Current status:
Super regionals are complete! On to the CWS.
Vanderbilt and Stanford were the first teams into the CWS,
while Mississippi State and Virginia were the last ones in.
Super Regionals 1, 4, 5, and 8 started first, on Friday, June 11.
This tells us that the CWS will start with the 1-4-5-8 seed group.
Home team is shown with a "#" after that team's score.
National 15th seed Florida goes 0-2 and BBQ in its own Regional.
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, 31 May 2021, 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. [NOTE: An * after the ISR indicates a conference-only schedule per Boyd.] 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 112.1,
plus or minus a standard deviation of 10.3.
The median ISR is 114.8.
The highest pseudo-RPI ranking without a bid was Georgia (40). The lowest pseudo-RPI with an at-large bid was Michigan (86), who was clearly the lowest in the NCAA's official RPI. Maryland (55) was also favored over teams like the SEC's 8th place finisher, Georgia, and good candidates like Ball State (44) and Baylor (45). The highest ISR without a bid was San Diego (116.7), followed by UNLV (115.1). The lowest ISR with an at-large bid was Michigan (106.4), just behind Maryland (107.2) -- both from the Big Ten, which did not play any games outside the conference -- and Campbell (108.2).
Important COVID-19 change: The Ivy League did not play baseball this year due to the pandemic, so there are only 30 conference bids. There are also several conferences like the MEAC, where a large fraction of their teams did not play any sports this year.
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:
Will appear here after the regionals are over.
Complete Results:
Note: All series start on Friday, 4 June. The order of the regionals 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 in one of the NCAA's schemes.
Continuing a procedure that started in 2018, the NCAA announced the seeds as 1-16 and listed all 16 seeds on the bracket pdf. Everything is consistent with that, with 1 paired with 16 in my Regions 1 and 1a, 2 playing 15 in my Regions 2 and 2a, etc, and 8 playing 9 in my Regions 8 and 8a. Like in basketball, there appears to be no effort to reduce travel challenges and costs for fans wanting to attend a Super Regional. This wasn't clear in the first two seasons because extra travel was dictated by who was in the top 8 seeds. It is clear this year, because either Stanford or Oregon St could have been paired up with Arizona to form a "West" regional.
NCAA Record Polls Boyd Nation
Seed Team Result W L T CB BA RPI ISR etc....
==== =============== ====== ======= == == === === ===============
Region 1 [Ozark] - at Fayetteville, AR
---------------- -------------------
N1 * Arkansas WW LW 46-10 1 1 1 129 SEC champ (West#1, #1)
2 Nebraska WLWWL 31-12 18 19 42 112* Big Ten (#1) champ [reg season]
4 New Jersey Tech LWL 26-22 . . 117 84 Amer East champ (#2)
3 Northeastern LL 36-10 . . 35 106 Colonial champ (#1)
Region 16 [Bayou] - at Ruston, LA
----------------- -------------
2 * N. Carolina St WW W 30-17 22 16 34 118 ACC (Atl#2, #3)
1 Louisiana Tech WLWL 40-18 25 20 22 116 Conf USA (#2)
3 Alabama LWL 31-24 . . 32 114 SEC (West#5, #10)
4 Rider LL 23-16 . . 57 105* Metro Atl champ (#6)
===> Super Regional 1: NC State 2 6# 3 ===> meets 8
at 1 Arkansas 21# 5 2#
==========================
Region 2 [Central] - at Austin, TX
------------------ -------------
