The Book: 2002 Baseball

[Turbine]

An extremely ironic twist will occur on Thursday. Louisiana's Justin Gabriel will face Sunbelt "Baseball Pitcher of the Year" and WKU pitcher Ryan Bicondoa.

After suffering a couple of Friday losses going up against the likes of Ryan Bicondoa, Justin was moved to Saturday rotation.

What comes to mind is the coaching staff not wanting Justin to have to go toe to toe with the Bicondoa's of the Sunbelt?

Well after just his second weekend of getting first nod Andy Gros gets rocked in the second inning against USA, and the Cajuns end up losing 10-3. This is an ironic twist in itself, as 3 runs was the only margin needed for all the other victors in the Sunbelt on Wednesday.

So on Thursday it is Justin Gabriel up against Ryan Bicondoa. I just thought we were trying to avoid this scenario? Perhaps this time there will be a different result.

[Turbine]

Justing Gabriel retires the first nine batters he faces.

[Turbine]

A masterful pitching duel through nine innings. 1-1

Louisiana 4-1 on the year in extra inning games.

[Turbine]

Bottom of the 10th after Robichaux had Gabriel intentionally walk a WKU player, Justin loses control and gives up a bases loaded walk.

Waiting for the NCAA

[CajunFun]

Shame that Justin couldn't have had Bicandoa's scalp at least once.

[GoneGolfin]

an NCAA Baseball Regional ...

I have updated my list to include Miami (Fla.), California-Irvine, and Auburn. Indiana has been removed from the list.

I have confirmation from the NCAA that the following schools have submitted bids for an NCAA Baseball regional ...

Alabama, Arizona State, Auburn, Baylor, California State-Fullerton, California-State Irvine, Clemson, East Carolina, Florida, Florida State, Fresno State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Houston, Long Beach State, Louisiana, LSU, Miami (Fla.), Minnesota, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Nebraska, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Rice, San Diego State, South Alabama, South Carolina, Southern Cal, Stanford, Stetson, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Wake Forest, and Wichita State.

Brian

[Turbine]

Louisiana
USA
NMSU
FIU

[Turbine]

Tallahassee, Fla.
1. Florida State*
2. Central Florida (reg season opponent 3-0)
3. South Florida (reg season opponent 1-0)
4. Stetson

South Bend, Ind.
1. South Alabama (Sunbelt 1-2)
2. Notre Dame*
3. Ohio State
4. Kent State


Los Angeles
1. South California*
2. Cal State Northridge
3. Maine
4. Brigham Young

Stanford, Calif.
1. Stanford*
2. Long Beach State
3. San Jose State
4. Cal State Fullerton


Austin, Texas
1. Texas* (reg season opponent 1-0)
2. Baylor
3. Lamar (reg season opponent 0-2)
4. Central Connecticut State

Tempe, Ariz.
1. Houston (reg season opponent 0-3)
2. Arizona State*
3. San Diego
4. New Mexico State (Sunbelt 3-0)

Baton Rouge, La.
1. LSU* (reg season opponent 2-0)
2. Louisiana
3. Tulane (reg season opponent 2-0)
4. Southern (reg season opponent 1-1)

Houston
1. Rice* (reg season opponent 0-1)
2. Texas Tech (reg season opponent 1-0)
3. Washington
4. Harvard

Clemson, S.C.
1. Clemson*
2. East Carolina
3. Elon (Rock Hill S.C.)
4. Georgia Southern

Wichita, Kansas
1. Wichita State* (reg season opponent 1-2)
2. Oklahoma
3. Arkansas
4. Oral Roberts

Lincoln, Nebraska (brand new field)
1. Nebraska*
2. Southwest Missouri State
3. Marist
4. Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Winston-Salem, North Carolina
1. Wake Forest*
2. Richmond
3. Navy
4. George Washington

Columbia, S.C.
1. South Carolina*
2. North Carolina
3. James Madison
4. Virginia Commonwealth

Gainesville, Fla.
1. Florida*
2. Florida International (Sunbelt 2-1)
3. Miami
4. Bethune-Cookman

Atlanta
1. Georgia Tech*
2. Georgia
3. Louisville
4. Coastal Carolina

Tuscaloosa, Ala.
1. Alabama*
2. Auburn
3. Florida Atlantic
4. Southeast Missouri State

*#1 seed AND home field

edited by turbine

[GoneGolfin]

Surprise #1
FIU surprised me. Not that they are not worthy of being in the tournament. They are. But the NCAA leapfrogged a Western Kentucky team that swept them and finished two games in the loss column ahead of FIU in the conference standings. This combination is a new precedent. I wonder if the NCAA used the new rules and restrictions (geography) to break some of their unwritten rules of the past.

