Blind Postseason Resumes - Baseball

johnson86-1

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It matters because 12-13 wins in SEC play is easily equivalent to 20+ in the Big 12, PAC 12, Big 10, and probably equivalent to like 17-18 wins in the ACC when it comes to quality wins.

We aren’t competing with other SEC teams for bids, we’re competing with those other teams. The SEC hierarchy will sort itself out just like it did in 2011, when UGA had a much higher RPI, much stronger schedule, AND a better conference record than LSU. There’s no hard cap in how many SEC teams get in.

A 13 win SEC team with an RPI of 22 is getting in over a 17-18 win team from the Big 10 with an RPI in the 50’s every damn time. If the 10th best SEC team has that resume, 10 teams are getting in. If 12 teams have that resume, 12 are getting in.

Yet another example - 2022 softball. Exact same selection criteria as every other NCAA sport. MSU finished 12th in the SEC, only 10 SEC wins. Still made the field. And that’s with an equivalent record to 12-18 in baseball.
I think this may be overstating it. Yes, the SEC can get more teams in in a strong year, but I have to think selection committee members start to get antsy about one conference getting "too many" bids. If the SEC only had 8 locks to be in the tourney, I would suspect the 9th team trying to get a bid could afford a little weaker resume. If the SEC has 10 locks to be in the tourney, I would suspect the 11th would have to have a good bit stronger resume to get in than the 9th team would in a year where we only had 8 locks.
 

HuntDawg

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Again there are only 33 at large bids. Saying the sec gets 1 automatic and 9 other at larges

that leaves 24 at large bids for all the other conference. I would fully expect a 2-3-4th place conference team out there with a similar record but went 18-12 in conference and whose rpi may be 33 would get in over the 11th best sec team.

there is already enough sec bias in the country. Giving us 10 of 33 possibly at larges just ain’t happening
 

Perd Hapley

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No they were. Due to conference tie-breaker rules. Wake Forest was the 10th ACC team in the standings, UNC was 11th.

The committee chose the BEST 10 ACC teams. UNC was 11th. They didnt get in, even with that pretty RPI and all the other things that are mentioned in this thread

The commiteee chose a team whose RPI was 10 points LOWER. Due to finish in the conference standings.

You’re seriously saying the committee shunned UNC strictly over some dumb cross-divisional conference tourney selection tie breaker? That’s what you’re going with? Keep in mind that UNC also finished higher in their division than Wake did in theirs.

Keep digging a little further, and you’ll find your answer. WF swept UNC, and that was likely the deciding factor for that last spot.
 

MSUDC11-2.0

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My point isn’t to not look at it now. It’s valid now. It’s valid period.

and at the end of the year if we are inside the top 9-10 teams sec record wise we’ll get in regardless of our rpi. If we are outside the top 10, we are very much likely out.

why I continue to say. It’s the conference record that matters. Everyone in the sec has a good rpi. So our strong rpi isn’t going to get us in over someone else whose rpi maybe isn’t as strong but finished higher in conference

again as shown now. If season ended today, Texas am would for sure be in. The rest of the high rpi teams would be on the bubble hoping their resume stacked up. It’ll be same way at the end of the year

I do agree that conference record is crucial, but you could have a major log jam in the final standings. For example, if you look at the current standings, Bama is currently in 8th place with a 6-9 record, and then there’s a four way tie at 5-10 right behind them. Then Georgia is only a game behind that mark at 4-11. What if everything is still that close at the end of the year, and all or most of those teams are hovering around 13ish SEC wins? You could easily have the majority of those still in the NCAAT hunt.

I think you’re focusing on the “Top 9 or 10” thing and not considering some of the context. You’d be right if it ends up playing out like most years where the 11 and 12 seeds in Hoover are bad teams nowhere near the NCAA bubble. But you could very feasibly have bubble teams on the 11 or 12 seed line this year.
 
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HuntDawg

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My friend you have changed your narrative about 10 times throughout this.

it was first rpi this and that. So now rpi matters only if you sweep another team?

end of the day 19th best team rpi wise and 11th best team in a conference that was by far and away the best was left out. Also even weirder is that had Georgia tech played and loss unc would have been in the top 10.

if that doesn’t tell you conference record and position inside of conference trumps rpi I don’t know what does
 
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HuntDawg

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I do agree that conference record is crucial, but you could have a major log jam in the final standings. For example, if you look at the current standings, Bama is currently in 8th place with a 6-9 record, and then there’s a four way tie at 5-10 right behind them. Then Georgia is only a game behind that mark at 4-11. What if everything is still that close at the end of the year, and all or most of those teams are hovering around 13ish SEC wins? You could easily have the majority of those still in the NCAAT hunt.

