Tramel: What will the future of Big 12 softball look like after OU & Texas flee to the SEC?
Berry TramelOklahoman
STILLWATER — Kenny Gajewski has heard the talk. That he should be thrilled over OU’s and Texas’ eventual exodus to the Southeastern Conference, leaving OSU to dominate Big 12 softball.
Gajewski doesn’t buy it.
“I’m like, ‘I don’t love this at all,’” Gajewski said. “I want our natural rivalries that we’ve had to stay the same.”
Gajewski has built the Cowgirls into a national power — two straight Women’s College World Series appearances, the current No. 6 national ranking — and OSU has a showdown series against top-ranked OU this week in Norman with the Big 12 title on the line.
But when the Sooners and Longhorns flee to the SEC, sometime between now and 2025, the Cowgirls will be left with a patchwork conference.
The only other softball schools in the current Big 12 are Iowa State, Kansas, Texas Tech and Baylor. Of that group, only Baylor has had much success in the last decade or so.
Four new schools will join the league in either 2023 or 2024. Cincinnati doesn’t have a softball program, but Brigham Young is a perennial NCAA Tournament team, Central Florida is 42-11 this season and has been quite competitive under fourth-year coach Cindy Ball-Malone, and Houston has potential, considering OSU beat the Cougars in the 2011 Super Regional.
But that’s not enough to make up for the loss of OU and Texas.
“I don’t think it would be the same, obviously,” Gajewski said. “I don’t know that we’d stay the No. 3 RPI conference, so that’s worrisome. But I think the teams that are coming in are really good.
“Is it the same? No. But could it be really good? Yeah.”
From a competitive standpoint, the OU/Texas defection probably dents softball more than any other sport. In what other sport are the Sooners and Longhorns two-thirds of the Big 12 heavyweights? Not football, not basketball, not baseball, not golf, not gymnastics, not swimming, not track.
Softball will have to scramble.
“It’ll be different, it’ll be deeper, but maybe not as top-heavy,” Gajewski said. “How about that? That’s probably fair. But it’ll be deeper for sure.
“And we’re not just going to roll in there and be the GOAT (greatest of all time). We’re not in that spot right now. We’re still in the infancy of our program and sustainability.”
Gajewski will have to supplement OSU’s schedule with more robust non-conference opponents. Not that he hasn’t been doing that. The Cowgirls just returned from a road trip to third-ranked Florida State, the 2018 national champion.
Continuation of the Bedlam Series would help. But that’s not even assured.
Does Gajewski expect the series to continue?
“I don’t know why we wouldn’t,” Gajewski said Tuesday morning. “You’ll have to ask Patty (Gasso, OU’s coach) that. We don’t run away from anybody.”
Gasso was asked precisely that Tuesday afternoon, and she was non-committal, saying she wasn’t sure if the OU administration had taken a stance. Both OU president Joe Harroz and athletic director Joe Castiglione have said they want the Bedlam rivalry to continue across the board. But this is college sports. Goofy things happen.
Gasso and Gajewski got sideways on the current makeup of the series, with Gasso preferring annual games on each campus, plus a game in Oklahoma City, while Gajewski preferred home-site series. The latter is the Big 12’s fallback position, which is what we have now.
“If they want to play, we’ll be right here,” Gajewski said. “And if we’re going to play, we’ll do it fairly … one year here, one year there. They don’t hold anything above me or us.
“But I want to play ‘em. It makes sense. I know the football deal may have a different thing. I don’t coach that. I coach a sport where we play and we do things and play a lot of games and it makes sense.
“If we want to play in OKC, we’ll play in OKC. I’d do that now. I’ve always said, I wanted this series to change. And I’ve always said I want to play in OKC. So if they want to play a fourth game, have ‘em call me.”
Gasso, too, chose to posture. She said she’s looking forward to having a lot more scheduling options under the more rugged SEC, and that she potentially would have to think about meeting OSU in a regional.
I tell you, coaches can wear you out.
OSU definitely needs a post-split Bedlam more than OU needs it, because of the toughness of their respective conferences.
“That goes for Texas,” Gajewski said. “We’ll play Texas, too. Those are games I love to play.
“We’re not afraid to run out there and play, so we’ll do that, strengthen (the schedule) up. But I think adding those (Big 12) teams is not going to hurt the RPI. What we need is KU and Texas Tech and Iowa State to come up.”
That would help. But it’s possible that OSU will have to replace OU and Texas with Baylor and BYU as the Cowgirls’ prime rivals.
The OU defection was a decision not made with softball in mind. But it has a big effect on softball, potentially leaving the Cowgirls lonely on top of the hill.
Last edited:
