OKLAHOMA CITY – On May 2, Florida coach Tim Walton walked to home plate to shake hands with his Oklahoma counterpart, Patty Gasso, for the customary pregame greeting in advance of their series finale in Gainesville. Walton, having heard that Tennessee had beaten Texas A&M the night before, congratulated the Gasso on her Sooners winning the Southeastern Conference regular-season title outright in their first go-around in the league.
 
“Did we?” Gasso responded. “Because it sure didn’t feel like it.”
 
Walton relived the exchange Wednesday during the Gators’ press conference turn at the Women’s College World Series at Devon Park. 
 
“Pretty good quote,” Walton said. “I think it sums up how tough our league was this year.”
 
OU, the four-time defending NCAA champion, lost its seventh conference game later that day, which was only two fewer than the Sooners lost during their the last nine seasons in the Big 12 combined. The SEC, as if Gasso didn’t already know, proved to be a different conference animal. Oklahoma, though, proved its mettle by winning the nation’s best and deepest conference in its inaugural season. 
 
The Sooners reward for navigating college softball’s ultimate mine field? 
 
How ’bout a 2025 WCWS field with five SEC teams, including – and this is rich – the four highest-seeded teams matched up in the tournament’s first two days. No, seriously. Third-seeded Florida (48-15) and sixth-seeded Texas (51-11) will open play Thursday at noon, followed immediately by a matchup of second-seeded Oklahoma (50-7) and seventh-seeded Tennessee (45-15). At least one of those teams will be packing to head home after Friday’s first round of elimination games. 
 

The field’s four lowest seeds, due to outcomes around the country (namely a shocking regional-round upset of No. 1 overall seed Texas A&M, plus losses by 4-seed Arkansas and 5-seed Florida State) fashioned a top-heavy bracket for OKC and its “Greatest Show on Dirt.”

Thursday’s 1st-round games

Time	Game	TV
Noon	(3) Florida vs (6) Texas	ESPN
2:30 pm	(2) Oklahoma vs (7) Tennessee	ESPN
7 pm	(12) Texas Tech vs Ole Miss	ESPN2
9:30 pm	(9) UCLA vs Oregon (16)	ESPN2

(All times ET and subject to change)

It would be easy to criticize the format and stump for reseeding, but to what end? The tournament is here, the matchups are locked in and the first two days figure to be fire. 

 

“It’s exciting,” said Texas coach Mike White, whose Longhorns played 10 games against teams in the WCWS field, including two wins over the Gators on the road in their series back in March. “They’re going to be a tough battle, but that’s what you come here for. You want to be the best you have to beat the best.” 

 

Those were Walton’s thoughts, as well. Fits his profile, too. The Gators may have the third-fewest wins here, but they’re the No. 3 seed because they played the toughest schedule in the country. 

 

It’s only fitting they’re opening-day side of the bracket resembles not only like a semifinal of the SEC Tournament, but what would be make for two sexy, hotly anticipated WCWS semifinals … had the seedings fallen differently. 

 

Instead, the top of the bracket will have to cannibalize itself before it gets a shot at the bottom. 

 

“To me, it doesn’t matter,” said Walton, adding he wasn’t even sure what the other teams were seeded. “We’ve beaten everybody in the country and we have lost to people, so I think it’s going to be who can handle the moment and who can make less excuses and figure out how to play softball. We’re here to play. We play Texas the first game. It’s going to be dang tough on them and it’s going to be dang tough on us.  You can go through all the process of seeding and re-seeding and somebody is going to complain about something. To me, it’s … here we are. We’re here to play and we got an opportunity to March into June, which is something we set as one of our goals.”

OKLAHOMA

Seed: 2 
Record: 50-7
Coach: Patty Gasso (1,558-358-2 / 31st season) 
Road to OKC: Swept through Norman Regional by beating Boston U and California (twice); swept No. 15-seed Alabama in Norman Super Regional.
Record vs WCWS field: 5-4 (Lost two of three vs Tennessee at home; swept Texas at home; lost two of three at Florida) 
WCWS appearances (18): 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
NCAA championships (8): 2000, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
Noteworthy: Gasso, aka “Natty Patty,” got a four-year contract extension at $2 million annually last year after guiding the Sooners to their fourth consecutive national title, an achievement that coincided with OU leaving the Big 12 Conference (along with Texas) to join the SEC for the 2024-25 athletic year. Now she’s going for an unworldly five in a row, with OU once again enjoying the built-in homefield advantage of playing 30 minutes from its campus. … After losing just nine conference games combined the last seven years, Oklahoma went 17-7 in its SEC debut and may not have the same air of invincibility of recent versions, evidenced by their team batting average of .334 that ranks fifth among teams left in the WCWS field. OU, though, averaged 7.75 runs per game this season (5th nationally), 2.02 homers per game (2nd) and was second in slugging percentage (.645). … The Sooners bat .337 as a team, led by SS Ella Parker (.416) and Kasidi Pickering (.413, 18 HR, 58 RBI). … OU’s ace is Sam Landry (23-4, 1.92 ERA, 170 K, 51 BB), with their four other pitchers each over 3.00 ERA. 