I think you’re focusing on the “Top 9 or 10” thing and not considering some of the context. You’d be right if it ends up playing out like most years where the 11 and 12 seeds in Hoover are bad teams nowhere near the NCAA bubble. But you could very feasibly have bubble teams on the 11 or 12 seed line this year.

if there is one we’ll see. Think it’ll play it’s way out.

bama mizzou play this week
Us auburn play this week

it’ll clear some of the log jam
 

Perd Hapley

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I think this may be overstating it. Yes, the SEC can get more teams in in a strong year, but I have to think selection committee members start to get antsy about one conference getting "too many" bids. If the SEC only had 8 locks to be in the tourney, I would suspect the 9th team trying to get a bid could afford a little weaker resume. If the SEC has 10 locks to be in the tourney, I would suspect the 11th would have to have a good bit stronger resume to get in than the 9th team would in a year where we only had 8 locks.

But they’ve done it before in other sports. Again, just last year in softball they selected 12 SEC teams. It will happen at some point. Are they going to keep a hard cap of 10 teams when TX / OU come aboard?
 

HuntDawg

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Some numbers for you:

RPI Top 5
1) 4
2) 2

RPI Top 10
1) 5
2) 4

RPI Top 25
1) 10
2) 8

RPI Top 50
1) 13
2) 11

RPI Top 75
1) 14
2) 11

The 1 values are current number of SEC teams in 2023 in each category. The 2 values are the same number of teams from that 2016 10-bid (and probably should have been 11-bid) ACC season. If you see how much better this year’s SEC is than that year’s ACC when 10 got in, and still can’t conclude that 11 or even 12 teams is in the realm of possibility for the SEC this year, I can’t help you.
Those are rpi ratings at the end of the season. After the World Series. And this one is one of that 40 games in.

totally different

and again my money is where my mouth is. We will not get 11 teams
 

HuntDawg

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When the conference expands so will this.

when the sec had 12 teams, hard cap of 8 with the occasional 9

when the sec expanded it went to 8-9 with a possible 10

when it expands again it’ll likely go up. But as of now it’s just not going to happen and quite frankly I agree with the committee. If you cant finish in the top 70 percent of your own conference then you don’t deserve in.

there has to be a value in the regular season. The committee has so far shown this to be the case time after time. Even leaving off a national power and the 19 best rpi team in the country one season
 

MSUDC11-2.0

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if there is one we’ll see. Think it’ll play it’s way out.

bama mizzou play this week
Us auburn play this week

it’ll clear some of the log jam

Fair to say the State-Auburn loser is in big trouble, absolutely.

I actually think Bama is better than most think and that series win for us was underrated. Mizzou has a manageable enough schedule down the stretch where they could finish strong. So I don’t see that as being as much of an elimination series.
 

Perd Hapley

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My friend you have changed your narrative about 10 times throughout this.

it was first rpi this and that. So now rpi matters only if you sweep another team?

end of the day 19th best team rpi wise and 11th best team in a conference that was by far and away the best was left out. Also even weirder is that had Georgia tech played and loss unc would have been in the top 10.

if that doesn’t tell you conference record and position inside of conference trumps rpi I don’t know what does

It wasn’t “by far and away the best conference”. In 2016 the Top 7 of the SEC were better teams than the Top 7 of the ACC. They just had more depth that year than usual and it was a down year for the bottom half of the SEC that season. And neither conference had many elite teams….just one CWS participant from each league.

And if you somehow do think it was “by far and away the best conference”, here’s some numbers for you:

RPI Top 5
4
2

RPI Top 10
5
4

RPI Top 25
10
8

RPI Top 50
13
11

RPI Top 75
14
13

Top numbers are this year’s SEC. Bottom numbers are the 2016 ACC (10-bid league that probably could / should have had 11 bids). If you can’t look at that and see how much better this year’s SEC is than the 2016 ACC and still think that 11 or even 12 teams from the SEC could happen this season, I can’t help you. It’s a historically strong year for the SEC….maybe its strongest ever. You keep missing that in this “SEC is good every year” commentary.

They will take the best 33 at large teams, and they aren’t going to slight a deserving SEC team just to shove in another 35 win 3-seed from the B1G or Colonial Athletic conference that finished .500 in their league. Conference record, finish, and head to head do matter, but only when ranking teams within a conference for the pecking order.
 
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HuntDawg

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Again my friend I’ll bet you any amount of money you want to be. Regardless of this historically strong sec season, we only get 10 teams in.

