One of the safest bets in all of college sports is that in big games, North Carolina State will always lose to North Carolina. Saturday night, in the ACC Tournament, NCSU got a spectacular pitching performance from its starter, who gave up only one hit in ten innings. But the Wolfpack gave UNC a run on a walk and two errors in the 8th inning, and then NCSU scored only one run of its own -- so the game went on and on, until UNC finally put NCSU out of its misery in 18 innings -- moving onto the finals with a 2-1 victory. The Heels then wrapped up the ACC title on Sunday with an easy 4-1 win over a shaky Virginia Tech squad that made four errors. And when it was all over, the Heels only had to drive about ten miles back to campus, since the whole tournament was played in Durham. Same old, same old.
Another safe bet in college sports is that in big games, Vanderbilt will lose. So it wasn't surprising that the Dores were beaten by LSU in the final of the SEC Tournament, 5-4 in 11 innings. I know at least one Vanderbilt fan who was so certain the Commodores would lose that he didn't even bother to watch.
In the OVC, Austin Peay won the championship for the third year in a row with a 6-3 win over Eastern Kentucky on Saturday.
In the CAA, Towson State won the title with a 5-2 victory against William & Mary on Saturday.
After all of that, here is Baseball America's Top 25 heading into the NCAA Baseball Tournament. I have no idea why Vandy is still ranked ahead of LSU:
1. Vanderbilt: 51-9
2. Louisiana St: 52-9
3. Cal-State Fullerton: 48-8
4. Oregon St: 45-10
5. N. Carolina: 52-8
6. Virginia: 47-10
7. N. Carolina St: 44-14
8. Indiana: 43-14
9. Oregon: 45-14
10. UCLA: 39-17
11. Florida St: 44-15
12. Arkansas: 37-20
13. Kansas St: 41-17
14. Mississippi St: 43-17
15. Louisville: 46-12
16. Virginia Tech: 38-20
17. New Mexico: 37-20
18. S. Carolina: 39-18
19. Oklahoma: 40-19
20. Rice: 41-17
21. Austin Peay: 45-13
22. Clemson: 39-20
23. Florida Atlantic: 39-20
24. Arizona St: 35-20-1
25. San Diego: 35-23
Here are the top 8 seeds in this year's NCAA Baseball Tournament:
ReplyDelete1. N. Carolina
2. Vanderbilt
3. Oregon St.
4. Louisiana St.
5. Cal-State Fullerton
6. Virginia
7. Florida St.
8. Oregon
The folks at Baseball America were surprised that UNC was seeded ahead of Vandy, but the folks at the Heath Post were not.
We are happy that William & Mary made the field as a number 3 seed. The Tribe is headed to Raleigh, for a regional that includes N. Carolina State, Ole Miss, and Binghamton.
ReplyDeleteLouisville is the only team from Kentucky to make the NCAA field. The Cardinals are a number one seed, and will host a regional that includes Miami (Fla.), Oklahoma State, and Bowling Green. Louisville should win that region without too much trouble. The Cardinals will then face the winner of Vandy's region, which includes the Commodores, Georgia Tech, Illinois, and East Tennessee State. Given Vandy's record in big games, Louisville has a great chance to reach Omaha.
ReplyDeleteSorry about Vandy, Go Heath. Good for the Tribe!
ReplyDelete