Midweek Results Prove the Parity in College Softball This Season: Just a Minute

The top-three teams in the national polls all lost to non-conference oppoents during the midweek slate.

Samford softball team celebrates victory over Alabama | Samford Athletics

Welcome to BamaCentral’s "Just a Minute," a video series featuring Alabama Crimson Tide on SI's beat writers. Multiple times per week, the writers will group up or film solo to provide their take on a topic concerning the Crimson Tide or the landscape of college sports.

Watch the above video as BamaCentral assistant editor Katie Windham discusses how the latest midweek upsets in college softball show the true parity of the sport.

Some in the Alabama fanbase felt like the sky was falling after No. 2 Alabama softball lost at Samford in the midweek, 3-2. But then No. 3 Texas Tech got shut out by Texas State on Wednesday, and No. 1 Oklahoma lost to rival No. 21 Oklahoma State. The top-three teams in the national polls all lost to non-conference opponents in the midweek.

No. 9 Tennessee also lost to No. 14 Duke on Wednesday. There has never been more parity in college softball, and it sets us up for a really exciting postseason.

"I’ve said it over and over, anybody can beat anybody, and now we have proof," Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy said before Wednesday's practice.

Patty Gasso has built a dynasty at Oklahoma with the Sooners winning seven national titles since 2013, including four in a row from 2021 to 2024. At times during that stretch, the Sooners winning it all seemed almost like an inevitability. Oklahoma is still really good, hence the No. 1 ranking, but the sport is more wide open this year.

No team is immune from an upset, and anyone can win on any given night. It truly feels like most teams in the top 25 could make a run at a national title if things break their way. The SEC is the best conference in college softball, and facing the best teams week in and week out has prepared the Crimson Tide for whatever it might face in the postseason.

Alabama has made it to the Women's College World Series in three of the last five season, but it has not won multiple games in OKC since 2021. The Crimson Tide will likely be a top-eight seed and get to host the first two weekends of the NCAA tournament to earn a spot back to the WCWS, but it will have to be on its guard each time out.

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