N1 * Texas WW W 42-15 4 5 6 122 Big 12 (#1t)
3 Fairfield LWWL 37- 3 . . 3 120* Metro Atl (#1)
2 Arizona St WLL 32-20 23 -- 41 116 Pac-12 (#5t)
4 Southern LL 20-28 . . 262 86 SWAC champ (West#3, #5)
Region 15 [Swamp] - at Gainesville, FL
----------------- ------------------
4 * S. Florida WW LW 28-27 . . 96 106 American champ (#6)
3 South Alabama LWWWL 33-20 . . 58 110 Sun Belt champ (East#1, #1)
2 Miami, FL WLL 32-19 28 -- 26 119 ACC (Coast#2, #4)
1 Florida LL 38-20 12 12 16 118 SEC (East#3, #6)
===> Super Regional 2: S.Florida 3 4#
at 2 Texas 4# 12 ===> meets 7
==========================
Region 3 [Mid South I] - at Knoxville, TN
---------------------- ----------------
N1 * Tennessee WW W 45-16 5 3 4 122 SEC (East#1, #2t)
3 Liberty WLWL 39-14 . . 36 114 Atl Sun (#1)
2 Duke LWL 32-20 19 24 19 117 ACC champ (Coast#5, #9)
4 Wright St LL 35-11 . . 24 111 Horizon champ (#1)
Region 14 [Pacific] - at Eugene, OR
------------------- -------------
3 * Louisiana State LWWWW 34-22 . . 28 115 SEC (West#4, #8t)
1 Oregon WW LL 37-14 10 13 15 122 Pac-12 (#2)
2 Gonzaga WLL 33-17 . . 27 118 West Coast (#1) champ [reg season]
4 Cent. Conn. St LL 28-13 . . 110 86 Northeast champ (#2)
===> Super Regional 3: Louisiana St 2 6#
at 3 Tennessee 4# 15 ===> meets 6
==========================
Region 4 [Mid South II] - at Nashville, TN
----------------------- ----------------
N1 * Vanderbilt WW W 40-15 2 2 2 122 SEC (East#2, #4)
2 Georgia Tech WLWL 29-23 21 -- 48 114 ACC (Coast#1, #2)
3 Indiana St LWL 30-19 . . 33 113 Mo Valley (#2)
4 Presbyterian LL 22-21 . . 128 96 Big South champ (#4)
Region 13 [Mid Atlantic] - at Greenville, NC
------------------------ -----------------
1 * E. Carolina WW W 41-15 13 17 17 118 American (#1)
3 Maryland LWWL 28-16 . . 55 107* Big Ten (#2)
2 NC-Charlotte WLL 39-19 29 25 30 114 Conf USA (#1)
4 Norfolk St LL 25-26 . . 260 81 MEAC champ (North#1, #1)
===> Super Regional 4: 13 E Carolina 0 1#
at 4 Vanderbilt 2# 4 ===> meets 5
==========================
Region 5 [West I] - at Tucson, AZ
----------------- -------------
N1 * Arizona WW W 40-15 6 6 9 122 Pac-12 (#1) champ [reg season]
3 UC SantaBarbara WLWL 39-18 . . 50 117 Big West (#2)
2 Oklahoma St LWL 35-17-1 20 22 14 119 Big 12 (#4)
4 Grand Canyon LL 39-19-1 . . 98 111 WAC champ (#1t)
Region 12 [South II] - at Oxford, MS
-------------------- -------------
1 * Mississippi WW LW 41-19 14 10 12 119 SEC (West#3, #5)
2 Southern Miss. LWWWL 37-19 -- 23 21 115 Conf USA (#3)
3 Florida St WLL 30-22 -- 18 47 116 ACC (Atl#3, #5)
4 SE Missouri St LL 30-20 . . 91 106 Ohio Valley champ (#1)
===> Super Regional 5: 12 Mississippi 3 12# 3
at 5 Arizona 9# 3 16# ===> meets 4
==========================
Region 6 [Soutwest I] - at Fort Worth, TX
--------------------- -----------------
3 * Dallas Baptist WW LW 37-15 . . 43 115 Mo Valley champ (#1)
2 Oregon St LWWWL 34-22 . . 23 119 Pac-12 (#5t)
N1 Texas Christian WLL 40-17 8 11 5 121 Big 12 champ (#1t)
4 McNeese St LL 32-28 . . 135 101 Southland champ (#7)
Region 11 [East] - at Columbia, SC [hosted by S. Carolina]
---------------- ---------------
3 * Virginia LWWWW 29-23 . . 38 114 ACC (Coast#3t, #6t)
1 Old Dominion WW LL 42-14 24 14 8 117 Conf USA champ (#4)
2 S. Carolina WLL 33-21 16 -- 18 117 SEC (East#4, #7)
4 Jacksonville LL 16-32 . . 202 97 Atl Sun champ (#9)
Super Regional 6 was played at Columbia, SC [hosted by S. Carolina]
As explained above, the home team is indicated with a "#" below.