I base this reasoning on what the history has shown. Plenty of top 30 teams have been left out thru the years. One even as high as 19.

the committee has also shown to take teams with better conference records than rpi rankings

this has again been shown time and time and time again and I’d be willing to bet any amount of money you’d be willing to bet that it’s that way again
 

HuntDawg

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Fair to say the State-Auburn loser is in big trouble, absolutely.

I actually think Bama is better than most think and that series win for us was underrated. Mizzou has a manageable enough schedule down the stretch where they could finish strong. So I don’t see that as being as much of an elimination series.
Lots of good teams. The only poor team is ole miss and if Elliott starts again it’ll change their look as well.

in the end a few will separate themselves. Ole miss did that this past weekend as these next 4-5 weeks pan out more will separate

it’s not do or die for anyone really, but it’s the 2-3 teams out of that bunch that can play well these next 3/4 weeks that’ll make a difference. I fully expect that to happen and make this entire thread a moot point
 

HuntDawg

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It wasn’t “by far and away the best conference”. In 2016 the Top 7 of the SEC were better teams than the Top 7 of the ACC. They just had more depth that year than usual and it was a down year for the bottom half of the SEC that season. And neither conference had many elite teams….just one CWS participant from each league.

And if you somehow do think it was “by far and away the best conference”, here’s some numbers for you:

RPI Top 5
4
2

RPI Top 10
5
4

RPI Top 25
10
8

RPI Top 50
13
11

RPI Top 75
14
13

Top numbers are this year’s SEC. Bottom numbers are the 2016 ACC (10-bid league that probably could / should have had 11 bids). If you can’t look at that and see how much better this year’s SEC is than the 2016 ACC and still think that 11 or even 12 teams from the SEC could happen this season, I can’t help you. It’s a historically strong year for the SEC….maybe its strongest ever. You keep missing that in this “SEC is good every year” commentary.

They will take the best 33 at large teams, and they aren’t going to slight a deserving SEC team just to shove in another 35 win 3-seed from the B1G or Colonial Athletic conference that finished .500 in their league. Conference record, finish, and head to head do matter, but only when ranking teams within a conference for the pecking order.
Top 33 deserving teams.

so by your metrics why stop at 11 or 12. We have 13 deserving teams right now? Sure the ncaa tournament committee will give us that many by rpi metric

over beating the dead horse.

I’m not saying your points aren’t valid but I’m saying that the committee has shown the opposite of them year after year. I don’t see that changing this seaosb
 

Perd Hapley

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Top 33 deserving teams.

so by your metrics why stop at 11 or 12. We have 13 deserving teams right now? Sure the ncaa tournament committee will give us that many by rpi metric

over beating the dead horse.

I’m not saying your points aren’t valid but I’m saying that the committee has shown the opposite of them year after year. I don’t see that changing this seaosb

I’d say there are 11 deserving teams right now: everyone except OM, UGA, and maybe Auburn.

That might not be the case at the end. Auburn could play their way up with anyone really dropping back. Couple of teams could go on losing streaks. But the rising tide looks like it is lifting all SEC boats. There are no pushover teams.
 

Perd Hapley

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Again my friend I’ll bet you any amount of money you want to be. Regardless of this historically strong sec season, we only get 10 teams in.

I’m not planting the flag that SEC 100% gets more than 10 in. But this year, 10 is on the low end of the range of outcomes.

Here is what I will bet you. If any or all of UT, Mizzou, Bama, and MSU get to 13-17, they are in. Doesn’t matter about Hoover or anything else.

Auburn, UGA, A&M, and OM all need more. At least 14-15 wins for each will be required. But the others will get in with 13. Everyone else is in already. The math behind the RPI is going to keep pushing those Top 10 teams further up the ladder….in many cases even when they lose.
 

HuntDawg

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Ive never once argued you cant get in at 13. I said that would put us on the bubble and likely require winning games in the tournament.

My arguement is very simple:
1) The SEC isnt getting more than 10 teams
2) The teams that finish in the top 10 in the league are the heavy favorites to get those spots, this includes hoover. The committee may split hairs on who that 10/11th team is if its really close this has been shown to happen in the past.



So to make this as simple as you can on a message board, using current standings:
LSU, Arkansas, Vandy, SC, Fla, Kentucky (6 locks)
Texas AM would be in (next highest sec record, rpi doenst matter)
Alabama would be in (next highest sec record)

That has 8 teams in: UT, MSU, Mizzou-- all have solid RPIs. But bad conference records. I'll bet you ANY amount of money you want to bet, that if this is the scenario at the end of the season, only 2 and MAYBE only 1 of these teams would get in. No way all 3 would.

