How about a hand for the Big West Conference.
The Big West tied a conference record when it sent four baseball teams to the NCAA Tournament a couple weeks back and two teams are still alive.
Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine, two teams that lost 2 of 3 to Cal Poly this season, have advanced to the College World Series.
UC Irvine, which did finish ahead of the Mustangs in the Big West standings, is going to the Series for the first time in program history.
Cal State Fullerton, which finished behind Cal Poly in the standings and lost a series to the Mustangs eight days before the 64-team field to the playoffs was unveiled, is going to the College World Series for the 15th consecutive year.
Two other Cal Poly opponents, Rice, and it appears Oregon State (which is up early against Michigan in the second game of their super regional), are on their way to the College World Series as well.
Which solidifies Cal Poly head coach Larry Lee’s recent comments about the Mustangs playing “one of the toughest schedules in the country” and that the disappointing part about not making the tournament is, “if you can just get to a regional, anything can happen.”
Look at Cal State Fullerton. The Titans lost 11 of their final 17 games going into the tournament and are off to Omaha.
Cal Poly was likely one of the last three teams left out of the tournament, a committee chairman recently told Baseball America.
The baseball publication also points out a notable fact about the tournament:
“Every single West Coast team is on the left side of the bracket, making it impossible for two West Coast teams to meet in the national championship series and making it more difficult for Western teams to get to the College World Series.”
East Coast bias anyone?
Monday, June 11, 2007
Big West among best in college baseball
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Did you say that Fullerton's selection "raised eyebrows?"
Now you want to jump on the Titans' bandwagon? They were picked over Cal Poly because you judge the season as a whole, not just a handful of games. And now they've proven their worth by advancing to Omaha.
One should be noted that all the west coast teams advanced on the left side of the bracket because there were NO WEST COAST TEAMS on the right side of the bracket. The powers that be were not going to chance a West vs. West meeting in the CWS championship series.
Fullerton was a very questionable pick for the postseason despite what the Titans might have done after that point. Calling the whole conference season simply "a handful of games" is silly. The bottom line is Fullerton got into the NCAAs based on rep, not what it accomplished during the regular season.
Post a Comment