FLORIDA 

Seed: 3
Record: 48-15 
Coach: Tim Walton (1,027-251 / 20th season)
Road to OKC: Swept through Gainesville Regional by beating Mercer (twice) and Florida Atlantic; defeated Georgia in three games in Gainesville Super Regional.
Record vs WCWS field: 5-4 (lost two of three vs Texas at home; won two of three at Ole Miss; won two of three vs Oklahoma at home) 
WCWS appearances (13): 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2024, 2025 
Noteworthy: The Gators made an impressive charge to the WCWS semifinals last season, defeating Oklahoma once, then losing to the Sooners in heart-breaking, walk-off fashion in an elimination game that sent OU to the championship series. … Seven players from that UF team are back, so they’ve got the experience to go with the hitting (7th nationally in home runs per game at 1.69; 8th in runs per game at 7.55; 9th in slugging .595), but how will the pitching hold up? Keagan Rothrock (16-6, 3.21 ERA) was a postseason sensation as a freshman last season, but has been up and down with injuries as s sophomore, though very much up in her last outing (a complete Game 3 win over Georgia in the Super). Of the eight teams in OKC, the Gators’ ERA of 2.93 is seventh. … OF Kendra Falby (.433) is back for her third WCWS, while NCAA Freshman of the Year candidate Taylor Shumaker (.389, 23 HR, 86 RBI) will make her OKC debut. 

TEXAS

Seed: 6 
Record: 51-11
Coach: Mike White (308-90-2 / 7th season)
Road to OKC: Swept through Austin Regional with wins against Eastern Illinois, Michigan and UCF; defeated 11-seed Clemson in three games in Austin Super Regional.
Record vs WCWS field: 4-6 (Beat Texas Tech at home; won two of three at Florida; lost two of three vs Tennessee at home; lost three at Oklahoma) 
WCWS appearances (8): 1998, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2013, 2022 and 2024
NCAA championships: None (runner-up in 2022 and 2024)
Noteworthy: They were swept in the WCWS finals by OU last year after rolling into the championship series by shutting out all three teams, with the 10-0 blanking of the Gators sandwiched around 4-0 and 1-0 defeats of Stanford and mega-ace NiJaree Canady, now of Texas Tech. … The Longhorns hit .359 as a team (second nationally) in ’25 and led the country in hits with 588 (almost 9.5 per game). … UT has four players hitting above .410 in INF Mia Scott (.438), OF Ashton Maloney (.436), slugger C Reese Atwood (.416, 21 HR, 85 RBI) and OF Kayden Henry (.410). … The Longhorns 2.78 ERA ranked 31st overall and is the sixth-best in the field, led by Teagan Kavan (24-5, 2.56 ERA, 212 K, 48 BB). 

TENNESSEE 

Seed: 7
Record: 45-15 
Coach: Karen Weekly (1,130-355-2 / 22nd season) 
Road to OKC: Defeated Miami-Ohio and Ohio State (twice) in Knoxville Regional; Beat Nebraska in three games in Knoxville Super Regional. 
Record vs WCWS field: 6-4 (Lost once vs Oregon at neutral site; won two of three at Oklahoma; won two of three at Texas; won two of three at Ole Miss) 
WCWS appearances (9): 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023, 2024, 2025
National championships: None (runner-up in 2007 and 2013) 
Noteworthy: UT is one of the most dangerous teams heading into the WCWS because of its pitching. The Volunteers faced three SEC teams during the regular season that reached OKC and won all three series. … Tennessee had the No. 1 pitching staff in the nation, with a 1.75 team ERA, led by flame-throwing ace Karylyn Pickens (24-9), who finished second in the country in ERA (1.00 ERA), sixth in strikeouts ( 280) and Saturday set a record when she threw the fastest pitch ever clocked in NCAA softball (79.4 mph). … Offensively, the Vols only hit a collective .301, but their pitching keeps them in games. They’re led by OF Taylor Pannell (.384, 15 HR, 62 RBI) and C Sophia Nugent (.302, 17 HR, 59 RBI). 

