Last Eight In: Michigan State, Boston College, Duke, Long Beach State, Nebraska, Wake Forest, BYU, Arizona State
First Eight Out: California, Maryland, Oregon State, Charleston, Louisiana Tech, Jacksonville, Marshall, Ohio State
With just one week before conference tournament action, the bubble is starting to get crowded. Boston College, Duke and Wake Forest are in a fight for the last few ACC Tournament spots, and should one miss out on that, the NCAA Tournament would likely be out of reach. The Big Ten, Conference USA and Pac-12 provide most of the other teams in the mix for the last few spots. With the Big Ten, there are five teams looking to join Michigan and Minnesota in what could be a four-bid league. The Big Ten’s conference race is still really close, with eight teams within three games of third place. All eight are in the mix for an at-large bid, and Indiana, currently in second place, will try to join them with a conference tournament victory. Teams like Louisiana Tech and Marshall have the Conference USA looking to get a fourth bid like the Big Ten. Louisiana Tech has an RPI of 46 and will look to improve on that in the closing stages of the regular season. Marshall has a lower RPI, 59, but just one game out of first place, the Thundering Herd could basically secure a bid with a CUSA title.
The most interesting conference by far is the Pac-12. Utah, with the second lowest overall winning percentage, sits in first, while the teams that looked to be the class of the Pac-12 earlier this year, California and Oregon State, are squarely on the bubble. Both have RPI’s north of 50 and are headed in the wrong direction. Currently outside the top four in the conference, both will likely need to work their way back into one of those spots if they are going to snag a bad. With no conference tournament, Utah just needs to maintain its one game lead atop the standings to gain the automatic bid. Sounds tough, but with their impressive play during the conference portion of the schedule, it’s within reach.
See the Projected Baseball NCAA Tournament Bracket
ACC: Boston College, Duke, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Virginia, Wake Forest
American: Tulane, East Carolina
Big East: Creighton
Big 12: Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech
Big Ten: Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska
Pac-12: Arizona, Arizona State, Washington, Utah
SEC: Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
A-10: VCU
America East: Binghamton
A-Sun: Kennesaw State
Big South: Coastal Carolina
Big West: UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State
CAA: UNC-Wilmington
C-USA: Florida Atlantic, Rice, Southern Miss
Horizon: Wright State
Ivy: Princeton*
MAAC: Canisius
MAC: Kent State
MEAC: Florida A&M
MVC: Dallas Baptist
MWC: New Mexico
NEC: Bryant
OVC: Southeast Missouri
Patriot: Navy
Southern: UNC Greensboro
Southland: Southeastern Louisiana
Summit: Oral Roberts
Sun Belt: South Alabama, Louisiana
SWAC: Alabama State
WAC: Seattle
WCC: BYU, Gonzaga
See the Projected Baseball NCAA Tournament Bracket
