Welcome to College Baseball's Conference Tournament Weekend, where motivation about projected regional positioning is paramount. A number of teams are comfortable in their outlook for the postseason.
Tennessee, Kentucky, Clemson and Texas A&M all had winning weekends that will lock up a Super Regional seed. On the other hand, Wake Forest and South Carolina were swept, leaving the teams needing a strong run in their respective tournaments.
Because conference tournaments do not grant automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament, the upcoming weekend is about improving RPI. Head coaches have different philosophies in building a lineup, as some choose to sit starters and use the weekend for time off. Others use midweek starters with the risk of getting a quick ticket home. Here is a look at a few different conferences and where the motivation angles may play throughout the weekend.
College Baseball Conference Tournament Picks
SEC (Bracket)
Auburn and Missouri did not quality for the tournament. South Carolina (+2000) desperately needs victory over Alabama and then Arkansas to obtain a regional host seed. Friday night starter Roman Kimball was held out of the Tennessee series and will be fresh for the opener.
Vanderbilt and Florida (+1500) will meet in a titanic single-elimination opener. Both the Commodores and Gators are on the bubble and need a strong run to reach regionals. Vanderbilt took the series in Nashville in mid-April, but Florida is fresh off a road series win at Georgia.
ACC (Bracket)
Four different pools will play a round robin to determine which teams advance to the Saturday semifinals. Tiebreakers fall to the highest seed, giving a heavy advantage to North Carolina, Clemson, NC State and Virginia. Wake Forest has the motivation to obtain a top-eight seed but is paired up with a North Carolina team that recently took a series on the road at Duke.
Georgia Tech (+1200) may have the motivation and path to surprise. The Yellow Jackets own a series victory over Virginia and took a game off Florida State this past Saturday.
Pac-12 (Bracket)
Pool play with groups of three follows a similar format to the ACC. Oregon State and Arizona may not be able to improve their positions, but Oregon (+500), California (+900), Arizona State and Utah desperately need a run to the championship game.
The Bears just swept Washington but were swept at home against Arizona in April. Utah is ice cold, losing 7 of their past 9 conference games against USC, Arizona and Oregon. Look for the Ducks to advance from Pool C after winning both series against the Utes and Trojans this season.
Big Ten (Bracket)
Maryland has the third-highest RPI in the conference but did not quality for the tournament with just 10 Big Ten wins. Purdue squandered a chance at the regular season title after being swept at home by Illinois (+275) this past weekend. Illinois did not play Nebraska (+200) in the regular season, but the Fighting Illini are projected to meet the Huskers in the Championship game here.
Big 12 (Bracket)
The hottest team in the bracket is also the number one seed, as Oklahoma won five of the last six series in conference play. The teams with motivation to make regionals include Kansas State, UCF and Cincinnati.
The Wildcats were swept against the Sooners earlier this season, while the Knights cooled off down the stretch by losing two home series to Texas and Cincinnati. Texas (+450) is the one team with urgency in improving RPI while entering the tournament on a heater. The Longhorns won recent series against Kansas, UCF, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma.
Sun Belt (Bracket)
While Louisiana is the regular-season champion, a quadrant of teams are sweating the selection committee. Southern Miss, Coastal Carolina, James Madison and Troy each need strong showings in the conference tournament. The Chanticleers melted down the stretch, taking consecutive sweeps against Southern Miss and Troy.
The Trojans rolled through conference play until losing their final two weekends. James Madison struggled to find quality RPI competition but cashed in on the final weekend against Troy with a road series win. The team with the historical advantage in this format is Southern Miss (+350), who is projected to play Coastal Carolina and then Troy.
The Golden Eagles took series victories over the Chanticleers and Trojans, and they look to improve regional seeding.
The NCAA selection committee will reveal the field of 64 on Monday, May 27 after determining 16 Regional hosts. Be sure to follow along for college baseball picks in the Action App.
