With OU softball’s winning streak at 46 games and its home run total rising faster than the national debt and the Women’s College World Series shaping up like more coronation than competition, it’s easy to write off the sport as void of parity.
I mean, knowing who will win the national championship is the ultimate example of parity’s absence.
But if it wasn’t for the Sooners’ Godzilla complex, we might be raving about equality of the sport.
Of the 16 national seeds, 13 advanced to NCAA Super Regionals this week. That’s three teams that won without the benefit of hosting a regional; in 2022, that number was five. In 2021, three.
In the three previous NCAA Softball Championships, only one team total (James Madison, 2019 at Michigan) won a regional without hosting. One out of 48.
Now in this three-year span, it’s 11 out of 48.
More:NCAA softball regional takeaways: OSU gets its swagger back; UCLA's exit opens door for Utah
And it came agonizingly close to being more. Washington, the No. 7 national seed, rallied for seven runs in the seventh inning to beat McNeese State 7-6 Sunday night, else the we would have a had a McNeese State/Louisiana-Lafayette Super Regional. The Ragin’ Cajuns pulled their own stunner, winning twice Sunday at Louisiana State, the No. 10 national seed.
And in the biggest surprise of all, No. 2 national seed UCLA didn’t even make the regional final. The Bruins lost to Grand Canyon, then to Liberty. And neither of those teams won the regional – San Diego State did.
The parity extends to the conferences. Despite the NCAA softball committee’s incessant desire to prop up the Southeastern Conference, the Pac-12 produced the most Super Regional teams, with four. The Big 12, SEC and Atlantic Coast conferences each have three.
The committee gave 12 of the 13 SEC softball teams an NCAA berth, including five regional hosts. The committee’s devotion to the ratings percentage index (RPI) has allowed the SEC to schedule its way to ratings prominence.
But the SEC advanced just three of the 12 teams, The ACC advanced three of six, the Big 12 three of four and the Pac-12 four of six.
More:How did Oregon Ducks reach NCAA softball super regional? Meet Oklahoma State Cowgirls' foe
Sometimes, field parity is the forerunner of championship parity.
In John Wooden’s heyday of UCLA basketball championships, parity began to take hold in the race for second. In the last four years of those Bruins’ seven straight NCAA championships (1967-73), 12 schools joined UCLA in the Final Four – Jacksonville, New Mexico State, St. Bonaventure, Villanova, Western Kentucky, Kansas, Florida State, North Carolina, Louisville, Memphis, Indiana and Providence.
Soon enough, Wooden retired, and parity took off. From 1977-81, only one school made the Final Four more than once – North Carolina went in ‘77 and ‘81. Otherwise, there were no repeat attendees, and college basketball had launched its golden age.
Some would say softball already has launched its golden age, without losing its dynasty.
The Sooner juggernaut shows no sign of slowing. But Patty Gasso won’t coach forever.
Either way, parity is encroaching on NCAA softball.
More:How did Clemson Tigers get to NCAA softball super regional? Meet Oklahoma Sooners' foe
Mailbag: 1970s Missouri football scheduling
Readers know that college football schedule is one of my passions, and how the keepers of the sport have soiled it with a rash of non-conference exhibtions. They ought to be ashamed.
David: “Writing about weak schedules got me thinking about strong ones, and that naturally made me think of Missouri. The Tigers' fearless scheduling back in the ‘70s is hardly news to a football historian; but I thought I'd look at some records that show not just how solid their scheduling could be, but how the results always used to have me shaking my head, trying to figure the Tigers out.
“In 1976, Mizzou went 6-5 and finished sixth in the Big Eight. Nothing to get excited about. But five of those six wins came against USC, Ohio State, North Carolina, Nebraska and Colorado – and that murderers' row was actually even tougher than it sounded. Those five teams combined for a record of 46-8-2 against all opponents not named ‘Missouri,’ making for one of the greatest collections of vanquished foes seen in a single college football season. Missouri didn't just put great programs on their slate; they won the games with astonishing regularity.
“What made me find Missouri both so sad and so endearing was how they could flub the rest of their season. How can a team that beat USC and Ohio State on the road – teams that combined for 20 wins -- sandwich those two games around a 25-point loss to 5-6 Illinois? Imagine getting five wins against such heavyweights, and then not succeeding in even getting a bowl bid.”
Tramel: Just for fun, and to remind every current football coach and administrator how weak-spirited they are, let’s run down Mizzou’s non-conference schedules for the 1970s.
1970: Baylor, Minnesota, 20th-ranked (at the time) Air Force, third-ranked Notre Dame.
1971: No. 19 Stanford, at Air Force, Southern Methodist, at Army.
1972: Oregon, Baylor, California, at No. 8 Notre Dame.
1973: Ole Miss, Virginia, at North Carolina, at No. 19 SMU.
1974: at Ole Miss, Baylor, No. 7 Arizona State, at Wisconsin.
1975: at No. 2 Alabama, at Illinois, Wisconsin, at No. 12 Michigan.
1976: at No. 8 Southern Cal, Illinois, at No. 2 Ohio State, No. 14 North Carolina.
1977: No. 4 Southern Cal, at Illinois, California, at No. 20 Arizona State.
