There is an unusual tension hanging over Love’s Field heading into the Norman Regional.
Normally, postseason softball in Norman feels inevitable. Loud. Ruthless. Mechanical. Opponents arrive hoping to survive; Oklahoma enters expecting to dominate. That has been the defining rhythm of the Oklahoma Sooners softball dynasty for the better part of the last half decade.
But this week feels different.
The Sooners still possess the nation’s most explosive offense. They still carry a .389 team batting average. They still enter the NCAA Tournament as the No. 3 national seed and one of the overwhelming favorites to reach Oklahoma City.
Yet the defining storyline surrounding Oklahoma is no longer its offense.
It is the circle.
More specifically, it is the emotional and tactical instability inside the circle that erupted during the SEC Tournament collapse against Georgia — and the fiery public response from head coach Patty Gasso afterward.
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