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It seems like the regular season is simply flying by, as we now enter Week 11 of games.
The Red River Rivalry is set to kick off down in Austin, while the Big Ten and SEC boast some key matchups as well. The ACC has its own fill of headliners, including upset-minded North Carolina, which are coming off of a series win over Florida State.
You can never overlook the mid-majors, either, as UNLV looks to rebound from their series loss to Colorado State, while North Dakota State faces their toughest conference opponent in their neighbors to the south. Â
McNeese and Nicholls State go head-to-head down on the Bayou in a Southland Conference face-off while Hawaii and Cal State Fullerton go toe-to-toe in a noteworthy Big West matchup.
Here are our insights on these matchups and more that will be fun to watch this weekend.
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Texas vs. Oklahoma
We’ll kick off our weekly preview with the matchup that every softball fan will want to keep an eye on, the first Red River Rivalry matchup of the Mike White era with the Longhorns.
Oklahoma now sits at #1 in our Power Rankings, after spending the vast majority of the season in the #2 slot, and will travel to Austin to take on their upstart rivals. The Longhorns have had their bumps and bruises along the way during White’s first year at the helm – a midweek win over UT-Arlington this week was not without its battle scars – but remain a top-level team.
Oklahoma’s senior class that includes Shay Knighten, Sydney Romero, Caleigh Clifton, and Fale Aviu may face the most invigorated Texas squad of their tenure and will look to go out on top in the bitter rivalry, while also asserting themselves as the clear, unabashed conference favorites.
For Texas, even salvaging a single win over Oklahoma would give legitimacy to the Longhorns’ Women’s College World Series contention hopes, while also gaining some major ground in the race for the conference title and a regional hosting bid.
North Dakota State vs. South Dakota
As the year-in, year-out favorites in the Summit League, the Bison of NDSU will take on their toughest challengers to date in the form of the South Dakota Coyotes.
The Coyotes currently hold the conference lead, boasting three more wins in league play while also having played three more conference games than NDSU, while the Bison sit firmly entrenched in the #2 spot, both set apart by several games from the remainder of the league.
KK Leddy leads the NDSU attack from the circle while South Dakota has seen a breakout campaign by Jamie Holscher, who is batting .396 on the season with 10 home runs and a .691 slugging percentage.
