FIU wins 11-9 and advances to tomorrow's championship game!

Wittels extends hit streak to 53 games!

FIU wins it! They'll be in the championship tomorrow! Go Panthers!

FIU wins 11-9. Ensuring that there will be 3 SBC teams in the NCAA"s They advance to the championship game vs the Troy/ASU winner at 10 am tomorrow

Congrats to FIU!!! I hope we get the opportunity to play you guys tomorrow.

Just showed GW on ESPNNEWS and showed us beating FAU.

Amazing run!! Garrett Wittels just is a hitting machine!!

Congrats Garrett!!

(05-29-2010 03:24 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  FIU wins 11-9. Ensuring that there will be 3 SBC teams in the NCAA"s They advance to the championship game vs the Troy/ASU winner at 10 am tomorrow

Hang on just a sec there chief. This does not ensure 3 SBC teams in the Regionals at all. Take a look at SE Baseball projections as of yesterday.

http://sebaseball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1089057

Right now, FAU is projected as the winner of the tournament, and therefore the automatic bid, but obviously they aren't going to win the tourney, but whoever does win it will get the automatic bid. I could easily see FAU as the regular season champion (highest seeded in the SBC tourney) bumping ULL from their at-large spot and only two spots from SBC going to the Regionals. Even though we are the 6th rated conference of 32 conferences in terms of RPI, doesn't mean we will get the respect we think the Belt deserve in this.

http://www.warrennolan.com/baseball/2010/conferencerpi

http://www.boydsworld.com/baseball/rpi/confrpi.html

There are 30 automatic bids to the Regionals (SWAC and Great West don't have automatics). That leaves 34 spots for at-large teams. 26 of those 34 at-large teams are projected to come from the Pac-10, ACC, Big-12 or SEC, the top four conferences in the ratings. That leaves 8 spots for other at-large teams.

MWC has 1 (New Mexico - RPI is 52)
Big West has 1 (UC Irvine - RPI is 46)
Big East has 2 (UConn - RPI is 23, Louisville - RPI is 7)
Southern Conf has 2 (Elon - RPI is 47, College of Charleston - RPI is 28)
Sunbelt has 1 (FAU now - RPI is 37)
A-Sun has 1 (Florida Gulf Coast - RPI is 48)

ULL RPI is 40. Because of the western regionals, I don't see ULL bumping either New Mexico or UC Irvine out. Elon or Florida Gulf Coast is a possibility of being bumped, given their ratings compared to ULL.

Something to note, which glares at me, is that CUSA is the 5th rated conference in RPI, yet they don't have any at-large teams projected. Not exactly sure how they are rated the 5th in conference rankings with their top team, Rice, being #29, and their next best team USM at #70.

I hope we do get 3 in the Regionals, but this win by FIU doesn't ensure that at all.

Everything ive heard indicates that FAU will get a berth. I cant imagine them being left out... ULL according to Rivals is a lock

(05-29-2010 04:14 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  Everything ive heard indicates that FAU will get a berth. I cant imagine them being left out... ULL according to Rivals is a lock

I also can't imagine either FAU or ULL not getting an at large bid. I think if anyone is left out it is ULL. FAU has a better rpi (at least prior to today's action), beat ULL in the season series, and went further in the conference tournament. ULL did have a stronger second half of the season but FAU's wasn't bad either with a tougher schedule.

I think New Mexico, Elon, and FGCU would be left out before FAU or ULL.

(05-29-2010 04:35 PM)rgg Wrote:  

(05-29-2010 04:14 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  Everything ive heard indicates that FAU will get a berth. I cant imagine them being left out... ULL according to Rivals is a lock

I also can't imagine either FAU or ULL not getting an at large bid. I think if anyone is left out it is ULL. FAU has a better rpi (at least prior to today's action), beat ULL in the season series, and went further in the conference tournament. ULL did have a stronger second half of the season but FAU's wasn't bad either with a tougher schedule.

I think New Mexico, Elon, and FGCU would be left out before FAU or ULL.

I think the eventual SBC Tournament champion (FIU/Troy/ASU) plus FAU are a given. Logically ULL goes before Elon and FGCU. I hope it happens that way, but logic does not always prevail. I will say though, that baseball tends to be much more logical in their selection process than either the Basketball tournament or the bowls. I think this is largely due to the fact money is not as big a factor in the baseball tournament as it is in the football and basketball post-seasons.

And though I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Troy fan, I think the best 3 teams to represent the Sunbelt would be FAU, ULL and FIU. They are the three highest ranking in terms of RPI, plus I think the Wittels story right now brings huge spotlights to the conference. If FIU were to make it into the tournament with him still on his hitting streak, how much pub would FIU and the Sunbelt get? I'm going to be ecstatic if Troy does make it, but I would not be heartbroken if it were FIU winning tomorrow.

