June 5, 2007

Super-Regional Hosts Announced

By John Manuel

The eight host schools for the upcoming best-of-three super-regionals have been decided, and there are definitely some surprises thanks to a topsy-turvy regional round. The super-regional schedule:

Series begin Friday, June 8

Texas A&M (48-17) at No. 2 Rice (52-12)
Oklahoma State (41-19) at Louisville (44-21)
Clemson (41-21) at Mississippi State (36-20)
South Carolina (45-18) at No. 3 North Carolina (51-12)

Series begin Saturday, June 9

Michigan (42-17) at Oregon State (41-18)/Virginia (45-15) winner (Game played today at Noon ET)
UCLA (33-26) at Cal State Fullerton (36-23)
Mississippi (40-23) at No. 5 Arizona State (46-13)
UC Irvine (43-15) at Wichita State (53-20)

Who would have figured on Cal State Fullerton playing host to a regional? Perhaps UCLA didn’t finish strong enough; perhaps Fullerton’s facilities and bid were the key factor. Or maybe Titans athletic director Brian Quinn lobbied his fellow members of the Division I baseball committee persuasively. It’s no slam dunk that one team deserves it more than the other; those factors all probably played a part.

Louisville being a host over Oklahoma State was a surprise in some ways, but look deeper. Louisville’s RPI and non-conference record and schedule were all better. Oklahoma State went on the road to be a top-eight national seed in Arkansas, but Louisville is new blood, is guaranteed to have made a strong financial bid, and has one of the nation’s most respected athletic directors in Tom Jurich, a former baseball committee member.

And no one should be surprised that Mississippi State was chosen to host over Clemson. The Bulldogs and Tigers had similar seasons, but only Arkansas and LSU can rival Mississippi State for fan passion and numbers, and of course Bulldogs AD Larry Templeton heads the committee. He got Troy and especially Memphis into the tournament, and now his school plays host to a super-regional.