NBA News NBA News, Match Reports and Updates
As the commodification of college sports continues, the baseball selection committee became the latest to grapple with the question: Where does strength of schedule fit into the field, and how do we reward teams scheduling difficult games?
The answer after the NCAA Baseball Tournament bracket reveal on May 25? Frankly, unclear. While the Sun Belt got recognition as the extremely good baseball conference it is with five bids, the criteria used to evaluate teams was uneven to say the least. Fan favorite Mercer of the Southern Conference was left out despite a 44-15 record and a win over Georgia Tech, whereas the SEC fields 12 teams in the field of 64, including a Kentucky team that won just two series in-conference all season (with the consolation of never being swept).
Advertisement
More: NCAA baseball bracket winners and losers led by UCLA, SEC
More: 5 teams under the most pressure in NCAA baseball tournament
While the SEC gets the brunt of the scrutiny, the ACC is far from exempt. Virginia Tech somehow ended up among the No. 2 seeds despite looking like a bubble team coming out of tournament play, whereas NC State eked in despite a nonconference RPI of 114 and a nonconference strength of schedule of 244. The latter is largely thought to have been helped along by the announced retirement of coach Elliott Avent.
Mid-major schools already have a difficult path to the postseason. The vast majority of non-power conferences are one-bid leagues, slamming the door on teams who don’t win their respective conference tournaments. But on top of that, the troubling practice of actively gaming RPI by canceling games late-season or just not scheduling in-state mid-majors has been prevalent. While the committee issued warnings to teams who engage in this practice, which includes all three of the aforementioned schools, nothing came of those warnings. Virginia Tech canceled a game against Marshall, NC State against North Carolina A&T, and Kentucky canceled a game against Northern Kentucky that…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mercer-exclusion-ncaa-baseball-tournament-152948309.html
Author :
Publish date : 2026-05-27 15:29:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