===> Super Regional 6: Virginia 5 4# 5# ===> meets 3
at Dallas Baptist 6# 0 2
==========================
Region 7 [South I] - at Starkville, MS
------------------ -----------------
N1 * Miss. State WW W 40-15 3 8 7 121 SEC (West#2, #2t)
3 Campbell LWWL 35-16 . . 39 108 Big South (#1)
2 Va Commonwealth WLL 37-14 27 -- 29 111 Atl 10 champ (#1)
4 Samford LL 35-22 . . 56 107 Southern champ (#2t)
Region 10 [Midwest] - at South Bend, IN
------------------- -----------------
1 * Notre Dame WW W 30-11 7 4 10 124 ACC (Atl#1, #1)
4 Central Mich LWWL 40-16 26 -- 52 108 MAC (#1) champ [reg season]
2 Connecticut WLL 33-17 30 30 25 108 Big East champ (#1)
3 Michigan LL 27-17 . . 86 106* Big Ten (#3)
===> Super Regional 7: 10 Notre Dame 8 9# 7
at 7 Miss. State 9# 1 11# ===> meets 2
==========================
Region 8 [Southwest II] - at Lubbock, TX
----------------------- --------------
N1 * Texas Tech WW W 36-15 11 9 11 120 Big 12 (#3)
2 UCLA LWWL 35-18 17 21 20 121 Pac-12 (#4)
3 N. Carolina WLL 27-25 . . 46 113 ACC (Coast#3t, #6t)
4 Army LL 28-23 . . 120 86 Patriot champ (#2)
Region 9 [West II] - at Stanford, CA
------------------ ---------------
1 * Stanford WW LW 33-14 9 7 13 122 Pac-12 (#3)
2 UC Irvine WLWWL 40-16 15 15 31 119 Big West (#1) champ [reg season]
4 N. Dakota St LWL 41-17 . . 97 106 Summit champ (#2)
3 Nevada LL 25-18 . . 37 115 Mtn West (#1) champ [reg season]
===> Super Regional 8: 9 Stanford 15 9# ===> meets 1
at 8 Texas Tech 3# 0
==========================
Related information:
Note: The NCAA released a list of tentative hosts (locations that should be prepared to host a tournament) a week before the tournament began instead of assigning the host team at that time. [Good move, IMHO.] Those teams included Gonzaga, NC-Charlotte, and Southern Miss (all of which got in as #2 seeds) plus Pittsburg (which did not get in the tournament). Pittsburg must have been a backup host for a team like Old Dominion, who was the top seed at South Carolina. South Carolina hosted (and hosted the Super Regional) as the #2 seed in Region 11.
In addition, I include the usual list of "bridesmaid" teams. Several of these were obvious, others stood out in Boyd's rankings, and some (like the bottom 25 in both rankings) were picked to provide perspective. There are none missing with an ISR of 110 or above, or a pRPI below 64. I also try to include all of the teams that led their conference in the regular season but lost out in the conference tournament because their conference only rates a single bid, as well as some teams that move in and out of the cellar. You can see how the NCAA thinks the various conferences measure up on my conference ranking page.
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 Georgia (40), who tied for 8th out of 14 teams in the SEC, and Baylor (45), who tied for 5th out of 9 teams in the Big 12. Both were below 0.500 for the season in their conference. The only thing in Georgia's favor was that they were tied with LSU, who won their regional. A case could be made for Ball State (44), who finished 2nd in the MAC to Central Michigan, who won 2 games in their regional.
..... was clearly the last team added to the field.
... RPI analysis NOT YET COMPLETE ...
Overlooked ? (ordered by ISR, records may not be accurate)
----------
Record Polls Boyd Nation
Seed Team W L T CB BA RPI ISR etc....
==== =============== ...... ======= == == === === ===============
X San Diego .. 33-12 . . 64 117 West Coast (#2)
X UNLV .. 20-13 . . 53 115 Mtn West (#3)
San Diego St .. 30-16 . . 70 114 Mtn West (#2)
Pittsburgh .. 23-20 51 114 ACC (Coast#5t, #9t)
* Georgia .. 31-25 . . 40 113 SEC (East#5, #8t)
Long Beach St .. 28-15 . . 90 113 Big West (#3)
* Baylor .. 31-20 . . 45 112 Big 12 (#5t)
Louisville .. 28-22 . . 76 112 ACC (Atl#4, #6t)
California .. 29-26 . . 89 112 Pac-12 (#7)
Clemson .. 25-27 . . 69 112 ACC (Atl#5, #11t)
Virginia Tech .. 27-25 . . 71 111 ACC (Coast#7, #11t)
Washington St .. 26-23 . . 85 111 Pac-12 (#8t)
