The Southeastern Conference officially unveiled its 2026 softball slate Wednesday, and once again, Oklahoma finds itself at the center of the action. Coming off a debut season in the league that saw the Sooners claim both the regular-season and tournament titles, Patty Gasso’s squad will navigate a 24-game conference schedule that looks every bit as competitive as last year.
The Sooners will play eight series, with four at Love’s Field and four on the road, beginning with a bye week before opening SEC play at home. That schedule sets up a season-long gauntlet that will test the defending SEC champs from start to finish.
Starting at Home: Auburn Series Headlines Opening Weekend
Oklahoma’s SEC home opener brings a familiar name to Norman. The Sooners will host Auburn March 13–15 at Love’s Field — the first time the Tigers have visited since 2011. This is a matchup steeped in postseason history: OU defeated Auburn in three games on their way to the 2016 Women’s College World Series championship and eliminated the Tigers from the NCAA Super Regionals the following season.
Road Test No. 1: Rebels Await
After Auburn, Oklahoma will hit the road for back-to-back weekends — first at Ole Miss (March 20–22) and then at LSU (March 27–29).
The Ole Miss series marks OU’s first trip to Oxford. While the Sooners hold a 6-0 all-time advantage, the Rebels are on the rise, having reached the Women’s College World Series for the first time in 2025. Adding intrigue is the fact that OU now rosters one of Ole Miss’s breakout stars: sophomore pitcher Miali Guachino, who earned D1Softball Freshman All-American honors last year before transferring to Oklahoma this summer.
Back in Baton Rouge: LSU Looms
Oklahoma’s first real endurance test comes the following weekend at LSU. The Sooners swept the Tigers, 3-0, in Baton Rouge in 2023, and the programs have met several times on the national stage, including OU’s 7-3 win in the 2016 WCWS.
The storyline here revolves around another prominant figure in the circle. Oklahoma added LSU’s former ace, Sydney Berzon, from the transfer portal. Berzon is a two-time All-American who was ranked the top transfer in the country by On3.
Wildcats Visit Love’s Field
After two weeks on the road, OU returns home to host Kentucky (April 3–5), which will also host the 2026 SEC Tournament. The Wildcats visited Norman in 2023, when the Sooners rolled to 18-0 and 7-1 wins.
The Kentucky series will close out the first half of conference play and give Oklahoma fans another look at how the pitching rotation is taking shape.
Rivalry Week: Texas on the Horizon
The back half of the schedule opens with the most anticipated trip of the season: OU at Texas (April 10–12). The Red River rivals split their matchups last year, with the Sooners sweeping the Longhorns at home but falling, 4-2, in the WCWS.
Razorbacks, Bulldogs and Aggies Finish the Slate
Oklahoma wraps up its home schedule with two SEC heavyweights. Arkansas visits Love’s Field April 17–19, a year after OU swept the Razorbacks in Fayetteville. The Razorbacks are coming off a Super Regional appearance and have faced Oklahoma 16 times in Norman.
The Sooners’ final home series comes April 24–26 against Georgia, marking the Bulldogs’ first trip to Norman. The all-time series is deadlocked at 4-4, with the last meeting a six-inning 8-0 OU win in the 2021 WCWS.
Finally, Oklahoma will close the regular season at Texas A&M (April 30–May 2). Last year’s SEC Championship game between the two was rained out, leaving them as co-champs. The Aggies earned the No. 1 overall seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament before being upset by Liberty. Oklahoma owns a 53-30 all-time advantage over the Aggies.
A Loaded Roster Returns
The Sooners head into 2026 returning 13 players from last year’s WCWS team, including 2025 NFCA All-Americans Ella Parker, Kasidi Pickering, and Gabbie Garcia. Senior shortstop Ailana Agbayani is also back after becoming just the second Sooner to win a Rawlings Gold Glove.
Combined with the addition of Berzon and Guachino, plus the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class, Oklahoma appears poised to defend its conference crown in year two.
The SEC Gauntlet
All eight of OU’s SEC opponents made the NCAA Tournament last year, with two advancing to the WCWS. That means there are no breathers in this schedule. Between Auburn’s postseason pedigree, Ole Miss’s rapid rise, and Texas’s championship aspirations, the Sooners will be tested weekly.
But this is exactly the type of schedule Oklahoma has built its dynasty on. Since 2016, the Sooners have won six national championships and reached nine straight WCWS semifinals. They posted an 18-6 conference record in their first SEC season and shared the tournament crown.
With a balanced lineup that returns over 80 percent of its offensive production and a pitching staff reinforced by elite transfers, Oklahoma enters 2026 as the favorite to repeat — but not without hurdles.
2026 SEC Schedule at a Glance
- March 13–15: Auburn (Home)
- March 20–22: Ole Miss (Away)
- March 27–29: LSU (Away)
- April 3–5: Kentucky (Home)
- April 10–12: Texas (Away)
- April 17–19: Arkansas (Home)
- April 24–26: Georgia (Home)
- April 30–May 2: Texas A&M (Away)
A full schedule with start times, TV assignments, and single-game tickets will be released at a later date.
As the Sooners gear up for another run through the SEC, the 2026 slate offers everything fans could hope for: rivalries renewed, road challenges, and a chance to see some of the best softball players in the country on one of the sport’s biggest stages.
If Oklahoma’s second SEC season looks anything like its first, the road to the national championship may once again run through Norman.
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