Cajun opponents highlighted. RPI rankings included below ...
#54 Troy 2 at #53 South Alabama 3 (Final)
#54 Troy 2 at #53 South Alabama 5 (Final - Game #2) (South Alabama sweeps series 2-0)
#83 Western Kentucky 4 at #142 Middle Tennessee 0 (Final)
#83 Western Kentucky 10 at #142 Middle Tennessee 1 (Final - Game #2) (WKU sweeps series 2-0) [Cajuns open SBC Tournament at Florida Atlantic]
#232 Northwestern State 8 at #82 North Texas 17 (Final - 5 innings)
#232 Northwestern State 1 at #82 North Texas 5 (Final - Game #2) (North Texas sweeps series 2-0)
#149 Florida Atlantic 0 at #57 Florida International 2 (Final) (FIU sweeps series 2-0)
#20 LSU 1 at #39 Kentucky 2 (Final) ... (Kentucky leads series 2-0 and is 28-27 on the year)
#37 Tulsa 1 at #40 Alabama-Birmingham 2 (Final - Game #1)
#37 Tulsa 3 at #40 Alabama-Birmingham 0 (Final - Game #2) (Series tied 1-1)
#29 Michigan 5 at #46 Wisconsin 1 (Final)
#29 Michigan 7 at #46 Wisconsin 5 (Final - Game #2) (Michigan leads series 2-0)
#16 Florida State 4 at #65 Maryland 3 (Final)
#16 Florida State 1 at #65 Maryland 4 (Final - Game #2) (Series tied 1-1)
#49 Northwestern 15 at #171 Michigan State 1 (Final - 5 innings)
#49 Northwestern 5 at #171 Michigan State 1 (Final - Game #2) (NU leads series 2-0)
#11 Louisville 15 at #122 St. John's 4 (Final - Game #1)
#11 Louisville 8 at #122 St. John's 4 (Final - Game #2) (Louisville leads series 2-0)
#90 Penn State 2 at #51 Illinois 4 (Final)
#90 Penn State 3 at #51 Illinois 6 (Final - Game #2) (Illinois leads series 2-0)
#218 Southern Mississippi 5 at #44 Houston 7 (Final)
#218 Southern Mississippi 3 at #44 Houston 4 (Final - Game #2) (Houston leads series 2-0)
#4 Texas 3 at #5 Oklahoma 9 (Final) (OU leads series 2-0)
#173 Texas-San Antonio 2 at #211 Stephen F. Austin 1 (Final - 8 innings) (UTSA leads series 2-0)
#34 Mississippi State 1 at #31 Auburn 4 (Final) (Series tied 1-1)
#50 Arkansas 2 at #14 Georgia 3 (Final)
#50 Arkansas 2 at #14 Georgia 1 (Final - Game #2) (Series tied 1-1)
#8 Florida 1 at #3 Alabama 9 (Final - 6 innings) (Series tied 1-1)
#42 Kansas 3 at #9 Texas A&M 4 (Final) (Texas A&M leads series 2-0)
#1 California 4 at #23 Oregon State 2 (Final) (Cal leads series 2-0)
#170 Louisiana Tech 0 at #58 Fresno State 4 (Final)
#170 Louisiana Tech 6 at #58 Fresno State 4 (Final) (Fresno State wins series 2-1)
#267 UNC-Wilmington 0 at #48 Hofstra 3 (Final) (Hofstra leads series 2-0)
#134 Central Arkansas 3 at #103 McNeese State 1 (Final) (Series ends in 1-1 tie)
#127 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 11 at #231 Nicholls State 6 (Final) (Series ends in 1-1 tie)
#197 Winthrop 2 at #112 Coastal Carolina 3 (Final - 10 innings)
#197 Winthrop 1 at #112 Coastal Carolina 4 (Final) (CC leads series 2-0)
#17 Missouri 3 at #7 Oregon 8 (Final) (Series tied 1-1)
#15 Washington 0 at #22 Stanford 1 (Final) (Stanford leads series 2-0)
#10 Arizona 2 at #13 UCLA 7 Final (UCLA leads series 2-0)
#69 Utah 4 at #2 Arizona State 6 (Final) (ASU leads series 2-0)
While the Cajuns made it much more difficult for themselves by dropping a game to ULM today (costing themselves .0051 in precious RPI points (Adjusted RPI of .6593)), there are some things that went right today.
- South Alabama swept a doubleheader from Troy. This helps solidify South Alabama's place in the Base RPI Top 50, preserving .0039 of RPI bonus points for the Cajuns. The Jags entered the week a mere .0003 points ahead of #51 Radford.
- Kentucky took Game #2 from LSU solidifying their place in the RPI Top 50. Kentucky goes for the sweep tomorrow.
- Maryland was able to take Game #2 of the DH from #16 Florida State. This minimizes the gain the Seminoles achieved on the Cajuns today ... keeping the Cajuns a little more than .0100 ahead of FSU. This gives the Cajuns a chance to finish ahead of Florida State ... but a lot will be determined by whom FSU plays in the ACC Tournament and how they perform. It would be quite helpful if Maryland could take Sunday's game vs. FSU. FSU will be the #1 seed in the ACC Tournament.
- #15 Washington continues to lose. The Huskies have dropped six consecutive games and 15 of their last 19 games! They do not deserve to be a regional host. But just to be sure, I would like to see Stanford complete the sweep tomorrow ... which is Washington's last game before the NCAA Tournament. A win by Washington could make the RPI finish a bit dicey for the Cajuns.
- Georgia dropped one of two games to Arkansas today. This will keep the Cajuns just ahead of the Bulldogs for now. But Georgia has a very beneficial SEC Tournament coming up (single elimination). It would really help if Arkansas were to win tomorrow and Georgia lost the opening game of the SEC Tournament.
- Missouri did lose today to Oregon ... and must lose tomorrow. The Cajuns have a chance to hold off Missouri, but this will not be known until after next week's series vs. Oklahoma State. It does not look promising ... but possible.
The bad news ...
- I think #9 Texas A&M and #13 UCLA are probably uncatchable in the RPI
- #10 Arizona and #11 Louisville will not be caught unless some dramatic things happen.
- #14 Georgia and #17 Missouri will be difficult to fend off, but it is possible.
- #16 Florida State could overtake the Cajuns with a win tomorrow and a decent ACC Tournament.
Summary Analysis ...
- Among all of the above teams that the Cajuns can hold off ... I think they have the best chance of finishing ahead of Washington ... followed by Florida State. If the Cajuns win out, it seems they could finish anywhere from #13 to #17.
Brian