For example, the 6 are in:
7. Texas AM 15-15-- IN, regardless of RPI
8. Alabama 14-16-- IN, regardless of RPI

T9- UT, MSU, Mizz all 13-17, all 3 go 0-1 in hoover.--- I'd bet any amount, all 3 of these dont make it. 1 will be left out, and could be 2, but thats hard to gauge without seeing the actual wins and losses. But the committee is not going to reward a team that went 13-18 in conference basically and finished 11th in their conference regardless of RPI.
 

Perd Hapley

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Ive never once argued you cant get in at 13. I said that would put us on the bubble and likely require winning games in the tournament.

My arguement is very simple:
1) The SEC isnt getting more than 10 teams
2) The teams that finish in the top 10 in the league are the heavy favorites to get those spots, this includes hoover. The committee may split hairs on who that 10/11th team is if its really close this has been shown to happen in the past.



So to make this as simple as you can on a message board, using current standings:
LSU, Arkansas, Vandy, SC, Fla, Kentucky (6 locks)
Texas AM would be in (next highest sec record, rpi doenst matter)
Alabama would be in (next highest sec record)

That has 8 teams in: UT, MSU, Mizzou-- all have solid RPIs. But bad conference records. I'll bet you ANY amount of money you want to bet, that if this is the scenario at the end of the season, only 2 and MAYBE only 1 of these teams would get in. No way all 3 would.

For example, the 6 are in:
7. Texas AM 15-15-- IN, regardless of RPI
8. Alabama 14-16-- IN, regardless of RPI

T9- UT, MSU, Mizz all 13-17, all 3 go 0-1 in hoover.--- I'd bet any amount, all 3 of these dont make it. 1 will be left out, and could be 2, but thats hard to gauge without seeing the actual wins and losses. But the committee is not going to reward a team that went 13-18 in conference basically and finished 11th in their conference regardless of RPI.

I’m simply telling you where the math is going…..this year….with the SEC. You found 2 teams out of 350-400 eligible major conference Top 25 RPI teams since the field expanded to 64 that didn’t get at large bids, and you think that makes it somehow 50/50 instead of the 99/1 that history says it is.

UT, Bama, MSU, and Mizzou are all absolutely 100% guaranteed a Top 25 RPI finish IF they get to 13-17 in the regular season. Probably Top 20 for at least 2 or 3 if they all did. That is the math. History says its literally 99.5% chance those teams get in. Find me 8 more teams that didn’t make it in that threshold in addition to the 2 you already named, and that drops chances to….98%. This year, with this SEC, its a beast that feeds itself in the formula every single weekend because there are no super weak teams to pull anyone down.

Regarding your bet, I’m unsure what you’re saying. State / Mizzou / UT all have solid RPI’s but bad conference records, and if “that’s still the same at the end of the year they won’t get in”? Well, yeah…that probably can’t be the same at the end of the year. If they are the “same” record wise, they’d be 10-20, and of course won’t get in, and of course won’t have as high an RPI because of how bad the win % component would suffer. But 13-17 isn’t a bad SEC baseball record any more so than 4-5 is a bad SEC football record….and the NCAA knows that.
 

HuntDawg

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dont think that math is just going to push up up and up. One bad weekend by any of those teams and you wont see them go up. You'll actually see a rather large drop. Florida dropped 2 spots RPI wise and won 2 of 3 this past weekend.

When these teams start beating up on each other you'll see some separation. Again after this weekend I expect to see a major change in the RPI:

Alabama/Mizzou-- one is going up, the other down this weekend-- a sweep will send both more than a few spots apart
UT/Vandy- if UT wins 2 of 3, they'll probably make a 5-6 point jump
Fla/SC- I dont think the loser of the series is going to see their RPI go up

And a lot of these top teams still have to beat up on each other as well
 

HuntDawg

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I’m simply telling you where the math is going…..this year….with the SEC. You found 2 teams out of 350-400 eligible major conference Top 25 RPI teams since the field expanded to 64 that didn’t get at large bids, and you think that makes it somehow 50/50 instead of the 99/1 that history says it is.

UT, Bama, MSU, and Mizzou are all absolutely 100% guaranteed a Top 25 RPI finish IF they get to 13-17 in the regular season. Probably Top 20 for at least 2 or 3 if they all did. That is the math. History says its literally 99.5% chance those teams get in. Find me 8 more teams that didn’t make it in that threshold in addition to the 2 you already named, and that drops chances to….98%. This year, with this SEC, its a beast that feeds itself in the formula every single weekend because there are no super weak teams to pull anyone down.

Regarding your bet, I’m unsure what you’re saying. State / Mizzou / UT all have solid RPI’s but bad conference records, and if “that’s still the same at the end of the year they won’t get in”? Well, yeah…that probably can’t be the same at the end of the year. If they are the “same” record wise, they’d be 10-20, and of course won’t get in, and of course won’t have as high an RPI because of how bad the win % component would suffer. But 13-17 isn’t a bad SEC baseball record any more so than 4-5 is a bad SEC football record….and the NCAA knows that.

actually you initally told me it never has happened. But its happened twice, including one who was 19th.

You keep comparing baseball to softball and football... thats not apples to apples.

13-18 b/c 0-1 in hoover, and being the 9-10-11th best teams in the conference, due to record? There wont be any way in hell the ncaa puts 3 from the same conference in there if that situation were to happen.

I'll try again to make it easier to read: top 6 in.
7. Tx Am 15-15, they are in
8. Alabama 14-16 they are in

9. MSU 13-17 (0-1 in hoover)
10. UT 13-17 (0-1 in hoover)
11. Mizzou 13-17 (0-1 in hoover)

Their RPIs can be 23-24 and 25. We'll get a 9th in for sure.. but Im not sure we'll get a 10th if the final standings ended up like this and I'd bet as much money as you want we wouldnt get an 11th.

So in that scenario.. one of your teams listed, go to their magic number of 13, and got left out. I feel 100% confident about that and would be willing to bet ANY amount of money on that.


Now if they all finish 13-17 and go make runs at the Conference Championship in Hoover, then they all 3 may get in. But thats not the scenario you suggested
 

Perd Hapley

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dont think that math is just going to push up up and up. One bad weekend by any of those teams and you wont see them go up. You'll actually see a rather large drop. Florida dropped 2 spots RPI wise and won 2 of 3 this past weekend.

When these teams start beating up on each other you'll see some separation. Again after this weekend I expect to see a major change in the RPI:

Alabama/Mizzou-- one is going up, the other down this weekend-- a sweep will send both more than a few spots apart
UT/Vandy- if UT wins 2 of 3, they'll probably make a 5-6 point jump
Fla/SC- I dont think the loser of the series is going to see their RPI go up

And a lot of these top teams still have to beat up on each other as well

The “beating up” helps all the SEC teams immensely, though, in a year like this one where all teams are pretty decent. SOS is 50% of the formula. When Vandy and UK play, for example, they both get a massive SOS bump from the other’s outstanding win %, and whatever happens in that series isn’t computed into that % for either team. Then if the home team takes 2 of 3 (chalk result), its essentially a wash that doesn’t really hurt either team’s win % component that much…and both team’s index value goes even higher because the 50% SOS portion going up greatly offsets a negligible results to adjusted win % and opponent SOS.

That’s what I mean by the math pushing everyone up. Its not unusual for the SEC to have 8-10 teams with great RPI’s. But its unheard of for every team in the league to be in the Top 50 RPI ballpark this late in the season.

As for Florida, they dropped 2 spots because they essentially went .500 by RPI win % standards against a 19-17 team. And in the stratusphere they are in (Top 10 RPI), it hurts a little worse than it would for someone like us or UT. But they are going to be fine regardless.
 

HuntDawg

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Yes I totally understand the math. It need not be explained.

Point is all these top teams still have to play each other: Kentucky alone still has series against SC, Vandy, LSU and Florida. If Kentucky goes 3-9 in that stretch. Their RPI is going to drop.

Completely possible OM and even 1 other team end up being bad sec teams by seasons end tanking their RPI and dragging people down with them.

Possible a few of these middle tier teams, as i mentioned above. UT has two hot weekends in a row. Say they go 5-1 (2-1 vandy, 3-0 state). They arent going to jump into the 8th spot, but they'll rise a good bit. But they'd knock MSU down into the 30s probably and vandy would fall likely outta the top 8.

The SOS is great. But W/L matter. With this much of an SEC schedule PLUS hoover, this beating up on each other will take its toll on a few teams. It really has no other choice.

Your assumption is that chalk will hold therefore the RPIs will hold. One crazy weekend in the sec. One big sweep. Changes things a lot.
 

Perd Hapley

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actually you initally told me it never has happened. But its happened twice, including one who was 19th.

Didn’t say it never happened. I asked you to name teams it happened to, and you were able to find 2 out of the 350+ eligible teams in 23 years. 0.5% of the teams….give or take. I’m glad you did that work so I didn’t have to, but good looking out.

You keep comparing baseball to softball and football... thats not apples to apples.

It very much is apples to apples with the way you are framing the argument….where there is some imaginary cap on how many teams can make it because the NCAA doesn’t want to give out “too much SEC love” with limited number of at large bids. Why would they care about that in baseball but not softball?

