Current status: Super Regionals completed, on to the CWS.
New readers should consult a separate page that gives some general background information on the records, polls, RPI, ISR, etc information included in the table below. (An "N" indicates a "national" seed.) As usual, the polls and data are from from Monday, 28 May 2012, when the regional pairings and seedings were announced. Again, many thanks to Boyd Nation for the pseudo-RPI and ISR information generated from his database. We also have the official NCAA RPI available but that information is still only used in my discussion area.
The average (mean) ISR for the field is 112.4,
plus or minus a standard deviation of 8.1.
The median ISR is 113.2.
The highest pseudo-RPI ranking without a bid was Maryland (30), excluding Arizona State (16) because they are on probation. The lowest pseudo-RPI with an at-large bid was Indiana State (49), followed by Michigan State (45) and College of Charleston (43). The highest ISR without a bid was Gonzaga (115.9) and Cal Poly (115.5), again excluding Arizona State (120.7). The lowest ISR with an at-large bid was Louisville (110.6), just behind Michigan State (110.9) and College of Charleston (111.3).
Note: The NCAA identified the regions only by location, so the region numbering scheme is my own creation, reflecting the seeding of the associated super regional and identifying which of the two paired regionals has a top-8 nationally seeded team. The regional names are also my own, carrying on a tradition started by Craig Gowens (aka the perpetual "Commissioner of the SWC") on Usenet.
Super Regional Summary:
I order these results in almost the same way the NCAA does (they use 1-8, 5-4, 2-7, 6-3), reflecting the pairings in the CWS brackets.
Super Regional 1: N.C. State 1 8
at Florida 7 9(10) ===> meets 8
Super Regional 8: Oklahoma 0 1
at S. Carolina 5 5 ===> meets 1
Super Regional 4: Arkansas 1 5 1(10) ===> meets 5
at Baylor 8 4 0
Super Regional 5: Kent St 7 2 3 ===> meets 4
at Oregon 6 3 2
==========================
Super Regional 2: TCU 2 1
at UCLA 6 4 ===> meets 7
Super Regional 7: Stony Brook 4 3 7 ===> meets 2
at LSU 5(12) 1 2
Super Regional 3: Stanford 1 7
at Florida St 17 18 ===> meets 6
Super Regional 6: St. John's 6 4
at Arizona 7(10) 7 ===> meets 3
==========================
Complete Results:
Note: All series start on Friday, 1 June. The order here is by national seed, not by future CWS pairing (which is the 1-8, 5-4, 2-7, 6-3 order used in NCAA brackets) or the seemingly random order resulting from alphabetizing them by the host city.
NCAA Record Polls Boyd Nation
Seed Team Result W L T CB BA RPI ISR etc....
==== =============== ====== ======= == == === === ===============
Region 1 [Swamp] - Gainesville, FL
---------------- ---------------
N1 * Florida WW W 42-18 3 1 1 123 SEC (East-t2)
2 Georgia Tech WLWL 36-24 30 -- 24 114 ACC champ (Coast#4)
3 Col.Charleston LWL 37-20 . . 43 111 Southern (t1)
4 Bethune-Cookman LL 34-25 . . 184 96 MEAC champ (2,South#1)
Florida pitcher Jonathon Crawford pitched a complete game no-hitter against Bethune-Cookman.
He faced the minimum 27, giving up a BB who was CS, with 5 K and solid defense behind him.
This was only the 7th no hitter in tournament history, the first since Burke (also UF) in 1991.
Region 1a [South II] - Raleigh, NC
-------------------- -----------
1 * N.C. State WLWWW 39-17 15 18 10 119 ACC (Atl#2)
2 Vanderbilt WW LL 33-26 28 22 25 115 SEC (East#4)
3 UNC-Wilmington LWL 38-21 . . 41 109 Colonial champ (#1)
4 Sacred Heart LL 25-30 . . 214 88 Northeast champ (t3)
===> Super Regional 1: N.C. State 1 8
at Florida 7 9(10) ===> meets 8
==========================
Region 2 [Pacific I] - Los Angeles, CA
-------------------- ---------------
N1 * UCLA WW W 42-14 7 2 2 128 Pac-12 (#2,t1)
4 Creighton LWWL 26-28 . . 148 103 Mo Valley champ (#8)
3 New Mexico WLL 36-22 26 -- 57 114 Mtn West champ (t1)
2 San Diego LL 40-15 27 -- 33 119 West Coast (#2)
Region 2a [Central II] - College Station, TX
---------------------- -------------------
2 * TCU LWWWW 36-19 . . 37 115 Mtn West (t1)
3 Mississippi WW LL 35-24 . . 26 114 SEC (West#4)
1 Texas A&M WLL 42-16 11 9 13 119 Big 12 (#2)
4 Dayton LL 31-28 . . 187 96 Atl 10 champ (t1)
===> Super Regional 2: TCU 2 1
at UCLA 6 4 ===> meets 7
==========================
Region 3 [South I] - Tallahassee, FL
------------------ ---------------
N1 * Florida St WW W 43-15 4 5 3 122 ACC (Atl#1)
3 Samford WLWL 39-21 . . 47 112 Southern champ (#4)
2 Miss. St LWL 39-22 17 14 21 116 SEC champ (West-t2)
4 UAB LL 32-28 . . 102 105 Conf USA champ (#7)
Region 3a [Pacific II] - Palo Alto, CA
---------------------- -------------
1 * Stanford WW W 38-16 12 19 15 124 Pac-12 (t4)
2 Pepperdine WLWL 34-21 -- 24 29 116 West Coast champ (#1)
4 Fresno St LWL 30-26 . . 78 109 WAC champ (#5)
3 Michigan St LL 37-21 . . 45 111 Big Ten (#5)
===> Super Regional 3: Stanford 1 7
at Florida St 17 18 ===> meets 6
==========================
Region 4 [Central I] - Waco, TX
-------------------- --------
N1 * Baylor LWWWW 44-14 5 4 4 124 Big 12 (#1)
2 Dallas Baptist WW LL 39-17 . . 23 116 Independent (#1)
4 Oral Roberts WLL 37-23 . . 98 105 Summit champ (#1)
3 Tx-Arlingtion LL 36-23 . . 53 111 Southland champ (t3)
Region 4a [Bayou II] - Houston, TX
-------------------- -----------
2 * Arkansas WW W 39-19 19 -- 19 118 SEC (West-t2)
3 Sam Houston St LWWL 38-20 . . 51 113 Southland (#1)
1 Rice WLL 40-17 9 8 17 118 Conf USA (#1)
4 Prairie View LL 28-23 . . 224 92 SWAC champ (West#2)
===> Super Regional 4: Arkansas 1 5 1(10) ===> meets 5
at Baylor 8 4 0
==========================
Region 5 [Northwest] - Eugene, OR
-------------------- ----------
N1 * Oregon WW W 42-17 10 10 6 124 Pac-12 (#3)
4 Austin Peay LWWL 38-22 . . 123 104 Ohio Valley champ (t1)
2 CSU,Fullerton WLL 35-19 14 12 20 119 Big West champ (#1)
3 Indiana St LL 41-17 . . 49 113 Mo Valley (#1)
Region 5a [Midwest] - Gary, IN (not West Lafayette)
------------------- --------
3 * Kent State WW W 41-17 25 -- 75 109 MAC champ (East#1)
2 Kentucky LWWL 43-16 13 11 18 118 SEC (East-t2)
1 Purdue WLL 44-12 16 15 9 120 Big Ten champ (#1)
4 Valpariso LL 35-23 . . 142 101 Horizon champ (#1)
KSU 010 300 010 000 000 001 001 - 7 20 1 wins after 21 innings in Friday's opener
UK 002 010 101 000 000 001 000 - 6 18 1 the loser went 9 innings in relief
This is the longest tournament game since Texas took 25 to beat Boston College in 2009
===> Super Regional 5: Kent St 7 2 3 ===> meets 4
at Oregon 6 3 2
==========================
Region 6 [East] - Chapel Hill, NC
--------------- ---------------
3 * St. John's (NY) WW W 37-21 29 -- 46 108 Big East champ (t1)
N1 N. Carolina WLWL 44-14 6 6 5 122 ACC (Coast#1)
2 E. Carolina LWL 35-22-1 . . 32 112 Conf USA (#6)
4 Cornell LL 31-15-1 . . 125 101 Ivy champ (Gehrig#1)
Region 6a [Mountain] - Tucson, AZ
-------------------- ----------
1 * Arizona WW W 38-17 8 13 14 121 Pac-12 champ (#1,t1)
3 Louisville WLWL 39-20 . . 42 111 Big East (t1)
4 Missouri LWL 32-26 . . 74 109 Big 12 champ (#6)
2 New Mexico St LL 35-22 . . 34 112 WAC (#1)
===> Super Regional 6: St. John's 6 4
at Arizona 7(10) 7 ===> meets 3
==========================
Region 7 [Bayou I] - Baton Rouge, LA
------------------ ---------------
N1 * LSU WW W 43-16 1 3 8 120 SEC (1,West#1)
2 Oregon St WLWL 38-18 18 16 27 121 Pac-12 (t4)
4 LA-Monroe LWL 31-28 . . 118 105 Sun Belt champ (t4)
3 Belmont LL 39-22 . . 63 109 Atl Sun champ (#1)
Region 7a [Atlantic] - Coral Gables, FL
-------------------- ----------------
4 * Stony Brook WLWWW 46-11 -- 25 87 108 Amer East champ (#1)
2 Central Fla WW LL 43-15 21 20 22 115 Conf USA (#2)
3 Missouri St LWL 39-20 . . 35 114 Mo Valley (#2)
1 Miami (FL) LL 36-21 22 23 12 116 ACC (Coast#3)
===> Super Regional 7: Stony Brook 4 3 7 ===> meets 2
at LSU 5(12) 1 2
==========================
Region 8 [Southeast] - Columbia, SC
-------------------- ------------
N1 * S. Carolina WW W 40-17 2 7 11 120 SEC (2,East#1)
2 Clemson WLWL 33-26 . . 31 113 ACC (Atl#3)
3 Coastal Carol. LWL 41-17 . . 39 111 Big South champ (#1)
4 Manhattan LL 33-25 . . 139 99 Metro Atl champ (#1)
Region 8a [Northeast] - Charlottesville, VA
--------------------- -------------------
2 * Oklahoma LWWWW 38-22 23 -- 28 114 Big 12 (#4)
3 Appalachian St WW LL 39-16 . . 40 113 Southern (t1)
1 Virginia WLL 38-17-1 24 17 7 118 ACC (Coast#2)
4 Army LL 41-13 . . 115 102 Patriot champ (#1)
===> Super Regional 8: Oklahoma 0 1
at S. Carolina 5 5 ===> meets 1
==========================
Related information:
In addition, I include the usual list of "bridesmaid" teams. Several of these were obvious, others stood out in Boyd's rankings, and some were picked to provide perspective. There are none missing with an ISR of 114 or above.
Decisive criteria listed by the NCAA selection committee in the past have included strength of non-conference schedule and performance in the conference tournament in addition to the overall season performance numbers we tabulate here.
Examination of past tournaments suggested that conference finish was undoubtedly the reason every team with a pseudo-RPI high enough to make the field strictly by the numbers (those marked with an "*") was left out by the committee. This is clearly the case for Maryland, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest, all of which finished below 0.500 for the season in the ACC. (So did Georgia Tech, but it won the conference tournament.) Wichita State (3rd in the Mo Valley conference) lost out to Michigan State (2nd in Big Ten), Indiana State (1st in Mo Valley), Louisville (1st in Big East), and Appalachian State (tied for 1st in the Southern).
... RPI commentary ...
Arizona State was excluded as part of their NCAA punishment in December 2010 for major violations that occurred in the 2007 season but were not detected and prosecuted until much later.
Utah Valley did not earn an automatic bid because the Great West conference is only playing baseball for its third season (having expanded from football to all sports in 2008, but not including baseball until the 2009-2010 season). I believe that conference will be eligible for a bid next year. It is notable that Utah Valley increased their RPI from 210 (ISR of 98) to 69 (ISR of 111) in the past year but are still behind well-known teams from the past (such as Long Beach State, Texas, South Florida, Texas Tech, Georgia) that also did not get a bid this year.
Overlooked ? (ordered by ISR, records may not be accurate)
----------
Record Polls Boyd Nation
Seed Team W L T CB BA RPI ISR etc....
==== =============== ...... ======= == == === === ===============
X* Arizona St .. 36-20 20 21 16 121 Pac-12 (t4, ineligible)
X Gonzaga .. 34-22 . . 48 116 West Coast (t3)
X Cal Poly 36-20 . . 65 116 Big West (#2)
X Washington .. 30-25 . . 58 114 Pac-12 (#7)
X California 29-25 . . 61 114 Pac-12 (#8)
* Wake Forest .. 33-24 . . 38 113 ACC (Atl#4)
* Va. Tech .. 34-21 . . 36 112 ACC (Coast#5)
Texas .. 30-22 . . 50 112 Big 12 (#3)
Southeastern LA .. 39-21 . . 59 112 Southland (#2)
* Maryland .. 32-24 . . 30 111 ACC (Atl#5)
Utah Valley .. 47-12 . . 69 111 Great West champ (#1)
Wichita St .. 35-25 . . 44 110 Mo Valley (#3)
Auburn .. 31-28 . . 54 110 SEC (West#5)
Georgia .. 31-26 . . 56 110 SEC (East#5)
Illinois St .. 33-19 . . 55 109 Mo Valley (#4)
Elon .. 33-26 . . 52 108 Southern (#3)
Stetson .. 35-23 . . 60 107 Atl Sun (t4)
UT Pan Am 30-22 . . 228 92 Great West (t2)
NJ Tech 25-27 . . 256 87 Great West (t2)
Longwood 27-21 . . 252 87 Independent (#2)
Alabama St 20-36 . . 267 85 SWAC (East-t2)
NC Central 19-32 . . 281 77 MEAC (South#2)
Brown 9-35 . . 290 80 Ivy (Rolfe#3)
UM-Balt County 10-42 . . 291 73 America East (#6)
UM-Eastern Shore 14-39 . . 292 69 MEAC (North#3)
Chicago St 13-40 . . 293 73 Great West (#7)
Florida A&M 7-45 . . 294 69 MEAC (South#5)
NY Tech 5-46 . . 295 68 Great West (#8)
Alabama A&M 8-42 . . 296 68 SWAC (East#5)
Coppin St 1-53 . . 297 57 MEAC (North#4)
---------------
X - denotes team with Boyd's computer ranking above the 113.2
median for regional tournament teams. The lowest ISR of an
at-large team was 110.6.
* - denotes team with a higher pseudo-RPI than the natural cutoff
for a 64-team tournament after automatic bids are used up [42].
==== =============== ====== ======= == == === === == ===============