Surprise #2
Conference championships were not valued as they were in the past. Northwestern State (pRPI 60), San Diego State (pRPI 86), and Minnesota (pRPI 83) did not make the field. All three schools also made their conference tournament finals before losing. Instead, Arkansas (sub .500 SEC) (pRPI 35), Elon (2nd in Big South and 1-2 in conference tournament) (pRPI 46), Tulane (5th in CUSA, 2-2 in tournament) (pRPI 54), and South Florida (7th in CUSA, 2-2 in conference tournament) (pRPI 38) made the field of 64. Tulane (pRPI 54) also leapfrogged Southern Mississippi (4th) (pRPI 55) and TCU (3rd) (pRPI 45) in the CUSA standings to make the field. San Diego State did not make the field; meanwhile ESPN broadcasts a segment on their selection show featuring head coach Tony Gwynn and the San Diego State program. Talk about having your bubble burst!

Surprise #3
Arkansas making the field over Mississippi State. Mississipi State finished 7th in the SEC and Arkansas 8th. Mississippi State won 2/3 from Arkansas during the season. Mississippi State won 6 of its last 10 and Arkansas split its last 10 games. Both were 1-2 in the SEC tournament. The difference had to be the pRPI, 35 to 50 in Arkansas' favor. BTW, Mississippi State took 3/4 from Georgia, while Arkansas lost 2/3 to Georgia. Mississippi State was 5-2 against these opponents, Arkansas was 2-4, and Georgia 3-4. Georgia and Arkansas made the field. Mississippi State did not.

Surprise #4
Stanford receiving a national seed over Houston. I have to wonder if this was done for geographical purposes. If so, it violates their stated procedure. Houston won their conference title and has a pRPI of 8. Stanford finished second in the Pac Ten to Southern California. Stanford has a pRPI of 12. It seems the NCAA wanted a western super-regional. This could not have happened without Stanford being a national seed ... which brings us to surprise #5 ...

Surprise #5
The NCAA committee paired two #1 seeds from the same conference in a potential super-regional matchup (Stanford and Southern California). They could have paired Mesa, Arizona (Houston, likely the #9 seed) against Palo Alto (Stanford #8 national seed). But they elected to minimize travel in the super-regionals as well by pairing Texas - Houston and Stanford - Southern California for potential super-regional matchups.

Surprise #6
The NCAA selection committee really botched the Palo Alto regional. Stanford, a #8 national seed, must play California State-Fullerton (#4 seed) in the first round. You say that it is because of geography. Well, why do we have Maine (#3 seed) and BYU (#4 seed) in Los Angeles for the Southern California regional? BYU is closer to Palo Alto and would make sense as a #4 seed going up against Stanford in the first round. Especially considering that a national seed should merit an easier first round game and regional. Fullerton is just outside of Los Angeles, thus it makes complete sense to have California State-Fullerton in Los Angeles. But this is where the NCAA screwed themselves. They could not have California State-Fullerton in Los Angeles as the #4 seed. They could not justify having Maine seeded above them. But the Titans could not be the #3 seed as they would have a first round matchup with California State-Northridge (same conference). Hence, they stacked the national #8 seed regional in Palo Alto while Southern California gets a break. The NCAA did not need to send Maine to the West Coast ... which brings us to the next surprise.

Surprise #7
The NCAA did not take my recommended list of regional sites. :-) They took 15 of the 16, but neglected to select Ohio State (instead selecting Georgia Tech). This would have averted the log jam out west and put Maine much closer to home (albeit a plane trip as well). But if I am being cautious of potential terrorist threats, I would much rather fly into Columbus, Ohio than Los Angeles, California.

Surprise #8
I nailed all of the #1 seeds!

Surprise #9
I botched six teams!

Surprise #10
Navy (pRPI 173) was slotted as a #3 seed in the Wake Forest regional. Meanwhile, George Washington (pRPI 59) is the #4 seed. They did this not because Navy is deserving of a higher seed. They obviously are not. They did this because they could not find another regional slot for George Washington. They could not be the #3 seed in the Wake Forest regional because they would have to face Richmond (#2 seed) in the first round (same conference). Very sloppy work by the NCAA.

Surprise #11
The thing that troubles me the most about the selections this year seems to be even more reliance on the RPI. The NCAA took the Top 37 teams in the pRPI this year, save Mississippi. Mississippi would have made it as well had it not been for the fact that they finished 9th in the SEC and failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament. The RPI is a heavily flawed measurement of strength, yet the NCAA seems to becoming increasignly dependent on it as a measuring stick.

Brian

[Turbine]

Very nice, your ability to show the surprises shows your strengths.

"The RPI is a heavily flawed measurement of strength"

What exactly flaws it?