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College  | Story  | 5/2/2013

College Field of 64: May 2

Kendall Rogers     

  • By this point, the NCAA is doing an excellent job of putting out the updated RPI figures each week. Well, as expected, there were plenty of teams that both moved up a lot in the past week, and those that suffered stiff consequences of some tough losses. Arizona State benefitted from another solid week, going from 20 to 14 in the latest RPI, while Troy went from 57 to 34, Campbell from 46 to 35, Lamar from 68 to 49, West Virginia from 105 to 71, South Florida from 96 to 78, New Mexico from 72 to 40, North Florida 62 to 44, Arizona 64 to 45 and Oklahoma State from 76 to 51.

  • And on the flip side of things, plenty of teams dropped in this week's RPI, some in significant fashion. San Diego dropped from 31 to 50, William & Mary dropped from 30 to 54, Auburn dropped from 37 to 58, Texas A&M dropped from 34 to 60, Loyola Marymount dropped from 42 to 67, Cal State Bakersfield dropped from 58 to 74 and Gonzaga fell from 52 to 89.

  • There's no doubt the perceived mid-major conferences are reaping the benefits of some power conferences such as Conference USA and the Big 12 having weaker than normal campaigns. The Big East, Big Ten and Sun Belt are primary beneficiaries of this situation heading down the stretch. For now, we have the Big East getting three bids to the NCAA postseason with Louisville, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame leading the charge. But a very compelling case also can be made for South Florida, which has an RPI of 78 after having an RPI of 96 last week. In other words, the Bulls continue to improve their resume and actually lead the Big East standings at this point.

    As for the Big Ten, it's been a golden year for that conference thus far, and that league has even more chances down the stretch to help its conference profile. For instance, Ohio State, which is in this week's field, finishes the regular season with a bang, hosting Oregon and Indiana for three-game series. The rest of the league looks pretty good, too. Michigan State, which saw its RPI drop this week, is still in good shape to make the postseason, and actually was a borderline No. 2 seed, though, we moved the Spartans to a No. 3 seed this week. Meanwhile, Indiana is in great shape to host and even could get back into the mix as a national seed, while Minnesota, Illinois, and Nebraska are still in the mix for at-large bids, though the Fighting Illini and Huskers each have a lot of work to do.

    Then there's the Sun Belt. The Sun Belt is having a terrific spring on the diamond, and actually ranks fifth overall in Conference RPI with Florida Atlantic, South Alabama, Troy and Louisiana-Lafayette all in this week's field of 64. South Alabama could soon enter the mix as a potential NCAA Regional host site. The Jaguars have an excellent RPI of 15, but have an overall resume that can't handle too many hiccups down the stretch. For instance, the Jaguars are 0-2 vs. RPI Top 25, 4-7 vs. RPI Top 50 and 12-11 vs. RPI Top 100. Not hosting material at this point, but things could change down the stretch with series remaining against Middle Tennessee State (55), Louisiana-Lafayette (24) and Troy (33).

  • The top eight national seeds weren't difficult to put together this week. Though Oregon suffered a bad midweek loss to Seattle, it's still in good shape for a second Pac-12 national seed with a 34-11 overall record. The Ducks, though, don't have a lot of room for error with a 5-8 mark vs. RPI Top 25, 8-8 record vs. RPI Top 50 and 13-8 record vs. RPI Top 100. If not the Ducks, chances are good the final national seed would've gone to Florida State or South Carolina. The Seminoles are higher in the pecking order at this point with a 35-9 overall record, along with an 8-8 record vs. RPI Top 25, 10-9 record vs. RPI Top 50 and 20-9 mark vs. RPI Top 100, while the Gamecocks have rising stock. They're now 13-8 in the SEC after taking that road series from LSU last weekend, and are 4-5 vs. RPI Top 25, 7-8 vs. RPI Top 50 and 20-10 vs. RPI Top 100. Again, not a fabulous resume, but it's one that likely only will get better down the stretch.

  • The NCAA Selection Committee often talks about geographic balance, and that's precisely why Oklahoma is a host this week. The Sooners don't have an impressive resume with an RPI of 41 this week, but are leading the Big 12 Conference and present some balance geographically with no host sites expected in the State of Texas. Going deeper into the Sooners, they're 1-0 vs. RPI Top 25, 5-4 vs. RPI Top 50 and 14-7 vs. RPI Top 100. Clemson just missed the cut for a host site. The Tigers have a good ACC record, an RPI of 16, along with an 8-10 record vs. RPI Top 25 and 17-12 mark vs. RPI Top 100. Interestingly, keep an eye on Arkansas. The Hogs have a solid SEC record, but still have just an RPI of 53. Resume-wise, the Hogs are 7-7 vs. RPI Top 25, 10-9 vs. RPI Top 50 and 17-13 vs. RPI Top 100. Keep an eye on the Razorbacks if they finish the regular season in strong fashion. They could very well be one of those teams that uses the SEC tournament to their advantage in the coming weeks.


