Oklahoma finds itself in a very peculiar position.
The Sooners go into this week’s Big 12 tournament in Oklahoma City as the No. 2 team in the nation. They trail only Tennessee in the polls and finished with the best overall record in the conference (49-6).
But OU finds itself the No. 2 seed in the tournament, which begins today at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium. The Sooners finished 14-4 in Big 12 play. Baylor, No. 5 in the rankings, finished 14-3, edging OU for the regular-season championship despite being swept by the Sooners in Norman.
“It’s disappointing that we didn’t win the conference championship,” OU senior outfielder Jamie Fox said. “But give Baylor credit. They had a great season. We can’t look back on that, dwell on that. We have to be ready to do what we need to do in the tournament this week.”
The Sooners start play Friday and will take on the winner of Kansas and Iowa State, who play at 5 p.m. today.
If the Jayhawks face OU, it will be a rematch of last year’s championship game, when Kansas surprised the Sooners and won the tournament title.
It would also be a chance for OU to get some revenge. A loss at Kansas two weeks ago cost the Sooners the regular-season conference title.
“I know these guys are coming into this tournament hungry,” OU coach Patty Gasso said. “I know they’re motivated, and they have goals that they want to accomplish.
“We had some opportunities this year to win the conference, but it didn’t happen. I know this team really wants to win a championship, and the tournament championship would mean a lot to them.”
The argument could be made the Sooners have nothing to gain from the Big 12 tournament.
With 16 NCAA regionals to be handed out, it goes without saying that OU will be hosting at Marita Hynes Field. And should the Sooners win the conference tourney, they would likely be in line for a super regional, assuming they advance from the four-team draw.
An early-round exit in the conference tourney, which was changed to a single-elimination format this season, wouldn’t destroy OU’s chances at hosting both, but it would be a smudge on the Sooners’ résumé.
And if they win? Well, they’re the No. 2 team in the country, they’re supposed to win.
“I don’t know if there’s more pressure really,” Fox said. “I know that winning a championship is a big goal of ours. You want to take home that trophy.”
And there’s even something bigger at play here for OU: pride.
“We want to show that just because we didn’t win the regular-season title, that doesn’t mean we can’t win the tournament title,” sophomore first baseman Samantha Ricketts said. “Losing the regular-season title sucked. We want to prove how good a team we are.”
Considering the Sooners’ ranking, it would appear they already have. Still, Gasso’s likely fine with her players thinking otherwise.
OU Sports
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