Tuesday, June 4, 2024

College Baseball Super Regionals

The Super Regionals are set (national seed in parentheses):

Knoxville:  (1) Tennessee v. Evansville
Tallahassee: (8) Florida St. v. Connecticut
Charlottesville:  (12) Virginia v. Kansas St.
Chapel Hill:  (4) N. Carolina v. W. Virginia

Lexington:  (2) Kentucky v. (15) Oregon St.
Athens:  (7) Georgia v. (10) N. Carolina St.
Clemson:  (6) Clemson v. Florida
College Station:  (3) Texas A & M v. Oregon

Classic SEC (4):  Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Florida
Classic ACC (4):  N. Carolina, Clemson, N. Carolina St., Virginia
Classic Pac-10 (2):  Oregon, Oregon St.
Classic Southwest (1):  Texas A & M
Classic Big 8 (1):  Kansas St.
Classic Big East (1):  Connecticut
Others (3):  Florida St., W. Virginia, Evansville

45 comments:

  1. Going forward, I'm going to use the Classic Conference memberships whenever possible. For example, if I want to talk about how many SEC teams are ranked in the top 10, I will use the Classic SEC. But obviously, if I'm talking about the 2026 SEC Basketball Tournament, I'll have to use the current SEC -- because the Classic SEC will not be holding a tournament anywhere in 2026.

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  2. A few clarifications on the Classic Conferences as I will define them:

    1. I will have South Carolina in the Classic ACC, as they were in that league from 1953 to 1971, and never should have left.

    2. I will great Georgia Tech and Florida State as independents, which is what they were in the 1970's.

    3. I will have Tulane in the Classic Metro for basketball, and they will be an independent in football.

    4. I will go with the Classic Pac-10, not the Classic Pac-8.

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    Replies
    1. Again, these are my own preferred definitions. They are not all consistent, except in one way: I like them.

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    2. Good! I think I will start following the Classic OVC: WKU, EKU, Murray State, U of E, Morehead and Louisville.

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    3. My Classic OVC is Western, Eastern, Morehead, Murray, Tennessee Tech, MTSU, and Austin Peay. I may or may not add ETSU.

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  3. Updates on some other sports:

    1. Manchester City won the English Premier League for the fourth year in a row.
    2. Manchester Utd upset Man City in the final to win the F.A. Cup.
    3. Real Madrid won the UEFA Champions League.
    4. Celtic won the Scottish Premier League for the third year in a row, and for the 12th time in 13 years.
    5. Celtic won the Scottish F.A. Cup for the second year in a row, and for the sixth time in eight years.

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  4. Meanwhile, Oklahoma is trying to win the Women's College World Series for the fourth year in a row. The Sooners are in an elimination game with Florida. Whoever wins this game will play Texas for the title.

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  5. Florida led 5-2 going into the bottom of the 4th, but Oklahoma whacked a two-run homer. Gators lead 5-4 after 4.

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  6. Oklahoma hits a lead-off double in the bottom of the 5th, which leads to a spectacular collection at second. The runner is safe, and Oklahoma has the tying run in scoring position with no outs. Still 5-4 for the Gators.

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  7. UK's former player, Ugonna Onyenso, is apparently going to transfer to Kansas State. That decision makes no sense to me.

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  8. Two deep flies by Oklahoma are caught for outs. The runner has advance to third. Still 5-4 for the Gators with two outs in the bottom of the 5th. Florida's pitcher has thrown 104 pitches.

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  9. The next batter walks. Oklahoma has runners on 1st and 3d with two outs. The Florida pitcher has thrown 109 pitches. Florida leads 5-4 in the bottom of the 5th.

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  10. On a 2-1 count, the Oklahoma batter flies out to left and the side is retired. Florida still leads 5-4 after 5. Back in the day, they always told teams like Florida to get some "insurance runs" in this situation.

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  11. We're trying to wrap up everything as we come to the end of the year, so congratulations to Texas Christian for winning the 2024 NCAA Rifle Championship. West Virginia came in second. Alaska Fairbanks was third. Kentucky was fourth.

