Field of 64: May 11 | Perfect Game Top 25 | College Spotlight | College Player Database
We are ten days from Selection Monday and it seems that the RPI is the top of College Baseball conversation all day and every day. On that note, let’s have some fun and let the computer pick the field this week.
So this Field of 64 will be determined by RPI for the following spots: Top 8 National Seeds, the other eight host sites, and the 33 at-large bids. Automatic bids will be given to the teams currently in first place with RPI being used as a tiebreaker.
After listing out the RPI’s Field of 64, we will break down some of the selections that may not come to fruition. Hopefully the RPI doesn’t get hurt feelings over this.
Note that all of these at-large teams must meet the NCAA’s criteria for inclusion: each at-large team must be over-.500 in their games versus Division I opponents.
Note: the number listed after each team will be their RPI as of Wednesday night of this week.
31 Automatic Bids by Conference:
America East: Binghamton #47
AAC: South Florida #21
A10: Rhode Island #57
ACC: Louisville #3
ASUN: Jacksonville #77
Big 12: TCU #6
Big East: Creighton #169
Big South: Winthrop #90
Big 10: Minnesota #69
Big West: Long Beach State #20
CAA: UNCW #144
CUSA: Southern Miss #14
Horizon: Illinois-Chicago #127
Ivy: Yale #55
MAAC: Fairfield #167
MAC: Kent State #76
MEAC: Norfolk State #260
MVC: Missouri State #15
MWC: New Mexico #49
NEC: Bryant #147
OVC: Tennessee Tech #95
Pac 12: Oregon State #1
Patriot: Holy Cross #221
SEC: Florida #5
Southern: Mercer #51
Southland: McNeese State #42
SWAC: Jackson State #220
Summit: Oral Roberts #91
Sun Belt: South Alabama #39
WCC: BYU #72
WAC: New Mexico State #105
33 At-Large Bids:
North Carolina #2
Texas Tech #4
Kentucky #7
Clemson #8
Wake Forest #9
Baylor #10
Stanford #11
LSU #12
Virginia #13
Oklahoma #16
Arizona #17
Arkansas #18
West Virginia #19
Houston #22
Vanderbilt #23
Mississippi State #24
Texas #25
Florida State #26
UCF #27
Southeastern Louisiana #28
St. John’s #29
Indiana #30
South Carolina #31
Michigan #32
Louisiana Tech #33
Ole Miss #34
Maryland #35
NC State #36
Texas A&M #37
Nebraska #38
Connecticut #41
Auburn #43
Cal State Fullerton #44
Bubble Out:
Old Dominion #45
Coastal Carolina #46
Louisiana-Lafayette #47
Utah #50
San Diego #52
Bubble Out Tier 2:
Loyola Marymount #53
St. Mary’s #58
Kansas #59
UCLA #60
DBU #61
Host Sites (Top 8 are the National Seeds)
1. Oregon State
2. North Carolina
3. Louisville
4. Texas Tech
5. Florida
6. TCU
7. Kentucky
8. Clemson
9. Wake Forest
10. Baylor
11. Stanford
12. LSU
13. Virginia
14. Southern Miss
15. Missouri State
16. Oklahoma
Random Thoughts:
First of all, the Field of 64 never has been and never will be selected solely on RPI. The Selection Committee uses RPI as a starting point and rightfully uses many other factors. That said, bubble teams would be frightened to observe that the highest RPI to receive an at-large bid in this exercise was No. 44 Cal State Fullerton.
Regarding the Top 8 National Seeds, Clemson’s recent skid (1-8 versus Florida State, UNC, and Louisville) will be prohibitive. It still looks like the final two spots will come down to LSU, Kentucky, and Stanford assuming TCU can hold strong without the recently injured Luken Baker.
Missouri State is a wildcard among the next eight hosts as their stadium partner (the Springfield Cardinals) has a home series during the weekend of Regionals. Ironically, RPI No. 10 Baylor looks the most vulnerable among this group per their 11-10 record in the Big 12. Long Beach State has run away with the Big West and it would be a surprise to see them left out of the hosting mix.
We continue to harp on teams with unsightly conference records and the next two weeks will be critical opportunities for those teams to clean that up. Teams in this grouping include Texas, Florida State, Ole Miss and South Carolina.
St. John’s is a team who will be extremely vulnerable if they don’t win either the regular season or conference tournament championship in the Big East. Indiana is another team with a RPI-dominant resume as they currently sit in 6th place in the Big Ten and Minnesota (RPI #69) could very well win the league. Old Dominion on the other hand looks very viable based on their 18-9 record in Conference USA, good for second place right now.
Two fascinating leagues to follow over the next two weekends are the Sun Belt and the Big 12. Coastal Carolina is coming on like gangbusters and that leaves a very crowded top of the Sun Belt with South Alabama, UTA, Louisiana-Lafayette, Georgia Southern, and the Chanticleers. This feels like a three-bid league and the conference tourney could be a wild one. Kansas has also gotten hot and that leaves the Big 12 with what appears to be seven teams vying for six spots in Regionals.
No matter how this plays out, we are a mere 29 days from Omaha and it’s going to be a fantastic ride.