(05-29-2010 03:44 PM)Troy87 Wrote:  

(05-29-2010 03:24 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  FIU wins 11-9. Ensuring that there will be 3 SBC teams in the NCAA"s They advance to the championship game vs the Troy/ASU winner at 10 am tomorrow

Hang on just a sec there chief. This does not ensure 3 SBC teams in the Regionals at all. Take a look at SE Baseball projections as of yesterday.

http://sebaseball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1089057

Right now, FAU is projected as the winner of the tournament, and therefore the automatic bid, but obviously they aren't going to win the tourney, but whoever does win it will get the automatic bid. I could easily see FAU as the regular season champion (highest seeded in the SBC tourney) bumping ULL from their at-large spot and only two spots from SBC going to the Regionals. Even though we are the 6th rated conference of 32 conferences in terms of RPI, doesn't mean we will get the respect we think the Belt deserve in this.

http://www.warrennolan.com/baseball/2010/conferencerpi

http://www.boydsworld.com/baseball/rpi/confrpi.html

There are 30 automatic bids to the Regionals (SWAC and Great West don't have automatics). That leaves 34 spots for at-large teams. 26 of those 34 at-large teams are projected to come from the Pac-10, ACC, Big-12 or SEC, the top four conferences in the ratings. That leaves 8 spots for other at-large teams.

MWC has 1 (New Mexico - RPI is 52)
Big West has 1 (UC Irvine - RPI is 46)
Big East has 2 (UConn - RPI is 23, Louisville - RPI is 7)
Southern Conf has 2 (Elon - RPI is 47, College of Charleston - RPI is 28)
Sunbelt has 1 (FAU now - RPI is 37)
A-Sun has 1 (Florida Gulf Coast - RPI is 48)

ULL RPI is 40. Because of the western regionals, I don't see ULL bumping either New Mexico or UC Irvine out. Elon or Florida Gulf Coast is a possibility of being bumped, given their ratings compared to ULL.

Something to note, which glares at me, is that CUSA is the 5th rated conference in RPI, yet they don't have any at-large teams projected. Not exactly sure how they are rated the 5th in conference rankings with their top team, Rice, being #29, and their next best team USM at #70.

I hope we do get 3 in the Regionals, but this win by FIU doesn't ensure that at all.

That's not exactly how is works Troy87, UL will not be one of the last 5 teams to get into a regional. First, UL was 25-5 in their last 30 games of the season. Second, is not just your RPI, but the weighted RPI of your opponents as well. Their is very little difference in the power index between the 6th and 7th rated conference. UL is a third seed right now in one regional, regardless of what happens today in my opinion.

Brian Benton has written for SEBaseball and is one of the most accurate people in the country at projecting regionals has the Cajuns as a solid 3 seed. They won't go from a 3 seed to being left out completely. UL may fall to a #4 seed, but they will not be left out.

(05-29-2010 04:47 PM)Troy87 Wrote:  

(05-29-2010 04:35 PM)rgg Wrote:  

(05-29-2010 04:14 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  Everything ive heard indicates that FAU will get a berth. I cant imagine them being left out... ULL according to Rivals is a lock

I also can't imagine either FAU or ULL not getting an at large bid. I think if anyone is left out it is ULL. FAU has a better rpi (at least prior to today's action), beat ULL in the season series, and went further in the conference tournament. ULL did have a stronger second half of the season but FAU's wasn't bad either with a tougher schedule.

I think New Mexico, Elon, and FGCU would be left out before FAU or ULL.

I think the eventual SBC Tournament champion (FIU/Troy/ASU) plus FAU are a given. Logically ULL goes before Elon and FGCU. I hope it happens that way, but logic does not always prevail. I will say though, that baseball tends to be much more logical in their selection process than either the Basketball tournament or the bowls. I think this is largely due to the fact money is not as big a factor in the baseball tournament as it is in the football and basketball post-seasons.

And though I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Troy fan, I think the best 3 teams to represent the Sunbelt would be FAU, ULL and FIU. They are the three highest ranking in terms of RPI, plus I think the Wittels story right now brings huge spotlights to the conference. If FIU were to make it into the tournament with him still on his hitting streak, how much pub would FIU and the Sunbelt get? I'm going to be ecstatic if Troy does make it, but I would not be heartbroken if it were FIU winning tomorrow.

Plus I believe ULL, FAU, and FIU are the only three Sun Belt Conference teams to have won a D1 NCAA baseball regional...at least within the past 10 years.

ahh comeon guys I think you should all intentionally lose to ASU just so we can play Arkansas...

that means you Troy, quit beating us

(05-29-2010 05:24 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  ahh comeon guys I think you should all intentionally lose to ASU just so we can play Arkansas...

that means you Troy, quit beating us

I think the team heard you...:muttering: 7 - 6 stAte going to the 9th via grand slam...

We finally got Murray watts up with the the bases loaded. Now can we hold the lead

(05-29-2010 07:00 PM)trojanbrutha Wrote:  

(05-29-2010 05:24 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  ahh comeon guys I think you should all intentionally lose to ASU just so we can play Arkansas...

that means you Troy, quit beating us

I think the team heard you...:muttering: 7 - 6 stAte going to the 9th via grand slam...

Our pitching has gone much further than I thought it would in this tourney.

Edit Thank you JR Myers. Neither team is going quietly.

(05-29-2010 07:03 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  We finally got Murray watts up with the the bases loaded. Now can we hold the lead

Uhhhh...nope...

crazy game. and we're both out of pitching

(05-29-2010 07:21 PM)chiefsfan Wrote:  crazy game. and we're both out of pitching

I feel like I've been playing all week and I'm so tired...

still crazy. Troy goes up 8-7 and then Todd Baumgartner ties it on a 2 out homerun

11th inning