With Texas softball starting their 2023 campaign this month, the Longhorns seem poised to carry all the momentum they garnered from their run in the Women’s College World Series Championship Series. The Longhorns will be facing familiar opponents from last year throughout the season. Here are some notable teams that will prove to be a challenge based off of the previous season’s matchups. 

Oklahoma: The familiar presence of the Oklahoma Sooners will be a tough test for Texas heading out of the South Florida Showdown. This season, the Longhorns have the task of facing the defending national champions, who were 18-0 at home during their 2022 championship season, outscoring their opponents 135-16. Texas has lost its previous five of six matchups against the Sooners, in which three of those losses were in the Women’s College World Series. The Championship Series rematch between the two is set to take place Mar. 31-Apr. 2 in Austin.

Oklahoma State: Also across the Red River, Oklahoma State seemed to have the Longhorns’ number in its previous regular season matchups in 2022, in which the Cowgirls were able to sweep the Longhorns in Stillwater by a combined score of 8-3. The teams would meet again three times later in the season, with Oklahoma State beating Texas in the Big 12 Championship, 6-1. However, the Longhorns won where it mattered most, sweeping the Cowgirls (5-0 in Game 1 and 6-5 in Game 2) in the WCWS to advance to the Championship Series against Oklahoma. The Cowgirls and Longhorns will meet this season from Apr. 20-22 in Austin at McCombs Field. 

Alabama: Texas has struggled with Alabama in its past several contests. Since 2005, the programs have faced-off eight times, in which the Crimson Tide won in all but two of those games. Last season in the T-Mobile Crimson Classic, the Longhorns fell twice to  then-No. 2 Alabama, losing 5-4 and 3-1. Both teams will meet again for the second consecutive year in the Bevo Classic from Mar. 10-11, with Texas playing in front of a home crowd at McCombs Field. 

As the season progresses, the Longhorns will get to prove themselves against these established programs as they move through their schedule in 2023.