How much better is SEC softball compared to Big Ten softball? The SEC became the premier softball conference when Oklahoma joined the conference in July of last year, but does the rest of the conference still reign supreme over the new-look Big Ten? John Williams of Sooners Wire re-ranked the eight teams in the Women’s College World Series. He could have just sorted the teams based on their conference and ended up with nearly the same list.
The two Big Ten teams, Oregon and UCLA, make up two of the bottom three teams in Williams’ list, with the Bruins coming in at No. 6 following their epic comeback against South Carolina in the Super Regional. The top five schools in the list all hail from the SEC with Oklahoma deservedly coming in at No. 1.
“UCLA trailed 4-1 in the seventh inning of game two against the South Carolina Gamecocks and forced game three,” Williams wrote. “In game three, Bruins pitchers Kaitlyn Terry and Taylor Tinsley combined for a shutout of the Gamecocks.”
It’s jarring to see just two conferences with more than one team in this year’s Women’s College World Series — the Big 12 has just one team, Texas Tech — but with the consolidation of conferences perhaps this is the new normal. The SEC has five teams in the Women’s College World Series, but the conference has still had some letdowns, with LSU and Texas A&M both failing to advance in their home regionals.
UCLA’s first Women’s College World Series game will come against Oregon on Thursday. The Bruins will need to get past the Ducks before battling the SEC, which hasn’t won a Women’s College World Series since Florida did so in 2015, with Oklahoma being a member of the Big 12 for its last four national titles (2021-2024).
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Is SEC softball as dominant as it thinks? UCLA and Oregon join 5 SEC teams at WCWS
Reporting by Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