Kansas State .. 34-23 . . 59 110 Big 12 (#7)
Kentucky .. 29-23 . . 66 110 SEC (East#6, #11)
So. Illinois .. 40-20 . . 81 110 Mo Valley (#4)
So. California .. 25-26 . . 103 110 Pac-12 (#8t)
Calif. Baptist .. 40-16 . . 112 110 WAC (#1t)
Air Force .. 26-22 . . 61 110 Mtn West (#4)
Florida Atl. .. 32-25 . . 54 109 Conf USA (#5)
Georgia Southrn .. 34-23 . . 78 109 Sun Belt (East#2, #2)
Oklahoma .. 27-28 . . 60 109 Big 12 (#5t)
Fla Gulf Coast .. 28-20 . . 77 109 Atl Sun (#2)
Texas A&M .. 29-27 . . 87 109 SEC (West#7, #13)
NC-Wilmington .. 32-22 . . 62 108 Colonial (#2)
Wichita St .. 31-23 . . 102 108 American (#3)
Tulane .. 31-24 . . 95 108 American (#2)
* Ball State .. 38-18 . . 44 108 MAC (#2)
Mercer .. 35-22 . . 63 108 Southern (#2t)
Central Fla .. 31-30 . . 84 107 American (#4t)
S.Car.-Upstate .. 37-16 . . 49 107 Big South (#2) -- error in Boyd's data
San Francisco .. 25-28 122 107 West Coast (#3)
Auburn .. 25-27 . . 99 107 SEC (West#6, #12)
LA-Lafayette .. 32-23 . . 111 107 Sun Belt (West#1t, #3t)
Coastal Carol. .. 27-24 . . 93 107 Sun Belt (East#6, #10)
Wofford .. 36-21 . . 67 107 Southern (#1)
West Virginia .. 25-27 . . 75 106 Big 12 (#9)
Abilene Christian 36-21 . . 104 106 Southland (#1)
--- others ... [check records, etc]
Stetson .. 26-23 . . 145 105 Atl Sun (#5)
Brigham Young .. 23-27 . . 155 104 West Coast (#4)
Oral Roberts .. 31-23 . . 119 104 Summit (#1)
Ohio St .. 22-20 . . 88 103* Big Ten (#6)
Tx-Arlingtion .. 27-30 . . 144 102 Sun Belt (West#2, #3t)
Creighton .. 24-15 . . 116 102 Big East (#2)
U Ill-Chicago .. 30-18 . . 109 102 Horizon (#2)
Cal.St.Fullertn .. 20-35 . . 174 100 Big West (#9)
Villanova 21-14 . . 101 97 Big East (#5)
Jackson St .. 34- 9 . . 126 96 SWAC (East#1, #1)
Michigan St .. 17-27 . . 217 94* Big Ten (#11)
Bryant .. 27-14-1 . . 72 90 Northeast (#1)
LaSalle 32-21 . . 232 89 Atl 10 (#4)
Stony Brook .. 31-18 . . 100 88 America East (#1)
Florida A&M .. 22-34 . . 228 87 MEAC (South#2, #3) [moving to SWAC]
Lehigh 24-19 . . 188 81 Patriot (#1)
Lafayette 14-17 . . 242 76 Patriot (#3)
-- and the bottom 17 of the pRPI list ... [check records, etc]
Prairie View A&M 14-18 . . 277 76 SWAC (West#1, #3)
St. Peter's 4-24 . . 278 79 Metro Atl (#11)
Grambling State 17-27 . . 279 86 SWAC (West#2, #4)
Minnesota 6-31 . . 280 81* Big Ten (#13)
Arkansas-Pine Bluff 8-30 . . 281 74 SWAC (West#5, #8)
Akron 15-36 . . 282 78 MAC (#11)
Delaware St 15-28 . . 283 60 MEAC (North#2, #5)
Fairleigh Dickinson 9-28 . . 284 61 Northeast (#6)
North Alabama 7-40 . . 285 80 Atl Sun (#8) -- error in Boyd's data
Alcorn St 7-20 . . 286 69 SWAC (East#4, #9)
Northern Colorado 11-36 . . 287 82 WAC (#9)
Utah Valley 10-47 . . 288 83 WAC (#10)
Texas Southern 12-35 . . 289 78 SWAC (West#4, #6)
Mount St. Mary's 9-28 . . 290 73 Northeast (#8)
Alabama A&M 9-20 . . 291 76 SWAC (East#3, #7)
Coppin St 10-29 . . 292 80 MEAC (North#3, #6)
Miss Valley St 0-20 . . 293 55 SWAC (East#5, #10)
---------------
X - denotes team with Boyd's computer ranking above the 114.8
median for regional tournament teams. The lowest ISR of an
at-large team was 106.4 (Michigan), 107.2 (Maryland),
and 108.2 (Campbell).
* - denotes team with a higher pseudo-RPI than the natural cutoff
for a 64-team tournament after automatic bids are used up [48].
This is larger than usual because only 16 champs were below 51.
==== =============== ====== ======= == == === === == ===============
Move the following to the top when regionals are over.
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: .... . .
at .... . . ==> meets 8
Super Regional 8: .... . .
at .... . . ==> meets 1
Super Regional 4: .... . . .
at .... . . . ==> meets 5
Super Regional 5: .... . . .
at .... . . . ==> meets 4
==========================
Super Regional 2: .... . .
at .... . . ==> meets 7
Super Regional 7: .... . .
at .... . . ==> meets 2
Super Regional 3: .... . .
at .... . . ==> meets 6
Super Regional 6: .... . . .
at .... . . . ==> meets 3
==========================