    -- The projected national seeds are listed on the left, seed denoted in parenthesis. Regional on the right matches up to be projected NCAA Super Regional.
    * Denotes automatic bid
    ^ Denotes at-large bid


    College Baseball Field of 64 (May 2)
    Chapel Hill, N.C., Regional
    1. North Carolina* (1)
    4. Maine*

    2. UNC Wilmington*
    3. Florida Atlantic^
    		 Bloomington, Ind., Regional
    1. Indiana*
    4. Missouri State*

    2. Kentucky^
    3. Notre Dame^
    Nashville, Tenn., Regional
    1. Vanderbilt* (2)
    4. Holy Cross*

    2. Mercer^
    3. Ohio State^
    		 Tallahassee, Fla., Regional
    1. Florida State^
    4. Bethune-Cookman*

    2. South Alabama*
    3. North Florida*
    Corvallis, Ore., Regional
    1. Oregon State* (3)
    4. South Dakota State*

    2. Kansas State^
    3. Gonzaga*
    		 Louisville, Ky., Regional
    1. Louisville*
    4. Saint Louis*

    2. Virginia Tech^
    3. Michigan State^
    Baton Rouge, La., Regional
    1. Louisiana State^ (4)
    4. Jackson State*

    2. Louisiana-Lafayette^
    3. Baylor^
    		 Tempe, Ariz., Regional
    1. Arizona State^
    4. Wisconsin-Milwaukee*

    2. New Mexico*
    3. Oklahoma State^
    Fullerton, Calif., Regional
    1. Cal State Fullerton* (5)
    4. Rider*

    2. Rice^
    3. San Diego^
    		 Los Angeles
    1. UCLA^
    4. CSU Bakersfield*

    2. Mississippi^
    3. UC Irvine^
    Charlottesville, Va., Regional
    1. Virginia^ (6)
    4. Bryant*

    2. Florida^
    3. Pittsburgh^
    		 Starkville, Miss., Regional
    1. Mississippi State^
    4. Jacksonville State*

    2. Clemson^
    3. Southern Mississippi*
    Raleigh, N.C., Regional
    1. North Carolina State^ (7)
    4. Buffalo*

    2. Alabama^
    3. Coastal Carolina*
    		 Columbia, S.C. Regional
    1. South Carolina^
    4. Western Carolina*

    2. Miami (Fla.)^
    3. Troy^
    Eugene, Ore., Regional
    1. Oregon^ (8)
    4. Dartmouth*

    2. Georgia Tech^
    3. Cal Poly^
    		 Norman, Okla., Regional
    1. Oklahoma*
    4. Sam Houston State*

    2. Arkansas^
    3. Arizona^
    Last five: Baylor, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma State, Florida Atlantic, Arizona.
    Next 10: Austin Peay, Central Arkansas, Campbell, Seton Hall, Lamar, William & Mary, Kansas, South Florida, Minnesota, Stanford.
     
    Conference automatic bids

    America East: Maine
    Atlantic 10: Saint Louis
    Atlantic Coast: North Carolina
    Atlantic Sun: North Florida
    Big Ten: Indiana
    Big 12: Oklahoma
    Big East: Louisville
    Big South: Coastal Carolina
    Big West: Cal State Fullerton
    Colonial Athletic: UNC Wilmington
    Conference USA: Southern Mississippi
    Horizon: Wisconsin-Milwaukee
    Ivy League: Dartmouth
    Metro Atlantic: Rider
    Mid-American: Buffalo
    Mid-Eastern Athletic: Bethune-Cookman
    Missouri Valley: Missouri State
    Mountain West: New Mexico
    Northeast: Bryant
    Ohio Valley: Jacksonville State
    Pac-12: Oregon State
    Patriot: Holy Cross
    Southeastern: Louisiana State
    Southern: Western Carolina
    Southland: Sam Houston State
    Southwestern Athletic: Jackson State
    Summit: South Dakota State
    Sun Belt: South Alabama
    West Coast: Gonzaga
    Western Athletic: Cal State Bakersfield

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