With college basketball's March Madness going on, I only have time for some brief softball items at this point: No. 1 Oklahoma continues to roll along, advancing to 30-1 with a three-game sweep at Iowa State this past weekend to begin Big 12 play. The Sooners outscored the Cyclones by a cumulative 26-3, but the opener was a close 3-0 decision. OU will host No. 8/9 Texas in a three-game series this weekend. Talking about Texas, the Longhorns swept Texas Tech (where I teach) over the weekend. The Red Raider program has experienced extensive coaching turnover in recent years, but has fared well this season under new coach Craig Snider . Texas Tech completed its nonconference slate with a 26-8 record, including wins over ranked Maryland and Texas State. And even though the Raiders lost all three games at Texas, two were by one run (3-2 Friday and 4-3 Saturday). Sticking with the Big 12, No. 2 Oklahoma State (29-2) swept Baylor by scores of 6-5 (11 innings), 5-0 and 5-1. In the SEC, No.

ESPN.com presents the opinions of several softball experts -- a roundtable in writing -- on key trends one month into the 2023 season ( link ). Who are the most impressive teams so far? Which teams need to raise their game? Who are the breakout players? Take a look to see the answers to these and other questions!

When UCLA loses, it loses big! The No. 2 Bruins (25-2) have only two losses on the season thus far, but both have been of the run-rule variety. The first was a 14-0 loss to No. 1 Oklahoma in the Mary Nutter Classic two weeks ago. The Sooners are going to make a lot of teams look bad, so this UCLA loss, while surprising, was not shocking.  The Bruins' second run-rule loss, which came 8-0 (5 innings) to Cal in the middle game of the teams' three-game series, is truly shocking! The Golden Bears tied for last in the Pac 12 last year. Cal appears to be improved this season, with an overall 18-6 record so far. One conceivably could imagine the Bears beating the Bruins in a game. But run-ruling them? UCLA ace Megan Faraimo pitched briefly in relief in the Bruins' loss, giving up, consecutively, a single, double, single, and homer in the third inning and recording only one out. UCLA did win the first (4-0) and third (10-1, 6 innings) games of the Cal series, though. No. 3 Oklaho

No. 2 UCLA headlines the field at this year's Judi Garman Classic , as the Bruins (17-1) look to bounce back from their 14-0 shellacking at the hands of Oklahoma last Sunday. The only other Top 25 teams in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll traveling to Fullerton, California for the Garman Classic are No. 15 LSU and No. 20 Oregon. The other squads in the 12-team field are Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Cal State Fullerton, Central Florida, Fresno St., Loyola Marymount, Michigan, Minnesota, San Jose St., and Seattle. Each team will play five games in the tournament.