Oklahoma Sooners get No. 1 overall seed in NCAA softball tournament - ESPN

Oklahoma, which has won the past two Women's College World Series and is the overwhelming favorite to do it again this season, received the No. 1 overall seed in the 2023 NCAA softball tournament on Sunday.

The Sooners dispatched Texas with ease on Saturday to capture the Big 12 championship and move to 51-1 on the season, and there was no question who'd land the No. 1 overall spot when the seedings were announced for regionals on Sunday.

The real drama with Sunday's tournament announcement was whether there's anyone in the crowd of 64 teams capable of elbowing Oklahoma off the throne.

UCLA, which scored a win over Oklahoma in last year's World Series, captured the No. 2 overall seed. After that, four teams that were stunned in last year's regionals — Florida State, Tennessee, Alabama and Washington — all landed high seeds in 2023.

Florida State got the No. 3 seed, followed by No. 4 Tennessee, No. 5 Alabama, No. 6 Oklahoma State, No. 7 Washington and No. 8 Duke to round out the top half of the seeds.

«The committee had to look at a lot of really good teams with good résumés, especially for the top eight,» selection committee chair Kelly Gatwood said on the selection show. «We really had to dig deep and look at top-10 wins that would help us differentiate.»

Oklahoma will host Hofstra in its opener this weekend, with Missouri and Cal joining them in the Norman regional. Should the Sooners win out en route to a third straight title, they would set the NCAA mark for winning percentage.

«We have a very balanced lineup and a balanced team,» Sooners coach Patty Gasso said during the selection show. «It's consistency, grit, hard work, clutch — all those things you need in the postseason.»

Oklahoma's lone defeat came on Feb. 18