The Oklahoma Sooners took down the North Carolina Tar Heels by winning two out of three games to win the 2026 national championship. It is the third national title in the program’s history and the first one since 1994.
En route to a national championship, Oklahoma put together an improbable run, taking down some huge opponents. World Baseball Network takes a look at the Sooners’ improbable run to their third national championship.
Oklahoma takes down multiple conference champions to get to the College World Series
Heading into the NCAA Tournament, the Oklahoma Sooners had lost four straight weekend series in Southeastern Conference (SEC) play. They also lost the only game they played in the 2026 SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala. to the LSU Tigers.
In other words, the Sooners were not playing their best baseball with the NCAA Tournament on the horizon.
Nonetheless, Oklahoma was the two-seed in the Atlanta regional that the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets hosted. Georgia Tech was the number two national seed and had won the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) regular season and tournament titles.
After two wins over The Citadel and a 9-3 loss to Georgia Tech to begin the NCAA Tournament, the Sooners had their backs against the wall in the Atlanta regional final. They needed to beat Georgia Tech twice to advance and did so. In two straight games, Oklahoma defeated the Yellow Jackets. In the second game, the Sooners pulled off a thrilling 8-7 win in extra innings.
Oklahoma’s road to the College World Series continued in the Lawrence super regional that was hosted by the Kansas Jayhawks. Kansas was having its best season in program history, having won the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles.
Unlike the Atlanta regional, Oklahoma did not struggle as much with Kansas at Hoglund Ballpark. The Sooners swept the Lawrence super regional in two games. In those two games, Oklahoma outscored Kansas 21-3. After the super regional win, Oklahoma advanced to the College World Series for the 12th time in program history and the third time in the 21st century.
Sooners take down the SEC champions twice in the College World Series
The slaughtering of conference champions did not end once Oklahoma made it to the College World Series. The Sooners were placed in a double-elimination group that consisted of all SEC teams. The other three teams in the group with them were Texas, Alabama, and Georgia.
After a 9-0 win over Alabama to open the College World Series, the Sooners then defeated Georgia twice to advance to the national championship series against North Carolina.
Georgia brought home the SEC regular season and tournament championships in 2026. This means that Oklahoma defeated three conference champions en route to its 2026 national championship.
It has a case to be one of the best NCAA Tournament runs in recent college baseball history.
WBN NCAA: https://worldbaseball.com/league/ncaa/
PHOTO: Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson, top center, and his team pose for photos with the championship trophy following their victory over North Carolina in Game 3 of the NCAA College World Series baseball finals in Omaha, Neb., Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz)