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  12. Now Florida has runners on first and third in the top of the 6th with two outs. The Oklahoma pitcher has thrown 126 pitches.

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    Replies
    1. The quality of play in the NCAA Baseball and Softball tournaments has been extremely high.

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  13. The Florida batter grounds out to first and the side is retired. Gators lead 5-4 after 5 1/2 innings.

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  14. With one out in the bottom of the 6th, Oklahoma laces a double to right.

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  15. The next batter pops up on the first pitch and throws her bat to the ground in despair. Two outs.

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  16. The next batter walks to put runners on first and second. Still two outs. Still 5-4 for the Gators. 129 pitches for the UF pitcher.

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  17. The next batter laces a single to center and the game is tied at 5. The Sooners still have runners on first and second and they have a great chance to take the lead.

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  18. The next batter flies out to right and the side is retired. But we have a whole new ball game. Oklahoma was down 5-2 a few innings ago, but they have tied the game at 5-5 as we head into the 7th.

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  19. Meanwhile, Kelly Maxwell -- the pitcher for Oklahoma -- appears to be getting stronger. She has thrown 138 pitches so far, but she dispatches the first two Gators in the top of the 7th with no trouble.

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  20. The next Florida batter lines out to end the top of the 7th, and the crowd in Oklahoma City is going nuts. They all expect the Sooners to end this game in the bottom of the 7th. Oklahoma 5, Florida 5.

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  21. Oklahoma does not win in the bottom of the 7th. Instead, they strand runners on first and second. We head to the eighth. Still 5-5.

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  22. In the bottom of the 8th, Oklahoma hits a walk-off home run. The Sooners win 6 to 5 in 8 innings.

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  23. That was a classic "refuse to lose" game. Florida beat Oklahoma 9 to 3 yesterday, and led 5-2 after three innings today, but the Sooners collected themselves and dominated the last five innings of play. Oklahoma threatened in every inning and outscored Florida 4-0 the rest of the way to eliminate the Gators and advance to the final.

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  24. Florida played very well, but there's a reason Oklahoma has won this tournament three years in a row.

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  25. So it will be Oklahoma and Texas for the title.

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  26. No team from the Classic SEC has won the Women's College World Series since Florida won it in 2015. Since then, Oklahoma has won the title five times.

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  27. Jon Rothstein's current list of Classic SEC men's basketball teams in the top 45 for the 2024-25 season (numbers reflect current ranking):

    1. Alabama
    12. Auburn
    18. Florida
    22. Tennessee
    26. Mississippi
    29. Kentucky
    34. Mississippi St.
    44. Georgia

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  28. This is how Rothstein ranks teams from the Classic Southwest Conference:

    3. Houston
    4. Baylor
    9. Arkansas
    13. Texas A & M
    28. Texas Tech
    33. Texas

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  29. Here is the Classic Big East from Rothstein:

    6. Connecticut
    25. St. John's
    31. Providence

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  30. Here is the Classic ACC from Rothstein:

    7. N. Carolina
    11. Duke
    35. Wake Forest
    38. Clemson
    40. Maryland
    42. N. Carolina St.

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  31. Classic Big 8:

    2. Kansas
    5. Iowa St.

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  32. Classic Big 10:

    10. Purdue
    15. Indiana
    19. Ohio St.
    27. Michigan St.
    32. Michigan
    39. Illinois
    43. Wisconsin

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  33. Classic Pac 10:

    14. Arizona
    16. U.C.L.A.
    24. Oregon

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  34. And, of course, Classic Metro:

    21. Cincinnati
    45. Memphis

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  35. The only top 20 teams not listed above are Gonzaga (8), Marquette (17), and Xavier (20).

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  36. By my count, UK ranks sixth in the Classic SEC and eighth in the Current SEC. Arkansas is third in the Classic Southwest but second in the Current SEC.

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  37. WKU is No. 1 in the Classic OVC.

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