1978: at No. 5 Notre Dame, No. 1 Alabama, Ole Miss, Illinois.
1979: San Diego State, at Illinois, at Ole Miss, No. 4 Texas.
And that’s also playing a Big Eight schedule, when the Big Eight routinely was the nation’s toughest conference, with Barry Switzer’s Sooners and Tom Osborne’s Cornhuskers and assorted other Big Eight uprisers.
The 1970s Missouri Tigers took on all comers. They didn’t win big; their conference record for the decade was 30-40.
But Mizzou played with honor and pride. College football is not so honorable anymore.
More:Why did Andrel Anthony leave his dream school to join to OU football? 'I came here to win'
NBA coaching changes likely to continue
The NBA’s Eastern Conference standings finished with Milwaukee, Boston and Philadelphia 1-2-3.
When the playoffs began, the teams with the best odds for winning the championship were Milwaukee, Boston, Phoenix, Golden State and Philadelphia (Denver was even with the 76ers).
Since then, the Bucks have fired coach Mike Budenholzer, the Sixers have fired coach Doc Rivers and the Suns have fired coach Monty Williams. Plus, the Celtics are Dead Team Walking, down 3-0 in their East finals series against Miami, and coach Joe Mazzulla seems headed for the unemployment line, with his Celtics getting pummelled by the Heat.
And just as a reminder, the Raptors and Nick Nurse parted ways, less than four years after Nurse coached Toronto to the 2019 NBA championship.
This is a tough racket. Budenholzer coached the Bucks to the 2021 championship. Rivers had to deal with James Harden. Williams had the Suns within two games of the 2021 title.
Now all are gone, and Mazzulla seems destined to join them, getting badly outcoached by Miami’s Erik Spoelstra and seemingly bewildered over how to rally the Celtics.
The NBA long has shown little patience with losing coaches. But now NBA franchises are showing little patience with winning coaches, if they fall short of a parade. Or parades, in Budenholzer’s case.
In the 2000s, franchises have shown a lack patience.
The Netropolitans fired Byron Scott in 2004, a half season after taking New Jersey to its second straight NBA Finals.
The Pistons fired Larry Brown in 2005, coming off a conference finals and, the year before that, the NBA championship. Of course, Brown wore out his welcome many a place.
The Mavericks fired Avery Johnson in 2008, two years after making the Finals. The Heat fired Stan Van Gundy in 2012 and the Thunder fired Scotty Brooks in 2015, both three years after making the Finals.
The Cavaliers fired Mike Brown in 2010, three years after making the Finals; David Blatt in 2016, a half-season after making the Finals; and Tyronn Lue two seasons and six games after winning the title and coming off back-to-back Finals.
But the rash of successful coaches who have been jettisoned with a few weeks of each other – with perhaps Mazzulla to come – is jarring.
More:How OKC Thunder's Tre Mann, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl are approaching pivotal third NBA season
Lincoln Riley needs an athletic director
Southern Cal athletic director Mike Bohn resigned last week, citing a desire to spend more time with his family, but apparently because of inappropriate comments to female staff members, according to a Los Angeles Times report.
Which means Lincoln Riley needs a new partner.
Bohn is the AD who lured away Riley from OU 18 months ago.
And perhaps the next USC AD is Ed Stewart, the man Riley lured from the Big 12 last year.
Stewart, who was a star linebacker at Nebraska, is USC’s executive senior associate athletic director and basically in charge of Trojan football.
Stewart spent 16 years with the Big 12, where he left as associate commissioner for football.
Riley always was quick to praise Stewart’s work in the Big 12, and the hiring of Stewart was thought to make Riley’s transition to USC much smoother.
Among the others mentioned as candidates are athletic directors Chris Del Conte of Texas(!), Greg Byrne of Alabama, Pat Chun of Washington State, Rick George of Colorado, Mark Jackson of Villanova and Danny White of Tennessee; CBS analyst and former Oakland Raiders executive Amy Trask; and current USC assistant ADBrandon Sosna, who did much of the legwork in recruiting Riley from OU.
More:Tramel: Big 12 basketball coaches ready to follow commissioner Brett Yormark's bold ideas
The List: Golfers with five majors
Brooks Koepka won the PGA Championship on Sunday, giving him five major titles (two U.S. Opens, three PGAs).
Only 20 golfers have won as many as five majors. Before Sunday, Koepka was on a that included Rory McIlroy, Ernie Els, Raymond Floyd, Bobby Locke, Jim Barnes, Willie Anderson, Willie Park Sr., Tom Morris Jr. and Tom Morris Sr., as four-time majors winners.
But the list of golfers with five majors is different. Here is the club Koepka joined.
1. Seve Ballesteros: The legendary Spainard won two Masters and three British Opens from 1979-88.
2. Byron Nelson: The iconic Texan won two Masters, one U.S. Open and two PGAs from 1937-45, even though 10 majors were canceled during that time due to World War II.
3. Peter Thomson: The Australian won five British Opens from 1954-65.
4. John Henry Taylor: Winner of five British Opens from 1894-1913.
5. James Braid: Winner of five British Opens from 1901-10.
Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
