-
David Hale, ESPN Staff Writer
Oklahoma, which has won the past two Women’s College World Series and is the overwhelming favorite to do it again this season, received the No. 1 overall seed in the 2023 NCAA softball tournament on Sunday.
The Sooners dispatched Texas with ease on Saturday to capture the Big 12 championship and move to 51-1 on the season, and there was no question who’d land the No. 1 overall spot when the seedings were announced for regionals on Sunday.
The real drama with Sunday’s tournament announcement was whether there’s anyone in the crowd of 64 teams capable of elbowing Oklahoma off the throne.
UCLA, which scored a win over Oklahoma in last year’s World Series, captured the No. 2 overall seed. After that, four teams that were stunned in last year’s regionals — Florida State, Tennessee, Alabama and Washington — all landed high seeds in 2023.
Florida State got the No. 3 seed, followed by No. 4 Tennessee, No. 5 Alabama, No. 6 Oklahoma State, No. 7 Washington and No. 8 Duke to round out the top half of the seeds.
“The committee had to look at a lot of really good teams with good résumés, especially for the top eight,” selection committee chair Kelly Gatwood…
