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OU-Texas softball at the Cotton Bowl? Patty Gasso says 'I wanna do it'

Bob Przybyloby:Bob Przybylo•04/27/25•

BPrzybylo

Cotton Bowl
OU-Texas Cotton Bowl. (Sarah Phipps - Imagn Images)

OU and Texas softball are all about breaking records. There is something special that happens when it’s the Sooners and the Longhorns.

Two years ago at Devon Park, the duo set the single-game NCAA record for attendance. That has since been eclipsed by OU-Oklahoma State earlier this month and then Stanford-Cal played at Stanford Stadium last week as the renovations continue for the Cardinal. That reached 13,207 fans for a single game.

This weekend? OU-Texas set the single-game and series record for Love’s Field. OK, Love’s Field is only in its second year of existence, but there was a different energy in Norman all weekend. It was 4,609 on Sunday and 13,734 for the weekend.

Let’s dream bigger, then. It’s OU and Texas. Where have we seen a neutral site work before with the Red River Rivalry? Yea, you don’t have to think too long or hard about that one.

Let’s go to Dallas, the Cotton Bowl.

“I love it. I got a text from the head coach at Ohio State that said we want to create an atmosphere and want you to come play us at Ohio State,” said OU head coach Patty Gasso on Sunday afternoon. “At Ohio State. I don’t know. The Shoe? Is that what you call it? I don’t know the dimensions or anything but we would do it in a heartbeat.

“We would love to do it here but I know that it does take some work to make that happen, just doesn’t fit right. But if we could do the Cotton Bowl, we could go to Ohio State, we could do wherever if it is going to help this sport grow, which it will, that would be … I’ve had some amazing moments. Like Love’s, where we’re sitting right now, is surreal still, But I don’t wanna stop.”

OU swept the higher-ranked Horns this weekend, winning two tight one-run battles, 7-6 on Friday and a 9-8 wild one Sunday.

You want to grow the game? The Sooners and Longhorns are there to help and have been.

“They don’t wanna stop. That’s our job, is to help push this sport. And pro is moving now. The AUSL, the golden ticket, MLB has supported that now. There’s money coming to players, more money, it’s really an exciting time for our sport … The Cotton Bowl.”

Who knows what that might look like? A single game? Three-game set? OU and Texas have played in the Women’s College World Series championship series in two of the last three seasons. OU, of course, has won both of those on its way to four in a row.

What could a conference series, after all, in Dallas do for the programs? For the sport? 

“I don’t know,” Gasso said. “You’d probably want to play at least maybe a double-header. I don’t know, I don’t know. But I wanna do it.”

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