CLICK THESE LINKS FOR MORE PIRATE BASEBALL RESOURCES: |
|
|
Clemson Regional Week
|
|
|
|
NCAA big wigs cite
travel and safety in
baseball regional picks
Associated Press
Florida State enters the Division I college baseball
tournament in the position it hopes to finish the season — on top.
The Seminoles (56-12), who are in the tournament for the 25th
consecutive year but have never won a College World Series, were
selected as the top seed for the 64-team Division I college baseball
tournament Monday.
The other seeded teams are: Clemson (47-14), Alabama (48-13), Rice
(47-11), Texas (48-14), South Carolina (48-14), Wake Forest (44-11-1)
and Stanford (40-16).
``We had another challenging experience,'' said Wally Groff, chairman of
the Division I baseball committee. ``It was different than the past, and
did take longer for us to do.''
The committee, focusing on safety and travel concerns, selected the 16
regional sites for the tournament by secret ballot after all 64 teams
were selected. Teams were grouped based primarily on geographic
proximity. Previously, regional sites were determined a week before the
field was announced.
``I don't believe it's a permanent situation,'' said Groff, the athletic
director at Texas A&M. ``It was because of 9-11, and I'm sure our
championship cabinet will review this before next year.''
The Gainesville and Tallahassee regionals each consist of four Florida
teams, the Palo Alto regional has just California teams, and the Baton
Rouge regional has only Louisiana teams.
``One good thing is that it does make it convenient for the fans to
attend the games,'' Groff said.
Florida State, which opens the double-elimination first round Friday
against Stetson, finished as runners-up in 1970, '86 and '99. The
Seminoles are on a 22-game winning streak and are one victory from
setting a school record.
``I think we just had some very good pitching, and that's what it
usually amounts to,'' said coach Mike Martin, who has led Florida State
to 50 or more wins 20 times. ``Our guys have taken advantage of every
opportunity they've had the past five or six weeks.''
In addition to the top eight seeds, regional hosts include Arizona
State, Florida, Georgia Tech, Louisiana State, Nebraska, Notre Dame,
Southern California, and Wichita State.
There were 35 teams that made bids to play host to regionals, but none
from the Northeast. Because of that, most of the Northeast teams have to
make long trips: Maine will play at Los Angeles, Marist at Lincoln,
Neb., and Central Connecticut State at Austin, Texas.
``The committee and the NCAA staff has encouraged teams from the North
and Northeast to submit bids and give us some other options,'' Groff
said. ``We really needed a host site in the East, or maybe two.''
Groff said the 10-member committee based its decisions on teams'
records, strength of schedule, quality wins and power rankings or RPI.
The Southeastern Conference, with Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida,
Georgia, LSU and South Carolina led all conferences with seven teams
after sending a record-eight last year. The Atlantic Coast Conference,
Big 12 and Conference USA had five each.
Defending-champion Miami (30-26) will make its 30th straight tournament
appearance to extend its NCAA record. The Hurricanes, whose record
hovered around .500 all season, played one of the toughest schedules in
the country and won their last five games.
``The main factor was that 34 of their games were played against top-50
opponents,'' Groff said.
Tennessee (27-28) was the only College World Series team from last year
not among this year's 64 teams — 40 of which were in the 2001
tournament.
Groff identified Mississippi (37-19), Mississippi State (33-22-1) and
Oklahoma State (37-21) as teams that were among the last cuts.
There are five teams making their first tournament appearances: Central
Connecticut State, Elon, Louisville, New Mexico State and San Diego.
Harvard (20-24) and Navy (22-23) won conference titles to receive
automatic bids despite losing records.
The winners of each four-team regional will advance to the super
regionals at eight sites to be determined. The eight winners of the
super regionals, which begin June 7, will play in the College World
Series, which starts June 14 at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb.
NCAA Baseball
Regional Sites and Seedings:
At Florida St. |
|
At Clemson |
1. Florida St. (56-12)
2. UCF (40-20)
3. South Florida (33-27)
4. Stetson (42-17)
|
|
1. Clemson (47-14)
2. East Carolina (41-18-1)
3. Elon (34-21)
4. Ga. Southern (38-23)
|
At Notre Dame |
|
At Wichita St. |
1. South Alabama (41-17)
2. Notre Dame (44-15)
3. Ohio St. (36-18-1)
4. Kent St. (37-20)
|
|
1. Wichita St. (46-15)
2. Oklahoma (35-25)
3. Arkansas (31-26)
4. Oral Roberts (46-17)
|
At Southern California |
|
At Nebraska |
1. Southern California (34-22)
2. Cal St. Northridge (40-15)
3. Maine (40-15)
4. Brigham Young (29-29-1)
|
|
1. Nebraska (42-18)
2. Southwest Mo. St. (41-19)
3. Marist (40-12)
4. Wis-Milwaukee (36-18)
|
At Stanford |
|
At Wake Forest |
1. Stanford (40-16)
2. Long Beach St. (37-19)
3. San Jose St. (45-15)
4. Cal St. Fullerton (36-20)
|
|
1. Wake Forest (44-11-1)
2. Richmond (49-10)
3. Navy (22-23)
4. George Washington (42-21)
|
At Texas |
|
At South Carolina |
1. Texas (48-14)
2. Baylor (34-24)
3. Lamar (35-22)
4. Central Conn. St. (34-21)
|
|
1. South Carolina (48-14)
2. North Carolina (40-19)
3. James Madison (43-14)
4. Va. Commonwealth (38-25)
|
At Arizona St. |
|
At Florida |
1. Houston (44-15)
2. Arizona St. (35-19)
3. San Diego (38-21)
4. New Mexico St. (37-23)
|
|
1. Florida (43-17)
2. Florida Int'l (41-18)
3. Miami (Fla.) (30-26)
4. Bethune Cookman (38-20)
|
At LSU |
|
At Georgia Tech |
1. LSU (40-19)
2. La-Lafayette (37-21)
3. Tulane (35-25)
4. Southern U. (45-8)
|
|
1. Georgia Tech (46-14)
2. Georgia (30-27)
3. Louisville (39-16)
4. Coastal Carolina (43-17)
|
At Rice |
|
At Alabama |
1. Rice (47-11)
2. Texas Tech (41-18)
3. Washington (30-25-1)
4. Harvard (20-24)
|
|
1. Alabama (48-13)
2. Auburn (34-24)
3. Florida Atlantic (43-18)
4. Southeast Mo. St. (36-18) |
02/23/2007 10:44 AM |