13-18 b/c 0-1 in hoover, and being the 9-10-11th best teams in the conference, due to record? There wont be any way in hell the ncaa puts 3 from the same conference in there if that situation were to happen.

I'll try again to make it easier to read: top 6 in.
7. Tx Am 15-15, they are in
8. Alabama 14-16 they are in

9. MSU 13-17 (0-1 in hoover)
10. UT 13-17 (0-1 in hoover)
11. Mizzou 13-17 (0-1 in hoover)

Their RPIs can be 23-24 and 25. We'll get a 9th in for sure.. but Im not sure we'll get a 10th if the final standings ended up like this and I'd bet as much money as you want we wouldnt get an 11th.

So in that scenario.. one of your teams listed, go to their magic number of 13, and got left out. I feel 100% confident about that and would be willing to bet ANY amount of money on that.

Now if they all finish 13-17 and go make runs at the Conference Championship in Hoover, then they all 3 may get in. But thats not the scenario you suggested

The scenario I suggested mathematically guarantees a probable Top 20 RPI and definite Top 25 RPI no matter what happens in Hoover. And history says those teams make the field at a 98-99% clip. And the NCAA has repeatedly proven they largely don’t give a damn about what happens in Hoover anyway….including last year with Ole Miss, 2 years ago with MSU’s national seed, and 2012 with us winning SECT, having 21 SEC wins / Top 20 RPI….and still being only 4 slots away from a 17ing 3-seed.

So there’s no point in analyzing it to the extent that you are. It hurts bad if you don’t make your conference tournament (duh), and obviously it helps you get in if you win it. Beyond that, NCAA hardly gives a 17.
 
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HuntDawg

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It very much is apples to apples with the way you are framing the argument….where there is some imaginary cap on how many teams can make it because the NCAA doesn’t want to give out “too much SEC love” with limited number of at large bids. Why would they care about that in baseball but not softball?



The scenario I suggested mathematically guarantees a probable Top 20 RPI and definite Top 25 RPI no matter what happens in Hoover. And history says those teams make the field at a 98-99% clip. And the NCAA has repeatedly proven they largely don’t give a damn about what happens in Hoover anyway….including last year with Ole Miss, 2 years ago with MSU’s national seed, and 2012 with us winning SECT, having 21 SEC wins / Top 20 RPI….and still being only 4 slots away from a 17ing 3-seed.

So there’s no point in analyzing it to the extent that you are. It hurts bad if you don’t make your conference tournament (duh), and obviously it helps you get in if you win it. Beyond that, NCAA hardly gives a 17.

If cant see that baseball there is a major difference in baseball and softball then I cant help you. Im certainly not going down that rabbit hole on a message board however.

Dont twist my words: I've set the SEC will not get 11 teams. I've said this has been the case in the past, no conference has ever gotten more than 10. This includes power conference and power conference teams that have been left out. Some as high as 19 have been left out and quiet a few more right around the 25 mark, and even more inside the top 30. There have been tons of situatuons where the NCAA has taken a team from a lesser conference who had a great season both in and out of conference and passed on a powerr conference school that struggled in conference. Ive listed two examples inside the SEC in recent history in this and prior threads where this has happened (UK, LSU). There are many others.

I mean the NCAA commitee chair said on record a few years ago that UK had a great team and great season, but we couldnt over look their conference record and reward them. It was QUOTED to the media. We think thats just going to evolve and change? It very well may, but I'm not betting on it. Nor do i agree that a team that finishes 11th in a 14 team conference deserves to be in.

You think because this is some banner year for the SEC we are going to be rewarded with 11-12 teams. Which has never happened.

Also your scenario of UT, MSU, Mizzou, and Alabama all ending up with 13 wins (for Alabama this is easier) means they are going to have to beat teams. Your scenario of home teams wins 2, everyones RPI plays out the same. What if the road teams wins 2, what if the road team sweeps? Too many scenarios and possibilities to map that out from now until the end of the season....And as said, if UT takes 2 from Vandy. Watch how far Vandy falls. Things like that will happen throughout the rest of the SEC season and this wave of riding to the top isnt going to be enough to carry the teams who finish poorly in conference
 
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DoggieDaddy13

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So good to read the optimism in this thread. Getting in with 13 wins?

Sure THAT'S BASEBALL and anything can happen, but does anyone really see this team getting 8 more wins this season?

Where?
 

Perd Hapley

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So good to read the optimism in this thread. Getting in with 13 wins?

Sure THAT'S BASEBALL and anything can happen, but does anyone really see this team getting 8 more wins this season?

Where?

My commentary hasn’t been about specifically just MSU….its them plus 3 other teams in a similar boat. Didn’t even mention MSU at all in the beginning. I don’t know that we get to 13 and won’t be shocked at all if we don’t.

But I’m saying any of MSU, UT, Bama, and Mizzou are far, far more likely to be in the field than not if any of them get to 13 wins because it will very likely lock them into that Top 25 RPI….regardless of anything else. All are in that range already, and getting to 13 wins would involve each team outperforming their first half conference results that got them there over the 2nd half. Furthermore, it wouldn’t be impossible for any of those to get in at 12-18 either….but they’d probably need some help from a few other factors.

If there is a team in that grouping that currently has another resume problem and might not be able to get in at 13-17…..its probably Mizzou with their nonconference schedule that’s currently ranked in the 200’s. But that’s not necessarily a deal breaker at all if they win the right head to head matchups to keep the RPI up in that 20-25 range.
 
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HuntDawg

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UT is at 5 with: H- Vandy, State, Kentucky, A- UGA/USC

MSU is at 5 with: H- Ark, TxAm A- UT/AU/LSU

Mizzou is at 5 with: H- Ala, Ole Miss, Georiga A- UF/Auburn

UA is at 6 with: H- Vandy, OM, A- LSU/Mizzou/TxAm


I'd rank SOS down the stretch easiest to hardest: Mizzou, Bama, MSU, Tenn-- All 4 teams have avenues to 13 games though that arent unreasonable.

Other Notes: LSU has a very easy schedule down the stretch, they play 0 games vs teams inside the top 20 RPI the rest of the season, sec series against MSU, Auburn, Ole Miss, Alabama, and Georgia

Also Texas AM is about to go through a rough stretch that'll determine their season: @ kentucky, @ arkansas and home to florida the next 9 for them. They go 2-7 and they'll fall on the wrong side of the bubble.

It's all going to play itself out on the field. 2-3 big series this weekend that'll clear up some of this muddy water.
 

HuntDawg

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The “beating up” helps all the SEC teams immensely, though, in a year like this one where all teams are pretty decent. SOS is 50% of the formula. When Vandy and UK play, for example, they both get a massive SOS bump from the other’s outstanding win %, and whatever happens in that series isn’t computed into that % for either team. Then if the home team takes 2 of 3 (chalk result), its essentially a wash that doesn’t really hurt either team’s win % component that much…and both team’s index value goes even higher because the 50% SOS portion going up greatly offsets a negligible results to adjusted win % and opponent SOS.

That’s what I mean by the math pushing everyone up. Its not unusual for the SEC to have 8-10 teams with great RPI’s. But its unheard of for every team in the league to be in the Top 50 RPI ballpark this late in the season.

As for Florida, they dropped 2 spots because they essentially went .500 by RPI win % standards against a 19-17 team. And in the stratusphere they are in (Top 10 RPI), it hurts a little worse than it would for someone like us or UT. But they are going to be fine regardless.

As i said, it’ll all play out. Tennessee‘s RPI just dropped 16 spots in one night with one bad loss. The bet you wanted to make doesn’t look good with UT at all.

If LSU loses will be interesting to see what else that does for them and others.
 
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Perd Hapley

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As i said, it’ll all play out. Tennessee‘s RPI just dropped 16 spots in one night with one bad loss. The bet you wanted to make doesn’t look good with UT at all.

It still looks fine with them if they get to 13 wins, because that would involve them probably taking at least 4 from USC, UK, and Vandy. The bigger problem they have is actually doing that, and taking 3 or 4 games against us and UGA ad well.

They are nowhere close to the teams of the last few years, which was the point that largely lead to me starting this thread in the first place.
 
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HuntDawg

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It still looks fine with them if they get to 13 wins, because that would involve them probably taking at least 4 from USC, UK, and Vandy. The bigger problem they have is actually doing that, and taking 3 or 4 games against us and UGA ad well.

It really doesn’t, but go die on that hill.

Is the bet on the table. UT 13 wins and in? No wins in Hoover. If so sign me up for whatever your comfortable losing
 

Perd Hapley

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It really doesn’t, but go die on that hill.

Is the bet on the table. UT 13 wins and in? No wins in Hoover. If so sign me up for whatever your comfortable losing

You are proposing a bet that seems destined to become a push….as that’s a very specific scenario.

But how about this….if UT wins 13 or more SEC games in the regular season, and doesn’t make the regionals, you win. If they win 13 or fewer SEC games in the regular season and do make the regionals, I win.

