ANYONE FOLLOW THIS SPORT.....WAS AT THE HILTON YESTERDAY AND SOME GOOD FUTURES FOR THE COLLEGE WORLD SERIES.....THANX
COLLEGE BSB.....
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Kendall Rogers
Rivals College Baseball Editor
There are times when it's almost impossible to predict what the NCAA Committee will do. There are other Regional selections that just seem to come naturally.
On Selection Monday, there was once again a good mix of the expected and unexpected.
Long Beach State received arguably the toughest Regional draw, while Texas A&M received an easy draw with Dallas Baptist and Houston traveling to College Station.
Oklahoma earning a bid to the NCAA Tournament came as a huge surprise, while rival Oklahoma State was snubbed from a national seed.
We analyze the best and worst of the Field of 64.
KENDALL'S NCAA REGIONAL ANALYSIS
TOUGHEST REGIONAL
We're not real sure what Long Beach State coach Mike Weathers did to the NCAA to get this Regional. In all seriousness, the Long Beach Regional has nothing to do with Weathers, but it certainly is brutal. By virtue of winning the Big West title, Long Beach State earned the top seed in the Regional. That's when it gets tricky. San Diego ? the WCC champion ? is the two seed, while California is the three seed. Well, that doesn't add up. The Golden Bears have a higher RPI than the Toreros, but most disappointing is the fact that three teams with similar RPIs are grouped in one Regional. The committee can talk about keeping things Regional, but this one isn't fair.
EASIEST REGIONAL
Despite finishing the regular season with a hellacious losing streak, the Aggies essentially were rewarded for winning the Big 12 regular season title. A&M didn't earn a national seed, but was granted arguably the easiest Regional. The Aggies welcome Dallas Baptist to College State as the two seed, while Houston joins the party as the three seed. Illinois-Chicago is the four seed. DBU fought the Aggies hard in a three-game series earlier this season, but the Patriots don't exactly possess the resume of a two seed, entering the week with just a record of 14-14 against top-100 RPI teams. Houston has a good team, but is still a middle-of-the-road C-USA club, finishing fourth in that conference behind Rice, Southern Miss and Tulane. Though no Regional is a cakewalk (ask Vanderbilt), this is as close as you can get.
BIGGEST SURPRISE
Oklahoma was in a similar situation last season. The Sooners put together a less than stellar conference resume, and as a result, were left out of the field of 64 on Selection Monday. Fast-forwarding to this year, the Sooners once again entered Selection Monday with a bad conference record, 9-17 to be exact. But unlike last season, the Sooners were granted a bid to the NCAA Tournament. Perhaps the NCAA Committee felt bad for not putting the Sooners in a Regional last season. Maybe it was Oklahoma's 2-1 mark in the Big 12 Tournament that did the trick. At any rate, Oklahoma coach Sunny Golloway didn't believe his Sooners were in the tournament before the show Monday morning. Now they have a renewed sense of confidence.
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT
When the NCAA Committee requested last season that Oklahoma State upgrade its non-conference schedule, the Cowboys did exactly that. The Pokes also had success against that schedule, while also compiling an impressive Big 12 resume that included series wins over Texas A&M, Nebraska, Missouri and Texas. Somehow, the Cowboys weren't a national seed when the pairings were announced Monday morning. The NCAA Committee said the Cowboys didn't earn a national seed, but a closer look at their resume indicates they actually had better numbers against top 25 and top 50 RPI opponents than actual national seeds LSU and Georgia. We asked the NCAA Committee about OSU's national seed snub. To no surprise, chairman Larry Templeton failed to formulate a good answer.
WATCH OUT FOR THE FOUR SEED
Stanford put together one of the nation's most impressive conference resumes this season, but the committee also took note of its struggles in mid-week action. The committee certainly didn't do the Cardinal any favors with the draw in the Palo Alto Regional. Stanford is joined by UC Davis (four seed), Pepperdine (two seed) and Arkansas (three seed). Davis actually went 2-0 against the Cardinal in mid-week games this season, while Pepperdine is a very dangerous team if it gets outfielder Eric Thames back this weekend. Then there's Arkansas, who really came on at the end of the regular season. Though Stanford is hosting a Regional, it could have used a little help from the committee. UC Davis, meanwhile, is a great story. In its first official year in the Big West, the Aggies put together a respectable record and won marquee series against Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara. Having beaten Stanford twice already this season, the Aggies know exactly what to expect this week.
