Had enough rumor mongering about conference realignment? If so, there is some quality discussion to be had regarding the upcoming College World Series. The regular season is winding down and there are a boatload of possibilities for postseason positioning.
In addition to the traditional seeding, there are also some quality storylines emerging nationally:
- Coastal Carolina is walking in Butler’s shadow. The Chanticleers are having a memorable season and how they are treated may be an early peek at how the NCAA and the media will handle Boise State & TCU this Fall.
- Garrett Wittels of Florida International currently owns a 45-game hitting streak. Wittels is currently third on the NCAA all-time list, trailing Robin Ventura (58) and Phil Stephenson (47).
- This is the final year for the CWS at Omaha’s Rosenblatt Stadium.
While those stories continue to develop, the postseason field and it’s hierarchy are still being tightly contested. With less than two weeks until Regional hosts are selected, there are a lot more unknowns than knowns regarding the 2010 postseason. Forget about which teams are in or out for the moment – the majority of National Seeds & Regional host sites remain in question. Here is a look at how things are shaping up at this point…
Locks for a national seed
Team: Arizona State
Record/Conference Record: 43-6 / 16-5
ISR: 1
RPI: 1
What’s ahead – Sparky still has series left with Stanford and Oregon State.
Team: Texas
Record/Conference Record: 43-8 / 21-3
ISR: 6
RPI: 3
What’s ahead – The Longhorns close regular season play with a series at Missouri, then head to Oklahoma City as the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.
Team: Virginia
Record/Conference Record: 43-9 / 21-6
ISR: 2
RPI: 7
What’s ahead – The ‘Hoos finish the regular season by traveling to Coral Gables to face Miami before playing in the ACC tournament.
Comment: While these three teams are the only sure bets to receive a national seed, the pecking order is still up for grabs. In other words, all three are playing for positioning. The upcoming weekend coupled with respective conference tournaments will most certainly play a significant role in determining the overall No. 1 seed. Reality is that both ASU and UVA finish with a more difficult schedule than Texas. That means it may be important for the Horns to dominate the rest of the way, as just winning might not be enough to secure the national top seed.
In contention for a national seed
Team: UCLA
Record/Conference Record: 37-11 / 13-8
ISR: 2
RPI: 7
Team: Louisville
Record/Conference Record: 42-10 / 18-6
ISR: 14
RPI: 5
Team: Coastal Carolina
Record/Conference Record: 45-6 / 23-0
ISR: 5
RPI: 3
Team: Georgia Tech
Record/Conference Record: 41-10 / 19-8
ISR: 11
RPI: 10
Team: South Carolina
Record/Conference Record: 41-11 / 20-7
ISR: 12
RPI: 14
Team: Florida
Record/Conference Record: 37-12 / 20-7
ISR: 6
RPI: 4
Team: TCU
Record/Conference Record: 40-11 / 19-5
ISR: 8
RPI: 20
In contention for a Regional host site
Team: Miami (FL)
Record/Conference Record: 37-13 / 19-8
ISR: 16
RPI: 8
Team: CS – Fullerton
Record/Conference Record: 34-14 / 18-3
ISR: 4
RPI: 11
Team: Vanderbilt
Record/Conference Record: 39-13 / 15-10
ISR: 13
RPI: 13
Team: Arkansas
Record/Conference Record: 38-14 / 16-11
ISR: 10
RPI: 9
Team: Florida State
Record/Conference Record: 39-13 / 18-9
ISR: 18
RPI: 12
Team: Auburn
Record/Conference Record: 35-17 / 17-10
ISR: 21
RPI: 16
(Note - I plan to update this after this weekend's games and before conference tournaments begin.)
(photo credit: omahaorbust.com / Jarrod Coover)