14+ regular season SEC wins and they make it, or 12 or fewer regular season SEC wins and don’t make it, its a push. They win the SEC tournament, its a push. Otherwise, I really don’t care what happens in Hoover. You’re just getting too far into the weeds to start adding specific SEC tourney criteria if either person is to win, and its probably already close to that point anyway.

$50 to the board or charity of the winner’s choosing….if there is one. Deal?
 

HuntDawg

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You are proposing a bet that seems destined to become a push….as that’s a very specific scenario.

But how about this….if UT wins 13 or more SEC games in the regular season, and doesn’t make the regionals, you win. If they win 13 or fewer SEC games in the regular season and do make the regionals, I win.

14+ regular season SEC wins and they make it, or 12 or fewer regular season SEC wins and don’t make it, its a push. They win the SEC tournament, its a push. Otherwise, I really don’t care what happens in Hoover. You’re just getting too far into the weeds to start adding specific SEC tourney criteria if either person is to win, and its probably already close to that point anyway.

$50 to the board or charity of the winner’s choosing….if there is one. Deal?

actually I’m not getting to far into the weeds at all. You said bama, msu, mizzou, tenn if they got to 13 wins they are in. 0 wins in hoover. Regardless if they were the 10-11- or 12th team.

as shown 1 crazy weekend puts that all in jeopardy. With Tennessees loss last night and free fall, they are currently in worse shape that Georgia and even auburn to get in. They’ll need a lot more than 13.

and as stated, the sec tournament does count and has always counted. Your thoughts on that don’t matter much to me when a committee chair has come out and said they very much do

You are right the bet is likely to be a push because it has to fall exactly on a number, which is unlikely, however it’s a free bet for me bc if it falls… I’ll win, no question.

regardless, as shown, one good or bad week by any team can change their fortunes and they’d best be worried winning games and not riding this sec mid way rpi to the post season
 

HuntDawg

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Watching UGA/Arkansas game

Straight from TV guys mouth:

"Yes, talking to some people that know about NCAA selections, the RPI is nice, but to feel really good Georgia needs to get to 14 SEC wins, I just dont think 13 sec wins in a league this competitive is going to do it."

UGA's current RPI is 20, and they have the current #2 rated SOS.

In the Vandy/UT game earlier:

There has never been a conference that has gotten 5 national seeds do you think this year is the year: The answer was NO. Said 3 was more likely than 5.

Last Night in AU/MSU game:

Do conference tournament games matter, from a committee member: Yes, they most certainly do.
 

HuntDawg

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Conference RPI has taken a big drop was well over 600, now under. Ole Miss is now a Q2 win.

The top is obviously the top, but its not going to be enough to carry these bottom teams. Midweek games are killing the conference right now. Tenn dropped 6 spots and WON last night.

Read somewhere that texas tech is in great shape to make the tournament even in the host conversation as they are 29-13, 8-7 in conference and ranked 14. Their RPI however is 66.

We need to start winning some conference games to have any shot, and the SEC's shot at getting 11 is virtually dead at this point
 

HuntDawg

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The very strong RPI of the conference has dropped OVER a full percentage point.

The likelyhood of this conference getting 11 teams is 0.0%

As I stated in this thread 3 weeks ago, and its proven to be right: RPI means very little, the RPI at the half way point means ABSOLUTLEY nothing. As the conference continued to play each other it pushed the bad teams down. As seen now we have 3 teams in the 40s and one team that is a quad 2 win now.

There are 7 locks to get in, in this league. A strong 8th in Alabama. The other 1 or possibly 2 spots will be fought over by Auburn, Texas AM, and Georiga.

Us, Ole Miss, Mizzou are basically eliminated, unless either of this crew goes 8-1 over the last 3 weekends.
 

HuntDawg

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Anyone want to bet on if the SEC gets 11 teams in???

As stated many times in this thread: mid season RPI doesnt matter, win your conference games and you'll get in, there is NO way the sec gets 11, and 10 is pretty iffy, although it'll play out down the stretch

The math that a few of the top teams were going to run everyones RPI to the top just isnt the case and never was
 

HuntDawg

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AND…. It all played out

SEC will get 10 teams. No chance at an 11.. and had TxAm lost today they would have very much been a bubble team, but the 14 sec wins will likely get them in.

The SEC will get 4 national seeds, regardless of the RPIs, 4 national seeds: LSU, Florida, Vandy, Arkansas

All the norm… just like every season.

The big question is how many other HOST seeds do the sec get. Think South Carolina Had a leg up until they lost today to UT… But they have some decision to make with them and teams like Alabama, Auburn, Kentucky, and Tennessee can all make a case to host

Be interesting to see what happens
 
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