Road to Omaha thread

[micropolitan guy]

They just opened the NCAA baseball selection show asking whether "one of the perennial ACC powers" will win the title.

You mean the conference that hasn't won an NCAA baseball championship in more than 50 years?

 

[zagoshe]

Good point.

The ACC teams seem to be notorious for their uninspired performances once they get to Omaha.

Last year, North Carolina pulled one of the all-time choke jobs against Oregon State.

And I remember a few years ago FSU probably had the best team but they lost their ace to a torn ACL he sustained when jumping on the pile to celebrate the victory that clinched their spot in the World Series. The kid ended up pitching the championship game against Miami but they were clearly worn down because they lost the first game and had to play a bunch of days in a row.

My question is -- has moving to the ACC helped or hurt Miami's baseball program?

 

[beefncheddar]

I'm trying to think of something more overrated than ACC baseball.

I'm having trouble coming up with something.

 

[zagoshe]

I'm trying to think of something more overrated than ACC baseball.

I'm having trouble coming up with something.

How about -- ACC football since Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College joined? Or ACC basketball?

 

[nafselon]

Well ACC basketball has won two titles this decade so they are exempt.

 

[Claws for Concern]

Three of the 16 regional sites are located in the West - Arizona State, Long Beach State and San Diego State (University of San Diego is the regional host).

As always, I root for the West Coast team that makes it to Omaha. I am a Cal State Fullerton alum, but I also happen to like USD, the No. 5 team in the nation and the newly crowned West Coast Conference champions (regular season and the WCC postseason series champion).


Edit/update: I'm happy as can be now. USD's solid and Cal State Fullerton gets a chance to see what it can do. If both win their first games on Friday, they'll meet up on Saturday night. USD did beat CSF in a mid-week game this season at CSF. Can't wait to go.

 

[zagoshe]

Well ACC basketball has won two titles this decade so they are exempt.

True, though I don't think the league is nearly as deep and strong from top to bottom as Duke Vitale would love us to believe.

 

[kingcreole]

Tough regional in Wichita. Wichita State has enough pitching to make it to Omaha, but Arizona and a very good Oral Roberts team also will play in the Wichita regional.

 

[beefncheddar]

Last I heard, Coastal Carolina's RPI was No. 7. Chants ended up drawing what works out to the No. 11 overall seed.

South Carolina also dropped like a rock. Gamecocks were looking good for a national seed about a week ago and apparently barely landed a No. 1. They're lined up with North Carolina (3 overall).

 

[GB-Hack]

The big deal they were making on the selection show was only five SEC teams making the field.

Is it that big a deal that Tennessee et al. are out? I know Florida wasn't eligible, but still, you think there'd be more.

 

[NCScrub]

The ACC deserves the grief it gets for not winning it all, but it did have four of the eight teams in Omaha last year. I'm sure there's an argument for host teams doing their job by holding serve, but it's not like the ACC teams were all knocked out in the regional round last year.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

The official novel of this thread:

I'm trying to think of something more overrated than ACC baseball.

I'm having trouble coming up with something.

Big 1T1en football.

 

[beefncheddar]

The ACC getting 7 and the SEC getting 5 is absurd. And who was it that got 6?

I've got no problem, whatsoever, if the SEC is losing picks because the committee is giving those picks to lesser conferences. For other "power" conferences to get that many, though, makes no sense to me at all.

N.C. State and Wake Forest would get their doors blown off if they had to play an SEC schedule. SEC teams are punished for the conference's depth, while teams in other conferences are able to fatten their records up on some pretty wretched teams.

 

[beefncheddar]

Wofford moved to the Columbia, SC, regional on account of NCAA's ****up. Committee had two SoCon teams in the same regional. That's kind of against the rules. ;D

 

[GB-Hack]

The ACC getting 7 and the SEC getting 5 is absurd. And who was it that got 6?

I've got no problem, whatsoever, if the SEC is losing picks because the committee is giving those picks to lesser conferences. For other "power" conferences to get that many, though, makes no sense to me at all.

N.C. State and Wake Forest would get their doors blown off if they had to play an SEC schedule. SEC teams are punished for the conference's depth, while teams in other conferences are able to fatten their records up on some pretty wretched teams.

The Big 12 got 6 teams in.

 

[beefncheddar]

The Big 12 got 6 teams in.

Thanks. Figured it must have been them.

Also of note: Super Regional team from last year and conference co-champion this year College of Charleston left out. Western Carolina was the second team from the SoCon, a team the Cougars swept this season. C of C and WCU each went 2-and-out in the SoCon Tournament.

 

[Birdscribe]

My Titans, sporting their worst conference record and worst conference finish (T-5) since 1989, somehow got a No. 2 seed and somehow stayed on the West Coast.

Figures. I'm actually tournament free around CWS time and there's little chance Fullerton will sniff Omaha this year with that pitching staff.

 

[slappy4428]

Good News: Big Ten got three spots.
Bad news: Big Ten champ has to go through a National Seed.

 

[BigRed]

The ACC getting 7 and the SEC getting 5 is absurd. And who was it that got 6?

I've got no problem, whatsoever, if the SEC is losing picks because the committee is giving those picks to lesser conferences. For other "power" conferences to get that many, though, makes no sense to me at all.

N.C. State and Wake Forest would get their doors blown off if they had to play an SEC schedule. SEC teams are punished for the conference's depth, while teams in other conferences are able to fatten their records up on some pretty wretched teams.

Did a little math before the ACC and SEC Tournaments started. The average RPIs for the tournament fields (8 teams apiece) went like this: The ACC - 16.1. The SEC - 26.4.
The ACC was simply a stronger conference this year, while the SEC had a down year. Alabama and Tennessee had RPIs in the 50's. Florida had a sub.-500 overall record.
Only a weak last 10 games (Georgia Tech was 2-8) kept the ACC from getting 8 teams in.
Will they make the most of it? Who knows. They didn't last year when they had 4 teams in Omaha. But the ACC is stronger than people give it credit for.

 

[Platyrhynchos]

I'll say it, just so someone can post the foto again:

Shockers.