Last Eight In: Auburn, Cal State Fullerton, California, Connecticut, Liberty, Mississippi, Ohio State, Oklahoma
First Eight Out: Alabama, Bradley, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Radford, San Diego State, Texas, Texas Tech
This week’s projection of the NCAA Tournament has a chance to change immensely before now and the end of the season. This can be attributed to the fact that a large portion of teams in power conferences have average resumes. You can look at the SEC, Big 12, ACC and Pac-12 and what you’ll see are clear teams at the top and a jumbled mess below. RPI’s and strength of schedules have plagued both teams with solid records and sub par ones. Alabama, Kentucky and West Virginia all have RPI’s in the top 44, but none of those three teams have won more than 21 games and all three have a strength of schedule below 75. Teams like Arizona, San Diego State, Texas, Wake Forest and Oregon all have put together good records, but none of them are in the top 60 in the RPI.
Notre Dame helped the ACC sort out that mess by stepping up and sweeping Florida State over the weekend, but they still have Wake Forest, Clemson and NC State struggling. This has given other conferences an opportunity and they have capitalized. The AAC and Big Ten each have 4 and 5 teams in, respectively, and the Big South and Colonial each have two teams in, with the Big South having a possibility for a third. Bradley has an RPI of 13 out of the MVC, but that’s an inflated RPI as they have just three wins over the top 100. Radford is currently tied atop the Big South and has an RPI of 36, but they work to down the stretch starting with a showdown with Coastal Carolina this weekend. How the at-large bids shake out by conference will definitely be something to watch between now and the start of the tournament.
See the Projected Baseball NCAA Tournament Bracket
ACC: Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, Notre Dame, North Carolina, Virginia
American: Connecticut, Houston, South Florida, UCF
Big East: Creighton
Big 12: Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU
Big Ten: Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Nebraska, Ohio State
Pac-12: Arizona State, California, Oregon State, UCLA, USC
SEC: Auburn, Florida, LSU, Mississippi, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
A-10: George Washington
America East: Stony Brook
A-Sun: North Florida
Big South: Coastal Carolina, Liberty
Big West: Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara
CAA: Charleston, UNC-Wilmington
C-USA: Rice, Florida Atlantic
Horizon: Wright State
Ivy: Columbia
MAAC: Canisius
MAC: Ball State
MEAC: Bethune-Cookman
MVC: Dallas Baptist, Missouri State
MWC: Nevada
NEC: Bryant
OVC: Southeast Missouri
Patriot: Navy
Southern: Mercer
Southland: Southeastern Louisiana
Summit: Oral Roberts
Sun Belt: Louisiana
SWAC: Alabama State
WAC: Sacramento State
WCC: San Diego
See the Projected Baseball NCAA Tournament Bracket
