Initial thoughts on the bracket.
Over Seeded:
Auburn (#13 overall) - complained about them a few posts above.
Indiana State (#14 overall) - sympathetic to them, but not clear their record deserves a hosting spot
Oklahoma - 11-13, 31-26 overall; #7 in Big 12. Making the tournament seems to be a pure RPI call over teams like Kansas State, Arizona State, USC, Notre Dame (just among the big 4 conferences).
Under Seeded:
Campbell - seem to be best mid-major, but only 3rd highest mid-major seed.
UConn - nominally the second worst #2 seed (#31 overall) despite most of the polls ranking them just outside the top ten much of the year. Even RPI has them at #22 (which is not friendly to northeast teams, as well as western).
Hosed (left out):
UC San Diego - won the Big West but cannot appear in the tournament due to four year transition rule (transitioning from Division II to Division I)
UC Irvine - best team in the Big West despite finishing fourth. In most mock brackets as of yesterday.
ASU - maybe hosed by themselves. Went into Stanford series (third last weekend) in first place in Pac 12. Then lost 8 of last 11 to finish the season.
USC - 17-13 (4th in conference), 34-23-1 overall. But it's SC so I am not so upset.
Stanford Regional:
The field doesn't look too tough depending on just what to make of A&M.
SJSU - tied for first in Mountain West at 18-11, 31-25 overall. Won the MWC tournament going 4-1. #104 RPI. #93 ISR (BoydsWorld). 6.5 runs per game. Gave up 6.3 runs/game. Stanford played no MWC teams this year, a little surprising. SJSU has 3 main starting pitchers whose ERAs range from 4.5 to 5.8 and WHIPs from 1.47 to 1.56.
Fullerton - 20-10, 31-22. #65 RPI. #53 ISR. Got the Big West automatic bid despite finishing tied for second. UC San Diego wasn't eligible and they took 2 of 3 from Northridge who tied them in the standings. Stanford took 2 of 3 from Fullerton to start the season though got blown out in the first game and had the crazy 7 runs in the ninth and 8 runs in the tenth to win the rubber match. Fullerton seemed to be throwing their season away when they lost 8 in a row in May but rallied to win 3 of last 4 to get the Big West automatic bid by the skin of their teeth.
Texas AM - Last SEC team to make it in, but still a 2 seed and nominally #25 overall. 14-16, 36-25 overall. RPI #29, ISR #31. Coming off a big run in the SEC tournament where they went 4-2 overall and lost in the championship game. The key question is are they on a roll or are they exhausted after playing 6 tournament games in 6 days. Averaging 7.0 runs per game despite a 0.269 AVG - pretty good power with 81 HRs. Allowing 5.8 runs per game with a 5.57 ERA. They don't appear to have a star starting pitcher, but lots of guys around 5 ERA. Their best pitcher seems to have Matthews' role from last year, with 62 innings pitched but 0 starts and a 3.63 ERA.
Stanford: 38-16; RPI #15, ISR #9; 8.6 runs/gm, 102 HRs, 0.949 OPS; 5.99 ERA, 1.57 WHIP
Texas AM: 36-25; RPI #29, ISR #31; 7.0 runs/gm, 82 HRs, 0.840 OPS; 5.57 ERA, 1.59 WHIP
Fullerton: 31-22; RPI #65, ISR #53; 6.1 runs/gm, 34 HRs, 0.772 OPS; 4.94 ERA, 1.56 WHIP
SJSU: 31-25; RPI #104, ISR #93; 6.5 runs/gm, 60 HRs, 0.828 OPS; 5.76 ERA, 1.61 WHIP
EDIT to reflect SJSU in MWC, not WAC. Thanks Maple Leaf.
That was a pretty stupid mistake as I spent all sorts of time on the MWC website preparing this.
Over Seeded:
Auburn (#13 overall) - complained about them a few posts above.
Indiana State (#14 overall) - sympathetic to them, but not clear their record deserves a hosting spot
Oklahoma - 11-13, 31-26 overall; #7 in Big 12. Making the tournament seems to be a pure RPI call over teams like Kansas State, Arizona State, USC, Notre Dame (just among the big 4 conferences).
Under Seeded:
Campbell - seem to be best mid-major, but only 3rd highest mid-major seed.
UConn - nominally the second worst #2 seed (#31 overall) despite most of the polls ranking them just outside the top ten much of the year. Even RPI has them at #22 (which is not friendly to northeast teams, as well as western).
Hosed (left out):
UC San Diego - won the Big West but cannot appear in the tournament due to four year transition rule (transitioning from Division II to Division I)
UC Irvine - best team in the Big West despite finishing fourth. In most mock brackets as of yesterday.
ASU - maybe hosed by themselves. Went into Stanford series (third last weekend) in first place in Pac 12. Then lost 8 of last 11 to finish the season.
USC - 17-13 (4th in conference), 34-23-1 overall. But it's SC so I am not so upset.
Stanford Regional:
The field doesn't look too tough depending on just what to make of A&M.
SJSU - tied for first in Mountain West at 18-11, 31-25 overall. Won the MWC tournament going 4-1. #104 RPI. #93 ISR (BoydsWorld). 6.5 runs per game. Gave up 6.3 runs/game. Stanford played no MWC teams this year, a little surprising. SJSU has 3 main starting pitchers whose ERAs range from 4.5 to 5.8 and WHIPs from 1.47 to 1.56.
Fullerton - 20-10, 31-22. #65 RPI. #53 ISR. Got the Big West automatic bid despite finishing tied for second. UC San Diego wasn't eligible and they took 2 of 3 from Northridge who tied them in the standings. Stanford took 2 of 3 from Fullerton to start the season though got blown out in the first game and had the crazy 7 runs in the ninth and 8 runs in the tenth to win the rubber match. Fullerton seemed to be throwing their season away when they lost 8 in a row in May but rallied to win 3 of last 4 to get the Big West automatic bid by the skin of their teeth.
Texas AM - Last SEC team to make it in, but still a 2 seed and nominally #25 overall. 14-16, 36-25 overall. RPI #29, ISR #31. Coming off a big run in the SEC tournament where they went 4-2 overall and lost in the championship game. The key question is are they on a roll or are they exhausted after playing 6 tournament games in 6 days. Averaging 7.0 runs per game despite a 0.269 AVG - pretty good power with 81 HRs. Allowing 5.8 runs per game with a 5.57 ERA. They don't appear to have a star starting pitcher, but lots of guys around 5 ERA. Their best pitcher seems to have Matthews' role from last year, with 62 innings pitched but 0 starts and a 3.63 ERA.
Stanford: 38-16; RPI #15, ISR #9; 8.6 runs/gm, 102 HRs, 0.949 OPS; 5.99 ERA, 1.57 WHIP
Texas AM: 36-25; RPI #29, ISR #31; 7.0 runs/gm, 82 HRs, 0.840 OPS; 5.57 ERA, 1.59 WHIP
Fullerton: 31-22; RPI #65, ISR #53; 6.1 runs/gm, 34 HRs, 0.772 OPS; 4.94 ERA, 1.56 WHIP
SJSU: 31-25; RPI #104, ISR #93; 6.5 runs/gm, 60 HRs, 0.828 OPS; 5.76 ERA, 1.61 WHIP
EDIT to reflect SJSU in MWC, not WAC. Thanks Maple Leaf.
That was a pretty stupid mistake as I spent all sorts of time on the MWC website preparing this.