Rivals College Baseball Editor
There are times when it's almost impossible to predict what the NCAA Committee will do. There are other Regional selections that just seem to come naturally.
On Selection Monday, there was once again a good mix of the expected and unexpected.
Long Beach State received arguably the toughest Regional draw, while Texas A&M received an easy draw with Dallas Baptist and Houston traveling to College Station.
Oklahoma earning a bid to the NCAA Tournament came as a huge surprise, while rival Oklahoma State was snubbed from a national seed.
We analyze the best and worst of the Field of 64.
KENDALL'S NCAA REGIONAL ANALYSIS
TOUGHEST REGIONAL
We're not real sure what Long Beach State coach Mike Weathers did to the NCAA to get this Regional. In all seriousness, the Long Beach Regional has nothing to do with Weathers, but it certainly is brutal. By virtue of winning the Big West title, Long Beach State earned the top seed in the Regional. That's when it gets tricky. San Diego ? the WCC champion ? is the two seed, while California is the three seed. Well, that doesn't add up. The Golden Bears have a higher RPI than the Toreros, but most disappointing is the fact that three teams with similar RPIs are grouped in one Regional. The committee can talk about keeping things Regional, but this one isn't fair.
EASIEST REGIONAL
Despite finishing the regular season with a hellacious losing streak, the Aggies essentially were rewarded for winning the Big 12 regular season title. A&M didn't earn a national seed, but was granted arguably the easiest Regional. The Aggies welcome Dallas Baptist to College State as the two seed, while Houston joins the party as the three seed. Illinois-Chicago is the four seed. DBU fought the Aggies hard in a three-game series earlier this season, but the Patriots don't exactly possess the resume of a two seed, entering the week with just a record of 14-14 against top-100 RPI teams. Houston has a good team, but is still a middle-of-the-road C-USA club, finishing fourth in that conference behind Rice, Southern Miss and Tulane. Though no Regional is a cakewalk (ask Vanderbilt), this is as close as you can get.
BIGGEST SURPRISE
Oklahoma was in a similar situation last season. The Sooners put together a less than stellar conference resume, and as a result, were left out of the field of 64 on Selection Monday. Fast-forwarding to this year, the Sooners once again entered Selection Monday with a bad conference record, 9-17 to be exact. But unlike last season, the Sooners were granted a bid to the NCAA Tournament. Perhaps the NCAA Committee felt bad for not putting the Sooners in a Regional last season. Maybe it was Oklahoma's 2-1 mark in the Big 12 Tournament that did the trick. At any rate, Oklahoma coach Sunny Golloway didn't believe his Sooners were in the tournament before the show Monday morning. Now they have a renewed sense of confidence.
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT
When the NCAA Committee requested last season that Oklahoma State upgrade its non-conference schedule, the Cowboys did exactly that. The Pokes also had success against that schedule, while also compiling an impressive Big 12 resume that included series wins over Texas A&M, Nebraska, Missouri and Texas. Somehow, the Cowboys weren't a national seed when the pairings were announced Monday morning. The NCAA Committee said the Cowboys didn't earn a national seed, but a closer look at their resume indicates they actually had better numbers against top 25 and top 50 RPI opponents than actual national seeds LSU and Georgia. We asked the NCAA Committee about OSU's national seed snub. To no surprise, chairman Larry Templeton failed to formulate a good answer.
WATCH OUT FOR THE FOUR SEED
Stanford put together one of the nation's most impressive conference resumes this season, but the committee also took note of its struggles in mid-week action. The committee certainly didn't do the Cardinal any favors with the draw in the Palo Alto Regional. Stanford is joined by UC Davis (four seed), Pepperdine (two seed) and Arkansas (three seed). Davis actually went 2-0 against the Cardinal in mid-week games this season, while Pepperdine is a very dangerous team if it gets outfielder Eric Thames back this weekend. Then there's Arkansas, who really came on at the end of the regular season. Though Stanford is hosting a Regional, it could have used a little help from the committee. UC Davis, meanwhile, is a great story. In its first official year in the Big West, the Aggies put together a respectable record and won marquee series against Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara. Having beaten Stanford twice already this season, the Aggies know exactly what to expect this week.
There is a guy on another forum that knows his college baseball very well and he has the following:
Regionals this weekend.
2* Kentucky +500 to win the Ann Arbor Regional.
2* Georgia Tech +175 to win the Athens Regional.
1* South Carolina +250 to win the Raleigh Regional.
Good luck.
