Bedlam softball is possible in an OU regional | Berry Tramel’s ScissorTales

OSU softball hosts Texas on Wednesday night in a huge game for a variety of reasons.

Its Texas.

OSU never has to worry about emotions when playing the Longhorns, any sport.

Much less in the first diamond meeting since Texas left the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference.

The Longhorns are ranked Number 1 by D1Softball.com and are in the top three of the other three major polls.

The struggling Cowgirls are flirting with not getting a top seed in an NCAA regional.

OSU, 27-15 overall, has dropped out of the 25 of both D1Softball and Softball America; the Cowgirls are ranked 23rd by both ESPN and the coaches poll.

Texas at Oklahoma State Wednesday, 7 p.m.

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So the Cowgirls still are in the running to be at home for the four-team regional, as they try to extend their streak to six straight trips to the Womens College World Series.

And heres another ramification of OSUs eventual NCAA seeding.

If the Cowgirls dont host, they almost surely will be sent to Norman for a Bedlam regional.

The Wednesday ScissorTales take you inside the mind of a Thunder fans playoff ticket experience, look at a couple of potential opposing quarterbacks for OU football in 2025 and find some interesting developments in an anonymous NBA player poll.

But we start with a potential Bedlam showdown in the NCAA Championships.

More than 20 years ago, the NCAA began separating conference opponents in softball regionals.

But the Cowgirls and Sooners no longer are league mates.

The Sooners jumped to the SEC last July, and the various committees that regulate sports are free to align OU and OSU whenever they want.

Softball and baseball, which well get to in a moment, tries to keep things as geographic as possible.

So when a team is given one of the 16 1-seeds, it usually hosts the geographic closest 2-seed.

OU, which has won four straight NCAA titles, is virtually guaranteed to host a regional.

Without a 1-seed themselves, the Cowgirls almost surely will be sent to Norman.

(I guess we could concoct a scenario in which OSU would be sent to Arkansas, but that seems unlikely.) OU hosted an NCAA regional in 1997 that included OSU.

That was in the days before the sport exploded in popularity.

Today, a Bedlam softball regional, even with both programs slightly down from their vaunted status of recent years, would be a major event.

Heck, a Bedlam regional is possible in baseball, too.

That would require some movement.

OU is ranked in the 13-14 range in the polls but is 19th in the RPI.

That means the Sooners are on the bubble to host a regional.

OSU, 17-19, has struggled all season and has fallen to 68th in the RPI.

The Cowboys will need a late-season zoom to make the 64-team tournament, but OSU is capable.

And theres always the Big 12 Tournament to be won.

If OU hosts and if OSU qualifies, again, the baseball committee almost surely would send the Cowboys to Norman.

Those kinds of matchups are going to be common as the years go by.

We dang near had it happen this season in womens basketball.

If the Cowgirls had been a 6-seed instead of a 7-seed, they would have been in Norman for the regional.

Its not likely to happen often in softball.

OSU is stout enough that it usually will host itself.

This season appears to be an outlier.

Which makes OSU-Texas all kinds of interesting.

An upset of the Longhorns would enhance the Cowgirls bid to host a regional.

A loss would make it more likely OSU wont host and could be Norman-bound.

Welcome to the new Bedlam.

The postseason Bedlam.

Underwood looks like Michigan QB Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said he expects the Wolverine quarterback derby to extend into August.

But few believe anyone except freshman phenom Bryce Underwood will win the job.

Michigan plays at OU on September 6, in an early-season showdown of what is expected to be new quarterbacks.

John Mateer, a transfer from Washington State, for the Sooners.

Underwood, a high school recruit from the Detroit suburb of Belleville, Michigan, decommitted from Louisiana State, for the Wolverines.

Underwood doesnt turn 18 until August.

As a 17-year-old, he quarterbacked the Blue team to a 17-0 victory Saturday over the Maize in Michigans spring game.

Did well, Moore said of Underwood.

Made some really good throws and had some things that we got to clean up and get better at.

But hes a continued work in progress, and hes working his tail off to do it.

Underwood completed 12 of 26 passes for 187 yards, including a scrimmage-ending 88-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jalen Hoffman on a reverse flea-flicker.

Mikey Keene, a transfer from Fresno State who started his career at Central Florida, was expected to be Underwoods chief competition at quarterback.

But Keene missed the spring game with an injury.

Keene has thrown 65 touchdown passes and 28 interceptions over four college seasons, with 8,245 yards.

Redshirt freshman Jadyn Davis quarterbacked the Maize team Saturday, completing six of 17 passes for 74 yards, with two interceptions, Some wondered if Moore would ease Underwood into the job, but its looking more and more like Underwood will be the Michigan man on Owen Field come September.

Nothing has really surprised, Moore said.

I kind of had a good beat on how he would be and his work ethic.

He told me hes a night owl and thats true.

So I try to get him to sleep more, but because hes in the building a lot and hes doing a lot to get better.

Nothing surprised me in the way he carries himself and what he does just knowing his family, his mom and dad, Jay and Beverly.

Just an outstanding job raising the young man and its been awesome to have him around.

The List: The Athletics anonymous poll Every year, The Athletic conducts an anonymous poll of NBA players.

This year, 158 players participated.

Here are the five most interesting developments related to the Thunder: 1.

Best coach: Mark Daigneault, 21.8%.

Word is starting to spread.

2.

Best organization: 1.

Warriors 21.9%; 2.

Thunder 17.5%.

One of these is in a market with the Golden Gate.

3.

Most overrated player: 90 players voted.

No one voted for a Thunder player.

4.

Most underrated player: 136 players voted; four of the top 11 were Thunders Luguentz Dort, Cason Wallace, Jalen Williams and Aaron Wiggins each tied for seventh.

5.

Five years from now, face of the league: 1.

Victor Wembanyama 54.3%; 2.

Anthony Edwards 13.8; 3.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 10.9.

I would have guessed SGA ahead of Edwards.

Tennessee, UCLA execute virtual trade For almost a week, I sat on a ScissorTale item about the new order of Southeastern Conference quarterbacking.

Finally, I wrote about it in the Tuesday ScissorTales.

And of course, news broke Tuesday that UCLA quarterback Joey Aguilar would transfer to Tennessee.

The National Football League gives us a straight-up quarterback for quarterback trade about twice a century.

Sonny Jurgensen for Norm Snead, 1964.

Jared Goff for Matthew Stafford, 2021.

Now its come to college, not in the form of a program-engineered trade, but in the form of player-induced swapping.

Tennessees Naco Iamaleava bolts Rocky Top, settles on UCLA and the two-pronged impact scant chance with the Bruins, a void with the Volunteers means Aguilar finds a new home in Knoxville.

So having pushed Tennessee down the SEC quarterback chain, do we need to pull up the Vols? Well, Aguilar transferred to UCLA just 412 months ago, from Appalachian State, where he started two seasons, completed 60.1% of his passes for 6,760 yards, 56 touchdowns and 24 interceptions.

Ran some, not a lot.

Sounds like a good quarterback, not a great quarterback, which come to think of it is how I assessed Iamaleavas Tennessee 2024 season.

This much we know.

Certainly UCLA believes Iamaleava is the superior QB, else it wouldnt have spent the money and risked the headaches that comes with such a spring changeover.

Is Aguilar better than Tennessee redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger? Well find out soon.

Tuesday, I divided the SEC quarterbacks into three tiers and had Merklinger in the bottom tier.

Would Aguilar go there, too? Probably.

Maybe at the bottom of Tier 2, but either way, it doesnt change the equation.

The Sooner schedule got a touch softer.

The November 1 game at Neyland Stadium doesnt figure to be as daunting after the UCLA-Tennessee trade.

Mailbag: Thunder playoff tickets The Thunder has just begun what it hopes is a two-month sojourn to the NBA championship.

Following the Thunder with playoff tickets is a commitment of both time and money.

A reader offered some insight on the Thunder policies and fan motivation to stay committed.

Bill: Please forgive the length, but Ive been thinking about this topic for some time.

Ides of March Eve, March 14, was the deadline for Thunder season ticket members to commit to retaining or refusing their seats at Paycom Center for the 2025 playoffs and/or for the 2025-26 regular season home games (which wont begin for another seven months).

(Some say) the Thunder organization forces such decisions on season ticket members ...

I want to add my perspective as well.

Not as a Thunder insider.

Just a guy with two seats who will be going into his 17th straight season.

Demand for seats at Thunder home games during the 2025 NBA Playoffs substantially exceeds supply.

The only certain way of obtaining some of that scarce commodity is to already be a 2024-25 regular season ticket member.

Those folks get first choice to retain their seats during the playoffs.

Apparently, the vast majority of members these days renew their annual regular-season tickets and exercise their rights to the playoffs, the latter of which is the single greatest benefit of Thunder season-ticket membership.

Choose to not opt into the playoffs, no problem.

The Thunder will simply lease your seats to someone else who is willing to pay for them during 2025 postseason play.

I dont know the policy of other NBA franchises, but the Thunder way seems pretty fair to season-ticket members.

It is a loyalty reward program for those who already have skin in the game, which concurrently produces a steady, predictable income stream for the Thunder organization, I assume.

There may be sticker shock upon first seeing the potential costs of opting in for all the playoff games.

Then you remember that commitment amount is for the max 16 games that could occur, if the Thunder plays four home games in each round of the playoffs, including the NBA Finals.

But maybe the team will continuously advance while playing only two or three home games in some rounds.

So, see, youre already saving money! By opting in, the member agrees to buy their seats for every postseason game the Thunder actually plays.

Their account is not charged until after a winner is determined in each round.

Of course, ticket holders can always put some, or all, of their playoff games on the resale market and be almost guaranteed to get back at least as much money as they paid the Thunder for the tickets.

I compared the member discount price of my seats for the 2025 playoffs to the price I paid for them during the 2024-25 regular season.

The increases appear to be roughly: first round 7%, second round 16%, conference finals 100% and NBA Finals 186%.

Is that fair and reasonable? Dunno.

Prices do go up during the playoffs, but so does the entertainment value, quality of play, gravity of outcomes and public demand for tickets.

Guess it is what it is as long as market demand remains robust.

Regular-season membership is like buying a box of chocolates that you have to wait six months to open, all the while knowing half the contents will not be your favorites.

Still, much of the product will be good-to-great, and by buying the whole box, you earn the right to enter the exclusive candy shoppe (i.e., the playoffs) where only the tastiest treats are kept.

That investment perspective makes it easier to swallow the commitment of treasure and time for the long, six-month, 43-home-game season ticket bundle.

Yes, 43.

The full membership package includes 41 regular season, plus two preseason, Thunder home games (try getting 50 cents on the dollar for those latter two puppies, if you put them on the resale market!).

My seats for 2025-26 cost about 7% more than they did for 2024-25, and the annual increase from 2023-24 to this season was around 5%, as I recall.

The upward direction of the trend line is concerning but apparently has not yet stifled demand.

Wise ticket management is recommended.

I perceive that many, perhaps most, season-ticket members manage their horde of home games by partnering with family and friends to share both the costs and the in-arena experience of watching this extremely entertaining team play.

Its not punishment when I choose to watch a Thunder home game on TV from my easy chair.

In fact, doing so helps keep the full in-arena experience fresh and special when we do go to Paycom Center.

Sometimes less really is more.

Bottom line, Thunder World in 2025 reminds me of 2012 in many ways, including season-ticket membership dynamics.

Back then, if you were not already a season-ticket holder, your chances of becoming one in the next two or three years were very low.

You could go on the waiting list.

Problem was the seating capacity of the arena could not be expanded, and existing season members were not surrendering the rights to their seats.

From where was a major wave of available seats supposed to come? Dont know if season tickets in 2025 are again that tight, but I suspect we are getting close.

Watching the Thunder win an NBA championship in OKCs arena became a bucket list item for me after watching OKC lose to the Miami Heat in the 2012 finals.

It is frustrating that we have not made it back to the finals, despite having contender level teams in 2013 and 2016 (were still not friends, Patrick Beverley and Klay Thompson).

Hope prevailed, however, and I kept renewing my seats through the decline/pandemic/rebuild of the roster, and we are now blessed with the best all-around team in the Thunders short but remarkable history.

Accordingly, I have retained my seats for this years playoffs and expect to do so again in 2026, because I have secured that right by renewing our seats for the 2025-26 regular season.

I was about the current age of you (64) when I first became a season- ticket member in 2009.

Im not decrepit but am getting old, so the day when I choose not to renew my regular-season tickets approaches somewhere over the horizon.

Hopefully, the Thunder will be able to win that elusive championship during the current 15-month window of opportunity.

But even if they fall short, what an exhilarating ride will have been the attempt.

Whenever I do transition 100% to watching the Thunder on TV, I will not have to imagine what it would be like to be there live, in-person at the arena.

With 300-plus games already under my belt, I know exactly what the new people sitting in my seats at that future time will be experiencing! It would be cool to continue retaining my seats until the new arena opens.

Experience that first inaugural season in 2028-29 at the brand new Big House.

Make it my season membership farewell tour and the completion of a full, two-decade partnership with the Thunder.

That would only require three additional seasons beyond what Ive already committed to, and I would only be in my early 80s (What? Holy cow!).

Probably would not be a prudent move, but just getting old does not necessarily guarantee wise decisions will be made! We shall see.

Berry: What a great letter.

Superb information and perspective.

Im pulling for the Thunder to win an NBA title, if only because of Bill..

This article has been shared from the original article on tulsaworld, here is the link to the original article.