The giant bracket viewable from the concourse at Devon Park was updated Thursday afternoon to display a marquee matchup in the Women’s College World Series.

The marquee matchup in softball.

Oklahoma vs. UCLA. The dynastic program of the last decade vs. softball’s historic superpower. The Bruins and Sooners, with 19 national championships between them.

All set for a 2 p.m. Saturday slot on ABC.

“This is going to be a great matchup,” OU coach Patty Gasso said. “It’s going to be great for television. It’s going to be two teams really fighting for championships.”

Sixth-seeded UCLA, winners of 14 in a row, beat Alabama 4-1 Thursday afternoon before No. 2 seed OU, riding a 10-game winning streak, dispatched Duke 9-1 in six innings.

“UCLA has been playing really, really well,” Gasso said. “Kelly (Inouye-Perez) did a great job of turning that program around because they weren’t starting very well. Their freshmen and sophomores have stepped up big time for them. They have a really lethal lineup. This should be a really, really fun game to watch.”

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The Sooners and Bruins are no strangers.

“We have a big history here at the World Series, without question. Very respectful. A lot of our players know their players,” said Gasso, who has eight players from California. “They probably know more UCLA players than any other team. So there’s that connection.”

There’s also the winning connection.

UCLA, with its 12 national championships, is the most storied program in the sport. OU isn’t far behind. The Sooners are aiming for a four-peat. A title this season would be the eighth in program history.

OU is 48-23 all-time at the Women’s College World Series, but the Sooners have a losing record (3-4) in the WCWS against the Bruins. Among opponents OU has faced multiple times in the WCWS, it only has a losing record against UCLA and Cal (2-3).

UCLA beat OU in the 2019 championship series. The Sooners have ruled the sport ever since.

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Both OU and UCLA are at an inflection point due to conference realignment. The Bruins are Big Ten-bound, leaving the ashes of the Pac-12 behind. OU is off to the SEC.

This week, Gasso, a native Californian, has lamented the collapse of the Pac-12.

“Really hard for me to fathom because of the history of softball,” Gasso said. “I don’t know, I’m sentimental over that.”

Conferences change, but OU and UCLA remain the standard bearers of college softball.

Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU vs. UCLA. The WCWS is set for college softball's marquee matchup