Jennie Baranczyk’s squad faces a relentless gauntlet featuring 17 NCAA Tournament opponents and a showdown in Paris, testing the Sweet Sixteen returners against the nation’s elite programs
Jennie Baranczyk’s team is not going to spend the winter looking for quality opportunities. The opportunities are already built into the calendar.
Oklahoma announced its full 2026-27 women’s basketball schedule Thursday, and the headline is simple: this is a résumé-builder from the jump.
The Sooners will play 31 regular-season games, including 17 against teams that reached the 2026 NCAA Tournament. That list also includes four matchups against three different Final Four teams from a year ago.
For a program coming off a Sweet Sixteen run and trying to keep climbing in the SEC, that is exactly the kind of slate you want if the goal is more than just hanging around the bubble conversation.
Oklahoma will play 16 games at Lloyd Noble Center, nine true road games, and six neutral-site contests. The season opens with an exhibition against Southern Nazarene on Oct. 25 in Norman, then gets exotic in a hurry with a Nov. 2 matchup against North Carolina in Paris as part of the Oui-Play Classic.
After that, the Sooners come home for a long stretch at Lloyd Noble, hosting Morgan State, San Jose State, Oral Roberts, Southern, Texas Southern, and Northwestern State in a six-game home stand.
That early home run should help Oklahoma find its identity before the non-conference schedule starts throwing heavier names at it. Virginia and Montana State are waiting in Jacksonville. Syracuse is next on Dec. 3 in the SEC/ACC Challenge, a series Oklahoma has handled well so far. Then come Michigan in Brooklyn, Bedlam against Oklahoma State at Paycom Center, and a late non-conference meeting with defending national champion UCLA at a site still to be determined.
There is nothing soft about that stretch.
The SEC slate is just as demanding. Oklahoma’s home-and-home this year is against South Carolina, the defending national runner-up and a program the Sooners split with last season. That alone raises the temperature of the league schedule. OU opens SEC play at Ole Miss on Dec. 31, then brings Missouri to Norman for the conference home opener on Jan. 3.
The rest of the home league slate includes Georgia, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Alabama, South Carolina, Auburn, and Texas. The road list is no easier: Tennessee, South Carolina, Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Florida, and LSU.
In other words, if Oklahoma is as good as the preseason buzz suggests, the schedule will give it every chance to prove it. The Sooners enter the year ranked 14th in The Athletic’s preseason top 15 and return seven players from last season’s Sweet Sixteen team, led by Aaliyah Chavez and Sahara Williams.
That core is why this calendar makes sense.
Baranczyk is not building a schedule around survival. She is building one around a team expected to compete.
Tip times and TV designations will come later. The broader point is already clear. Oklahoma has the home dates to build confidence, the neutral-site games to create buzz, and the SEC gauntlet to settle every argument about where this program stands. For a team with Final Four ambition, this is not a schedule to fear. It is one to use.
2026-27 Oklahoma Women’s Basketball Schedule
Sunday, Oct. 25 - vs. Southern Nazarene - Norman - Exhibition
Monday, Nov. 2 - vs. North Carolina - Paris, France
Sunday, Nov. 8 - vs. Morgan State - Norman
Tuesday, Nov. 10 - vs. San Jose State - Norman
Friday, Nov. 13 - vs. Oral Roberts - Norman
Sunday, Nov. 15 - vs. Southern - Norman
Tuesday, Nov. 17 - vs. Texas Southern - Norman
Thursday, Nov. 19 - vs. Northwestern State - Norman
Monday, Nov. 23 - vs. Virginia - Jacksonville, Fla.
Tuesday, Nov. 24 - vs. Montana State - Jacksonville, Fla.
Thursday, Dec. 3 - at Syracuse - Syracuse, N.Y.
Saturday, Dec. 5 - vs. Michigan - Brooklyn, N.Y.
Wednesday, Dec. 9 - vs. Southern Illinois - Norman
Saturday, Dec. 12 - vs. Oklahoma State - Oklahoma City, Okla.
Monday, Dec. 21 - vs. Louisiana Monroe - Norman
Thursday, Dec. 31 - at Ole Miss - Oxford, Miss.
Sunday, Jan. 3 - vs. Missouri - Norman
Thursday, Jan. 7 - vs. Georgia - Norman
Sunday, Jan. 10 - at Tennessee - Knoxville, Tenn.
Thursday, Jan. 14 - at South Carolina - Columbia, S.C.
Monday, Jan. 18 - vs. UCLA - Location TBA
Thursday, Jan. 21 - at Mississippi State - Starkville, Miss.
Sunday, Jan. 24 - vs. Kentucky - Norman
Thursday, Jan. 28 - vs. Vanderbilt - Norman
Sunday, Jan. 31 - at Texas A&M - College Station, Texas
Thursday, Feb. 4 - vs. Alabama - Norman
Monday, Feb. 8 - vs. South Carolina - Norman
Thursday, Feb. 11 - at Arkansas - Fayetteville, Ark.
Sunday, Feb. 14 - at Florida - Gainesville, Fla.
Sunday, Feb. 21 - vs. Auburn - Norman
Thursday, Feb. 25 - vs. Texas - Norman
Sunday, Feb. 28 - at LSU - Baton Rouge, La.
