. Don’t be surprised if you get something like a No. 4 seed vs. a No. 6 seed in the championship. In this scenario, that would be a No. 4 Tennessee vs. No. 6 Florida. That’s how strong, how deep this bracket is.

And because it’s just a one-game deal, look out. No double-elimination. No best two-of-three. One game, better get it right.

OU is one of the four teams to get the double bye (No. 2 A&M, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Tennessee), so they get the rest but also don’t have a clue who their opponent is.

Patty Gasso and company will get ready for either Mississippi State or LSU in the 8 vs. 9 matchup. OU swept the Bulldogs at Love’s Field less than three weeks ago.

Despite playing a who’s who in the league, OU did not play LSU or A&M. So if you’re looking at something to maybe earn or prove, that could be it.

RPI loves the Aggies at No. 1, followed by Florida, Florida State, LSU and OU. You could earn the title by beating No. 1 or No. 2 or No. 4 in that metric. Not bad.

The Sooners will have to find that magic in the circle again. It was a rough weekend in Gainesville for Sam Landry, Kierston Deal and Isabella Smith.

Landry has been gritty but hasn’t dominated. Deal has had two sensational performances in Norman (vs. Tennessee, vs. Texas) and looked incredibly ordinary away from Oklahoma.

Ella Parker has found her groove again. She has hit a home run in four of the last five games and is smoking the ball each time she makes contact.

Top 8 seeds

*OU
*Texas A&M
*Texas
*Tennessee
*Arkansas
*Florida
*South Carolina
*Mississippi State

To put that in perspective even more, the fifth-seeded Razorbacks are No. 1 in the latest Softball America poll released Monday morning. Other SEC teams in the top 10? No. 2 A&M, No. 4 OU, No. 5 Tennessee, No. 6 Texas, No. 7 Florida.

It just never stops. And that’s why, as they love to say, it just means more. OU is set for a 10 a.m. first pitch Thursday against the Bulldogs or Tigers.

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