NCAA Softball Committee Snubs

[NewsCopy]

So, why isn’t UL hosting an NCAA regional?

It’s the burning question going into NCAA regionals. As they prepare for the road trip to Oxford, Mississippi, on Friday, there’s still a concern as to just why the 50-4 Ragin’ Cajuns are traveling at all.

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[NOCajun]

That's easy. They're not in the f#ing sec!!

[GeauxLouisiana]

That's easy. They're not in the f#ing sec!!

Really? We couldn't claim any of the other 10 host spots, so let's blame the SEC

[Turbine]

Really? We couldn't claim any of the other 10 host spots, so let's blame the SEC

Alabama was punished for their easy out of conference schedule.

You know who wasn't punished? Every other SEC school. They all benefitted from Alabama's perfect non conference record.

Alabama took one for the SEC.

[CajunVic]

Really? We couldn't claim any of the other 10 host spots, so let's blame the SEC

We claimed every single one of them, but, we did not get a single one of them.

[alum81]

It's ingrained into the Cajun Nation, every year we complain about the seeding.

Every year I think about the time a basketball team from Fla. came here for a first round NIT game and complained all week before that they should be in the NCAA turney. They went home losers.

This year we were treated fairly so we complain about another school getting screwed.

Make the WCWS and then you have proof positive you were seeded wrong. Jmo

[NewsCopy]

...top mid-major programs have been dealing with getting shortchanged for years.

It's just a matter of applying a little common sense, folks.

It's OK to use the RPI, but there's no reason to become slaves to it.

The rest of the story
Foote

[Cajunrunner]

It's time to move past the _____ing and moaning and support Coach Glasco and the girls as they plan on winning the regional in Oxford.

[sandra]

It's time to move past the _____ing and moaning and support Coach Glasco and the girls as they plan on playing winning the regional in Oxford.

The regional started already?

[Cajunrunner]

The regional started already?

No, but the whining on this board and in some local media is going on Day 4 now.

[Cajun90]

Lynnette Johnson serves as the deputy athletic director for sports and administration at Ole Miss. She completed a four-year term on the NCAA softball tournament selection committee that expired at the end of the 2018 season. That was her second four year term on the committee.

In a recent interview she made the following comments.

The answer in regards to hosting, according to Johnson, boils down to scheduling.

"We wanted to see our name go up on the board," Johnson began. "I learned from the RPI, the conversations, the full body of work. He (head coach) and I had a ton of conversations after that first year to say, 'Hey, it's not just about wins, it's about who you play. You have to beat them, obviously, but putting together those quadrants of (games) 1-25, 26-50, 50-100 and then 100 and up. We were very strategic in building that over time. This schedule this year shows the full body of work.

Johnson stated "When you're in the Southeastern Conference, you're going to get a lot of top 50 opportunities. However, that committee is looking at what is within your control, and that's your non-conference schedule."

Once you look beyond the raw RPI ranking it becomes pretty clear that she is right. Take Alabama for example. They played three quadrant 1 games OOC and two quadrant 2 games OOC. Ole Miss on the other hand played six quad 1 games and four quad 2 games.

When you look at the team sheets it is a little surprising. Certainly those SEC schools benefit from an SEC schedule however they also all scheduled some very good OOC teams.

So... lets look at the top rated teams based on adjusted RPI and how many Quad 1 & 2 games they played OOC.

1. Oklahoma 13
2. Washington 15
3. Arizona 15
4. Florida St. 13
5. UCLA 9
6. Florida 11
7. Texas 18
8. Alabama 5 (20 OOC games scheduled against quad 4 teams)
9. Minnesota 16
10. LSU 10
11. Northwestern 13
12. Michigan 14
13. James Madison 9 (note- 29 quad 4 games)
14. Oklahoma St. 14
15. Tennessee 8
16. Kentucky 14
17. Louisiana 3 (note- 22 quad 4 games)
18. Ole Miss 10

Now you can't use these numbers in a vacuum anymore than you can use RPI numbers in a vaccum however it is pretty easy to pick up on the outliers and a former committee member has said it is a point of emphasis.

So Alabama got knocked for their OOC schedule. Not only for the lack of quad 1 & 2 games against OOC teams but also for the outrageous twenty games against quad 4 OOC teams. I mean come on Bama you can do better than that and that is why the committee sent you a message.
This should make Louisiana and other non power conference teams happy to see them pay at least a little bit of a price. However if you are James Madison or Louisiana those quad 4 games are a concern as well.

James Madison did what they could with their OOC schedule but their wasn't anything they could do about their conference mates. Twenty nine games against quad 4 teams was just too much to overcome.

Louisiana had some bad luck with this years schedule as far as getting Quad 1 & 2 games on the book but we can't ignore the nine OOC games against quad 4 teams. Bottom line is that both ends of the schedule have to get better moving forward. Something Brian has emphasised in the past. Scheduling an SEC team is great but don't make it a wash by playing games against teams that are consistently in the dredges of NCAA softball.

[Turbine]

So the committee says Alabama's RPI isn't real, but the rest of the SEC still receives the round robin benefits of facing Alabama's supposedly fake RPI.

Cute.