The Oklahoma Sooners begin their quest for a three-peat this week and now know their opponents for the first round of the NCAA tournament.
As revealed in the NCAA Tournament selection show on ESPN, the Sooners will host Cal, Missouri and Hofstra in the regional round of the NCAA tournament.
Not surprisingly, the Sooners are the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed. The back-to-back national champions are riding a 43-game winning streak and haven’t lost since February. The Sooners are making their 29th consecutive NCAA appearance and have advanced to the Women’s College World Series in six straight seasons.
Joining them in Norman are the California Golden Bears, who went 33-19-1 in 2023, but just 9-14-1 in Pac-12 play. Notably, they won series over Arizona, Arizona State and Utah and picked up wins over Iowa and Texas Tech in nonconference play.
The Missouri Tigers return to Norman after going 34-24 and 7-17 in SEC play, finishing in last place during the conference’s regular season.
Hofstra joins the field after winning the CAA tournament title. It was 29-25 during the season and went 16-7 in conference play. The Pride went 8-1 in their final nine games, including 5-1 in the CAA double-elimination tournament.
The Sooners are the overwhelming favorite to advance out of the Norman Regional, which will begin play Friday May, 19. The Sooners open the series against Hofstra at 4 p.m. CT on ESPNU followed by Missouri and California. The winners will meet in the first game of Saturday’s triple-header.
The winner of the Norman Regional will face the winner of the Clemson Regional, hosted by the No. 16 Clemson Tigers.
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