NCAA Tournament Announcement
Cal State-Fullerton brought home a College World Series title the last
time
it was in this position.
The Titans were selected Monday as the top seed for the 64-team
Division I
college baseball tournament. Cal State-Fullerton (41-15) beat Southern
California 11-5 for the national championship as the tournament's No. 1 seed
in
1995.
"In selecting the No. 1 seeds, we had 18 teams on the board to choose
from," said Wally Groff, chairman of the Division I baseball committee. "We
discussed the merits of all the teams and put in secret ballots to choose
the
top seeds."
Groff said Cal State-Fullerton's 27-11 non-conference record was the
best in
the country in terms of winning percentage.
The Titans will play host to Temple, making its first tournament
appearance
since 1984, on Friday in the first round of the double-elimination
tournament
that leads to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. Texas Tech and Arizona
State also will play in the regional at Cal State-Fullerton, where the
Titans
were 22-9 this season.
The other seeded teams are Miami (44-12), Southern California (39-17),
Stanford (42-14), Tulane (50-10), Georgia (41-18), East Carolina (44-11) and
Nebraska (45-14).
Groff said the committee spent 12 hours Sunday at the NCAA's
headquarters in
Indianapolis determining the field.
"It seems like it gets tougher every year," said Groff, the athletic
director at Texas A&M. "It was a challenge for us. We do our best to get the
best teams in the tournament, and we can all leave Indianapolis knowing we
did."
In addition to Cal State-Fullerton, regional hosts include Clemson,
East
Carolina, Florida State, Georgia, Louisiana State, Miami, Nebraska, Notre
Dame,
Ohio State, Rice, South Carolina, Southern California, Stanford, Tennessee
and
Tulane.
The Southeastern Conference had a tournament-record eight
representatives
with defending champion Louisiana State, Auburn, Florida, Georgia,
Mississippi,
Mississippi State, South Carolina and Tennessee.
Next with five teams was the Big 12, with Nebraska, looking to make its
first trip to the College World Series, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Texas and
Texas
Tech.
"The committee has no limits on the number of teams we can take from a
conference," Groff said. "We just want to get the best teams in there."
Groff said the committee based its decisions on a number of factors,
including teams' records, strength of schedule, quality wins and power
rankings.
Miami is making its 29th straight tournament appearance to extend its
NCAA
record, and Florida State is in it for the 24th consecutive year.
Louisiana-Lafayette (28-28) and San Jose State (37-22-1), who both
played in
the College World Series last year, were not among this year's 64 teams.
Other
teams of note that were left out included Eastern Illinois, which was 35-20
but
19-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference, Wichita State (42-24), which last failed
to
make the tournament in 1986, and Missouri Valley Conference regular-season
champion Southwest Missouri State (36-22).
Houston (29-28) and South Florida (32-29) received at-large berths
despite
having records close to .500.
"They had strong non-conference schedules and high-quality wins," Groff
said. "Houston had one of the toughest schedules in the country and had wins
over Texas Tech, Texas, Rice and Tulane this season."
There are no teams making their first tournament appearances, and 25 of
the
64 played in it last year.
Northern Iowa (34-26), winner of the Missouri Valley Conference
tournament,
is in the tournament for the first time since 1961, when it was called Iowa
Teachers College. William & Mary (35-18) won the Colonial Athletic
Association
tournament for its first appearance since 1983.
Bethune-Cookman (26-32), Temple (27-29) and Princeton (22-23) won their
conferences to receive automatic bids despite losing records.
The winners of each regional will advance to the super regionals at
eight
sites to be determined. The eight winners of the super regionals, which
begin
June 1, will play in the College World Series, which starts June 8.
Baton Rouge Regional
At Alex Box Stadium * Baton Rouge, La.
FRIDAY, MAY 25
Game 1 - LSU (40-19-1) vs. Minnesota (39-19), 3 or 8 p.m.
Game 2 - Virginia Commonwealth (38-17) vs. California
(33-23), 3 or 8 p.m.
SATURDAY, MAY 26
Game 3 - Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, Noon
Game 4 - Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 4 p.m.
Game 5 - Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 8:30 p.m.
SUNDAY, MAY 27
Game 6 - Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 2 p.m.
Game 7 - Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 6 p.m., if
necessary