UCLA  

Seed: 9
Record: 54-11 
Coach: Kelly Inouye-Perez (872-220-1 / 19th season) 
Road to OKC: Beat UC-Santa Barbara (twice) and San Diego State in Los Angeles Regional; defeated South Carolina in three games at Columbia Super Regional. 
Record vs WCWS field: 2-2 (Beat Tennessee at neutral site; lost two of three at Oregon) 
WCWS appearances (34): 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995*, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025
National championships (13): 1982, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2019.
Noteworthy: The Bruins are in their 10th WCWS under Inouye-Perez, who won national championships in 2010 and 2019. … UCLA hit .344 as a team during the season, good enough for 10th nationally, with only Texas and Oregon better among the teams at OKC. … UTL Savannah Pola tops the Bruins with a .440 average and was fourth in the country in hits with 96. Navigating the order means working through UTL Megan Grant (.384) and INF Jordan Woolery (.415), who’ve hit 25 and 23 homers, respectively, and combined to knock in 165 runs. … UCLA’s team ERA of 2.49 ranked 12th. The Bruins have no true ace, but a trio of pitchers with at least 15 wins, led by Kaitlyn Terry (19-5, 2.62, 159 K, 33 BB). 

TEXAS TECH

Seed: 12 
Record: 50-12
Coach: Gerry Glasco (50-12 / 1st season) 
Road to OKC: Swept through Lubbock Regional by beating Brown and Mississippi State (twice); swept 5-seed Florida State at Tallahassee Super Regional. 
Record vs WCWS field: 0-1 (Lost once at Texas) 
WCWS appearances (1): First time
NCAA championships: None 
Noteworthy: All things Red Raiders begin and end with NiJaree Canady, college softball’s 2024 National Player of the Year at Stanford who garnered an NIL deal reportedly in excess of $1 million after entering the transfer portal last summer. Whether Tech got its money’s worth is up to the big spenders in Lubbock, but Canady went a sterling 30-5 with a NCAA-best 0.89 ERA, 279 strikeouts and 41 walks on the way to guiding the Raiders to the first WCWS in program history. Tech’s team ERA of 1.79 ranked first nationally, as did its 25 shutouts. … At the plate, INF Raegan Jennings leads the team with a .395 average. … The Raiders mostly lack power, with just 59 home runs on the season, led by (guess who?), yes, Canady’s 11. … In their first season under Glasco, who took teams at Louisiana and Georgia to the WCWS, Tech reached the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time and first since 2019. The program had never played in a Super Region before this season, so the trip to OKC was a bonus.  

OREGON 

Seed: 16
Record: 53-8 
Coach: Melyssa Lombardi (238-114 / 7th season)
Road to OKC: Defeated Weber State (twice) and split with Stanford to win Eugene Regional; swept Liberty in the Eugene Super Regional.  
Record vs WCWS field: 1-0 (Beat Tennessee at neutral site) 
WCWS appearances (7): 1989, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2025 
NCAA championships: None 
Noteworthy: The Ducks are back in the WCWS for the first time in eight years, a lengthy drought that coincided when Mike White bolted Eugene for the job at Texas. … Oregon went 19-3 in its first season in the Big Ten Conference and won the league title. … The Ducks hit a collective .351 and rank fourth nationally (tops among the WCWS field) in scoring at 7.90 runs per game. They’re also the best defensive team in OKC at .981 and boast a pitching staff — led by Lyndsey Grein (29-2, 2.08 ERA, 222 K, 66 BB) — with an ERA of 2.40 that was good enough for eighth in the country. … OF Kedre Luschar is batting .451, which is tops among all hitters at the WCWS, followed by OF Kai Luschar, who not only gets on base (team-high 82 hits to go with 35 walks), but is 59-for-67 in stolen base attempts this season. Those two .400-plus-hitting sisters ought to get some attention in the softball capital of the world. 

OLE MISS  

Seed: Unseeded
Record: 42-19 
Coach: Jamie Trachsel (181-115 / 5th season)
Road to OKC: Defeated Grand Canyon and 13-seed Arizona (twice) at Tucson Regional; beat 4-seed Arkansas in three games at Fayetteville Super Regional. 
Record vs WCWS field: 3-5 (lost two of three vs Florida at home; lost two of three vs Tennessee at home; beat Florida in SEC Tournament; lost to Texas in SEC Tournament) 
WCWS appearances (1): 2025 
Noteworthy: The Rebels, with their first WCWS appearance, are the first unseeded team to reach OKC since both Oregon State and Stanford showed up in 2022. Ole Miss blazed its trail the hard way, playing six straight games against host teams (Arizona and Arkansas) and winning four games, including two decisive Game 3s. … Mississippi is the lone team in the field that failed to crack the nation’s top 50 in hitting (.306, 51st), ERA (3.25, 66th) or fielding percentage (.969, 65th). The team just won its biggest games of the year. … The Rebels are led at the plate by UTL Jaden Pone (.363) and C/UT Lexie Brady (.340, 17 HR) and have five players with at least 10 doubles on the season.

Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu