The Road to Omaha: 2018 College Baseball Thread

If you can award a regional to a place like UConn, which might put 1,000 people in the stands on its best night, or an SEC school that will draw 10,000, it's probably something that enters the picture at some point.

 

Damn straight.

And game times are dictated by ESPN.

 

Pasty white-guy rounders at its best.

 

Of course this is true, and again it's an exact parallel with the hockey tournament.

 

That said, I do think the NCAA has done a good job of awarding regionals to schools that either aren't from power conferences or aren't necessarily in traditional college baseball hotbeds.
Like Minnesota, Stetson, East Carolina and Coastal Carolina this year. Or Southern Miss, Fullerton, Long Beach State, UConn and Indiana in years past.

 

The hockey comparison is spot on. The only difference is, people don't bitch and complain about how unfair it is when Alabama-Huntsville, Arizona State or the Alaska teams have to travel to play a regional.

 

And our first team into the super regional round is the Washington Huskies -- who traveled 3,000 miles to South Carolina for their regional. Guess it didn't affect them much.

 

RPI and geography are factors too I imagine. Not a lot of DI programs in the Pacific Northwest.

 

With some of the regionals wrapping up and others starting to shake out, it looks like the SEC could be guaranteed at least two teams, possibly three, in the CWS and might send as many as five.

 

No, it didn't. Because UW is an excellent team that came within one-half inning of winning the Pac-12. And was still a No. 3 seed, and shipped clear across the country.

people don't bitch and complain about how unfair it is when Alabama-Huntsville, Arizona State or the Alaska teams have to travel to play a regional.

Because they are the college hockey equivalent of the Northeast Conference or Ivy League or MEAC in baseball.

 

Vandy with 9 dingers, including 3 and a record-tying 10 ribbies from shortstop Connor Kaiser as the Dores send Clemson packing again. Tigers reminding me of the David Price-era Commodores, when they kept losing super regionals as the host team.

 

They finished two games out of 1st in the conference.

They also went 10-13 against a so-so non-conference slate with an RPI in the 50s. HOW DARE THEY BE SLOTTED AS A 3 SEED?!?!?