And The Valley Projects: May 13th

It's been awhile, so let's cut to the chase and project!

The National Seeds

Florida, Louisville, Texas A&M, Miami (FL), Texas Tech, South Carolina, Clemson, Mississippi State

Florida (41-8) is the first team into the 40 win club and remains at the top of the class. The Gators are actually tied with South Carolina (37-11) for the SEC East due to both teams having to split their series due to rain. Florida has an interesting end to the regular season, wrapping up at home against Vanderbilt (36-13) before making the drive to Baton Rouge. The Gamecocks have an interesting stretch as well, with a series in Columbia against Texas A&M (37-10) and Alabama (27-21). After their series with USCE, the Aggies send home to wrap up with Ole Miss (37-13).

Louisville (39-10) is currently sitting in a much tighter conference race in the ACC. The Birds With Human Teeth are in a three way tie for the conference with Miami (FL) (35-9) and Florida State (32-15). llvll draws NC State (32-14) this weekend, who is right there with the other three teams jockeying for position while Miami (FL) has it easy this weekend with a home series against Pitt (25-20) before riding upstate to wrap up the regular series against Florida State, who have an excursion with Duke (29-20) beforehand. Clemson (32-17) is a step behind those three schools despite Seth Beer's superhero campaign (a .533 OBP y'all). Clemson has an easy go of it though, wrapping up against Charleston Southern (17-28) and Notre Dame (26-22).

Texas Tech (38-13) has been the pleasant surprise of the year, overtaking TCU (33-12) and Oklahoma State (31-15) for command of the otherwise weak Big 12. The Red Raiders are off this weekend, presumable for finals before hosting West Virginia (28-19) next weekend.

There was a bit of a conflict when it came to who gets the last national seed. NC State (32-14), Ole Miss (37-13), and Mississippi State (34-14-1) are the 6,7, and 8 RPI teams. However, the Wolfpack and Ole Miss have a losing record vs. the RPI Top 25. NC State is 7-6, Ole Miss is 7-9, but Mississippi State is 10-7. Because I believe top 25 wins are more valuable than top 50, I awarded the last national seed to the boys from Starkvegas.

The Hosts

NC State, Ole Miss, North Carolina, LSU, Vanderbilt, Florida State, Indiana, Coastal Carolina (in no order, based on geography)

Because they missed out on the last national seed, Ole Miss and NC State were the first teams awarded regionals. After a series with Louisville, NC State visits fellow regional host North Carolina (31-18). The Diamond Heels play Notre Dame beforehand while Ole Miss is in the middle of a Thursday-Saturday series with Kentucky.

After back to back disappointments from the Mississippi schools, LSU (33-16) rebounded with a resounding* sweep of Arkansas (26-22) before taking north beyond the wall to sweep the White Walkers of Notre Dame. The Tigers are currently in Knoxville for their series with Tennessee (26-23), an absolute must-win before their SEC regular season finale with Florida. Vanderbilt (36-13) can make up some ground back into the national seed discussion this weekend with their series against the Gators.

Coastal Carolina (34-14) is the little engine that could, running through the Big South gauntlet with only two losses. The Chanticleers have an RPI of 16, which is coincidentally the number of hosting teams in the tournament. After a disappointing weekend that resulted in a sweep against Georgia Tech (32-16) Coastal had a fire lit under them, scoring 43 runs against Liberty (23-26).

The last team in the top 16 is the B1G's unofficial automatic qualifier, Indiana (29-17). In case you haven't been watching, there have been five or six teams in the Big Ten this year that have been in control oft he conference before immediately passing on the opportunity. This weekend it's the Hoosiers with the hot potato of a half game lead over Michigan (34-13) and Minnesota (28-15) with games against Illinois (25-20) and Nebraska (31-17) in hand.

The Rest Of The Field

The Baton Rouge Regional draws familiar foe from the Southland Southeastern Louisiana (35-14). The Lions have only three losses in conference and unlike last year I think they may be in a position to make the postseason tournament even if they fail to win their conference tournament. TCU (33-12) is the two seed and just on the cusp of hosting a regional with their RPI of 17 in a down year for the Big 12. Louisiana Tech (33-14) is coming back to the Box as a four seed, a wild card from the C-USA boasting an RPI of 56.

The Regional Of Death Of The Week is awarded to Vanderbilt's Nashville Regional. In addition to the Dores as the one seed, Hawkins Field will have a (potential) rematch of the 2015 College World Series Final as Virginia (31-17) comes in as a two seed with perennial giant killers turned giants Cal State Fullerton (30-16) with their 40 RPI crossing the country to play as a three seed, with Monmouth (26-22) coming in for the fourth seed.

Different week, same rules: