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Jake Trotter, ESPN staff writer
Oklahoma has won the past three Women’s College World Series. But rival Texas Red River on Sunday earned a No. 1 seed in the 2024 NCAA softball tournament for the first time in program history.
The Sooners (49-6) defeated the Longhorns 5-1 on Saturday night to win their ninth Big 12 tournament title. But Texas (47-7) captured the Big 12 regular season crown in its final year as a member of the conference, highlighted by its series win over Oklahoma in early April.
Oklahoma is seeded second. SEC regular season champion Tennessee earned the No. 3 overall seed, followed by No. 4 Florida, which won the SEC Tournament title.
No. 5 Oklahoma State, No. 6 UCLA, No. 7 Missouri State and No. 8 Stanford make the top eight, all of which will host major regional competitions if they advance from next weekend’s opening round.
Texas finished the regular season with 16 straight wins, a streak that began with two victories over Oklahoma. But the Sooners made a late push for the top seed for the fifth straight year. Oklahoma left-hander Kelly Maxwell shut down a powerful Texas lineup in the Big 12 Tournament title game, striking out seven while giving up just two hits over 5⅓ innings.
The committee ultimately evaluated the Longhorns’ work group further.
“Texas was always a No. 1 seed,” selection committee chairman Curt McGuffin said during Sunday’s selection presentation. McGuffin added that the Longhorns’ national-best 16 wins against top-25 opponents helped sway the committee.
Texas is led by Rhys Atwood, who leads the country with 86 RBIs. She is batting .427 with 22 home runs.
The Longhorns (.383) and Sooners (.367) are No. 1 and 2 in the nation in batting average. McGuffin noted that Texas and Oklahoma were in first and second place.
Texas will host Siena, along with Northwestern and St. Francis (Pa.) in its regional.
Oklahoma regionals will include Cleveland, Oregon State and Boston.
Tennessee will face Dayton, Virginia, and Miami (Ohio), which leads the country with 157 points, at home.
The remaining 16 seeds went to No. 9 LSU, No. 10 Duke, No. 11 Georgia, No. 12 Arkansas, No. 13 Louisiana, No. 14 Alabama, No. 15 Florida State, and No. 16 Texas A&M, which finished third in the SEC standings. .
Bracket is set! 🥎
👉 https://t.co/lFjn81afj4#RoadtoWCWS pic.twitter.com/PcVMxDcxkB
– National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAASoftball) May 12, 2024
Among the top 16 seeds, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Oklahoma State, Stanford, Alabama and defending national runner-up Florida State advanced to the WCWS last year.
The SEC has seeded the field with half of the top 16 seeds, excluding Texas and Oklahoma, which will join the conference next season.
BYU, Louisville, Texas Tech and Wichita State were the top four exits from the tournament, according to ESPN’s pick show.
Regional matches begin on Friday, and major regional matches are scheduled for May 23-26. The Women’s College World Series begins May 30 in Oklahoma City, with the finals June 5-7.
