Yeah I'd hate to see them go to La Tech as well but kinda expect that's what will happen. I could see either USM or tu which would be pretty fantastic.

I'd rather go to a smaller tournament then opt for pool play. I liked the idea of pool play until I actually saw it in action when the Big XII used it for a few seasons. The atmosphere is so blah.

No one knows what the committee will do with RPI this year, given that there was so much less inter-conference play than normal, but, still, I suspect LSU will scrape in (I don't think they are comfortably in). I agree that sending them to Ruston would be about as much of a reward for La Tech as sending us and the sips to Houston was for Rice in 2014. The committee should be a little creative and send them elsewhere.

Austin

Pool play is awesome when everyone ends up with an even record

/s

We should have ties too! /s

TexasRebel said:

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Pool play is awesome when everyone ends up with an even record

/s

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i actually like that for the ACC top seed moves on giving the regular season more weight and allows each team that goes two games

Other Tuesday Top 25 Scores
Memphis 11 - #11 East Carolina 1 (7)

Wicked Good Ag said:

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TexasRebel said:

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Pool play is awesome when everyone ends up with an even record

/s

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i actually like that for the ACC top seed moves on giving the regular season more weight and allows each team that goes two games

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If you're watching on TV, pool play sucks as there is often no drama. However, if you are travelling to the tournament, it's nice to know you're going to see your team play a certain number of games. Coaches like it because it doesn't screw up your pitching.

The thing you have to remember about a conference tournament, in a league where there are going to be multiple at large bids, is that, in my opinion, the main reason that you play the tournament is to keep teams at the bottom of the standings playing hard until the end so that the calendar doesn't determine the conference champion (if you have a team that is out of contention for the post-season late in the year, they may start playing young guys or doing things more geared toward development, and might not present the seam challenge in May that they did when facing a title contender as they would have in March when facing a different title contender). So, whether the format is double elimination or pool play doesn't matter much to me.

MSU run ruled by Florida. 13-1 in seven.

Gators (37-19) making a strong push for a top 16 seed. (#1 seed)

that would give the SEC six of them.

then the committee could neatly match them all up against one other like you know they want to

twk said:

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The thing you have to remember about a conference tournament, in a league where there are going to be multiple at large bids, is that, in my opinion, the main reason that you play the tournament is to keep teams at the bottom of the standings playing hard until the end so that the calendar doesn't determine the conference champion (if you have a team that is out of contention for the post-season late in the year, they may start playing young guys or doing things more geared toward development, and might not present the seam challenge in May that they did when facing a title contender as they would have in March when facing a different title contender). So, whether the format is double elimination or pool play doesn't matter much to me.

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I would argue that with where college baseball is today the point of a conference tournament should be about giving your borderline teams the best chance to improve their chances of making the real tournament while not hurting any teams too much.

One benefit to the single elimination followed by double elimination is it gives a borderline team chance to win multiple games and improve their seed with a good tournament performance while also limiting the negative effects for a bad performance. The four teams that are guaranteed 2 games can afford going 0-2, a team that wins the first round like Georgia has the chance to win multiple games and improve their chances, and a team that loses in the first round only takes 1 loss for the week and probably doesn't really hurt their chances.

One of the downsides to pool play is your conference's borderline teams can go 0-2 (or 0-3 the way the old Big XII tournament used to be set up) and really hurt your chances.

Wow. Game will go on.

Fury_239 said:

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Wow. Game will go on.

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Strange bottom of the ninth.

Think TN got screwed there.

W said:

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LSU finishes 34-22 with a 13-18 record vs. SEC opponents.

their non-conference body of work is non-existent.

the Tigers won a road series at Ole Miss --- their only significant series win.

lost all the other key ones to Vandy, State, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Carolina.

really should not get an at-large berth despite a top 25 RPI -- but this is going to be a very strange year seeding-wise

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Even if you're right about all this, who are some of the teams the committee would put in over LSU?

the immediate answer is Alabama (31-22).

just beat Tennessee to get SEC win #14.

12thMan9 said:

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Think TN got screwed there.

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TN did a good job of screwing things up for themselves in this game.

Baylor (31-19) is not doing itself any favors.

lost today...only 11-14 vs. Big 12 competition

You said LSU shouldn't be in because they only won 1 conference series against a good team. Now you are saying Alabama should be in over LSU. They didn't win any conference series against a good team.

and looking across the country...the ACC is a big mess.

apparently the league decided to play 36 conference games. So a bunch of teams are just over or just under .500 in conference.

Notre Dame, N.C.State, FSU, GT, and Miami are in the field.

but then Virginia, Duke, Louisville, UNC, and Pittsburgh finished at .500 or 1 game below.

so a lot of sorting out to be done there by the committee. Should be about 8 ACC teams in regionals

Another potential bubble buster:

🚨 STOLEN BID ALERT 🚨

Huge upset in the @MAACSports tournament, as Canisius takes down Fairfield, 4-1, in the opening game of the tournament. That is … bad news for bubble teams. Fairfield will have to run the table in the tourney now.

— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogers) May 26, 2021

I think LSU is safe but Baylor certainly has reason to be concerned.

that was an issue for Bama...48 hours ago.

but now they have put together back-to-back wins over South Carolina and Tennessee -- 2 regional teams.

LSU fans need Bama's Hoover run to end

annie88 said:

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Fury_239 said:

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Wow. Game will go on.

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Strange bottom of the ninth.

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Quote:

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Think TN got screwed there.

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Brief recap for those unable to keep up with the early games, please.

TN had men on 1st and 3rd, tied in the bottom of the 9th, 1 away.

TN puts a pretty routine DP ball put in play, runner from 3rd scores, runner out at 2nd, but the relay to 1st is a bit high and 1B comes off the bag just enough for runner to be safe.

Game over TN wins!

Except, blue at 2B calls interference on the runner sliding into 2nd. Slide was directly into the bag imo; however his arms definitely did make "some" amount contact. Pretty weak call in that spot to me.

Bama ultimately wins in extras, 11th I believe.

another sticky situation for the committee this year...the B1G.

the league chose not to play any nonconference games, so as a result its teams' RPI's are down.

Maryland and Michigan are tied for 2nd place with 26-15 records. Maryland's RPI is in the 60's. Michigan's is in the 90's.

will the leagues 2nd, 3rd, or 4th place teams get a, um, COVID exemption?

checking in with the Pac-12...

it's been a good year for the league. Will have 6 teams in regional play.

2015 was the last time the Pac-12 got 6 teams in the postseason

Video of the offending play:

This is wild. Umpire calls this interference off the hand touching the fielder.

Tennessee had the crazy win. #SECTourney pic.twitter.com/XZThyNY0rs

— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) May 26, 2021

Foreman to the groin... interference in my book. pic.twitter.com/WUkfRm7Ayz

— Chicago Gump (@GriffinTSmith) May 26, 2021

Thanks. I'll have to take a look when I get the chance. I understand the reason for the rule but there is so much grey area with it in how it is called.

I agree. Guess you have to draw the line somewhere to protect the infielders but this imo was nothing at all like the Chase Utley deal.

I think if it had been the arm on the side the fielder was on, it's game over.

Reaching across his body though, that's enough to make me see why they called it.

trouble said:

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I think if it had been the arm on the side the fielder was on, it's game over.

Reaching across his body though, that's enough to make me see why they called it.

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Much more flagrant than the call Mattingly made against us at the Rice super.

trouble said:

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I think if it had been the arm on the side the fielder was on, it's game over.

Reaching across his body though, that's enough to make me see why they called it.

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And I was pulling for Bama but deciding a game on that call sucks.

trouble said:

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I think if it had been the arm on the side the fielder was on, it's game over.

Reaching across his body though, that's enough to make me see why they called it.

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Agree.

I can see that trouble. I can say that it's close enough that I would be pretty upset either way if were against the Ags