The Sooner Athletic Conference released its 2024 preseason poll on Friday, and while the Sooner State isn’t represented at the top spot, it does have three (possibly four) teams primed to win the conference.

The conference standings in 2023 were as tight as they could be. There weren’t any ties in the standings, but only 7 games separated 1st place from 7th place.

Defending 2023 regular season champion, Texas Wesleyan was picked at #1. They finished the ’23 season with a conference record of 18-6 (37-15 overall). TWU was an at-large bid to the NAIA National Tournament in ’23.

USAO was tabbed #2. They had a conference record of 17-7 (35-20) in 2023 and were runner up in the conference tournament. The Drovers were an at-large bid to the NAIA National Tournament as well.

Traditional power, OCU, followed at #3. In 2023, the Starts won the conference tournament and earned the automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament. They finished with records of 16-8 (3rd in conference) and 32-21.

Following at #4 is MACU. They led or were tied for the lead in the conference standings for most of ’23 until a stumble late. They had a record of 15-9 in conference (39-17). The Evangels didn’t qualify for the NAIA National Tournament, but they did win the NCCAA national championship.

Southwestern Christian was picked #7 behind SAGU (#5) and Wayland Baptist (#6). DO NOT SLEEP ON THE EAGLES THIS YEAR. They return 2 NAIA Ball preseason All Americans in Jhors Gomez and Dary Paredes. Gabriel Figueroa also returns as one of the nation’s top pitchers. The Eagles also finished runner up to MACU at the NCCAA National Tournament in an epic 10 inning game.

Panhandle State comes in at #8 and is the last Oklahoma school in the poll.

You can see the conference’s official release here.