Patrick Murphy encourages another softball power to come aboard the Alabama bandwagon

While the Alabama Crimson Tide march on, the Oklahoma Sooners' season ended on the softball field long before many OU fans expected. Oklahoma may be the perennial power in the sport, but the Sooners did not get past the Mississippi State Bulldogs when it mattered most. With the Women's College World Series being in Oklahoma City, many fans are left looking for a new team to root for...

Leave it up to Alabama manager Patrick Murphy to plead his case for why that team should be Bama.

"Well, first to all the Oklahoma fans that are looking for a team to cheer for, it's right here. We have the same color palette. A-M-A at the bottom, you can almost think it says Oklahoma. Just pretend it does. So I'll take those 10,000 fans cheering for us."

He went on to explain why Mississippi State made the WCWS, and not the buzz saw that is Oklahoma.

"I don't know. I think it's parity in the sport. I don't think anybody ever thought it would happen. You have SEC going against SEC, just like we did last year to Oklahoma. First game was really good. Second game, not so good..."

Murphy then talked about how special it is for a team like Mississippi State to make it for the first time.

"For the sport and for just the fans involved, it gives them another opportunity to get to know another team, such as [Mississippi] State. And one of the coolest things about this year is there [were] two schools in the SEC that had not made the World Series, and they both made it this year."

Outside of Vanderbilt who does not field a softball team, every team in the SEC has finally made it in!

"I hope you guys realize there's 15 schools in the SEC, and now every single one of us has made a World Series. Unbelievable."

Here is everything Murphy had to say at the podium about Alabama, Oklahoma, and Mississippi State.

Alabama starts out with a brutal draw of UCLA in its first game of the Women's College World Series.

Patrick Murphy tried his best to convert Oklahoma fans into Alabama fans

Of the eight teams who qualified for this year's Women's College World Series, five hail from the SEC. Alabama and Mississippi State are joined by Arkansas, Tennessee, and Texas A&M out of their league. The three other teams who are still playing for a national championship are Nebraska, Texas Tech, and obviously UCLA. Of course, we still have an incredibly long way to go before we do crown a champion.

For those who need a bit of a refresher, here is how the Women's College World Series bracket shakes out... Four teams will be on one side of the bracket, with the other four on the other. It is a double-elimination tournament on either side of the bracket, with a twist... Once we get to the championship finals, then it will be a best-of-three. Who else could Alabama have to get past first?

On the Crimson Tide's initial side of the bracket, there is Arkansas, Nebraska, and UCLA. If Alabama beats UCLA on Thursday evening, it will face the winner of the Arkansas vs. Nebraska game on Saturday. A loss to the Bruins will have the Crimson Tide up against it, playing in an elimination game on Friday vs. the loser of Arkansas vs. Nebraska. If the Crimson Tide were to win, then it gets weird...

Read more: WCWS logo snafu is wildly disrespectful to Patrick Murphy and Alabama softball

While a win over UCLA and a subsequent win over the Arkansas vs. Nebraska winner would get them to the semifinals on their side of the bracket, a win over UCLA and then a loss to the Arkansas vs. Nebraska winner shoots them to the other side of the bracket. Alabama would then play the winner of the elimination game between the Mississippi State-Texas Tech loser and the Texas-Tennessee loser.

Ultimately, this field seems to be more wide-open than expected with Oklahoma not part of it. Yes, Mississippi State is a massive underdog to win the entire thing, but those Bulldogs could be a team of destiny. For now, Murphy has a team that can hang with anyone. It might not be an easy road to navigate, but Alabama has to prove to itself first that it is as steady as it comes to pick up new fans.

Since Crimson and Cream is almost Crimson and White, let's not overthink the room here with this...

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