NCAA Baseball Tournament: The biggest snubs from the field of 64

The full NCAA Baseball Tournament field has been set. 64 teams have heard their names called and will have the opportunity to battle for a national championship this season. As is the case every single season, there were multiple snubs from the NCAA Tournament field.

The last four teams to make it into the field were Arizona, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Troy. Arizona finished the season 33-24 overall with the No. 45 RPI after a 12-18 record against Pac-12 opponents. The Wildcats had a strength of schedule of No. 30, paired with a non-conference strength of schedule of No. 71 and a non-conference RPI of No. 26. Louisiana was 40-22 overall and 18-12 in the Sun Belt with the No. 47 RPI, finishing with the No. 67 strength of schedule to go along with a non-conference strength of schedule of No. 123 and a non-conference RPI of No. 70.

Oklahoma was the second to last team to make the field after going 31-26 overall and just 11-13 in Big 12 play in the regular season, finsihing with the No. 40 RPI. The Sooners had a non-conference strength of schedule of No. 22 and the No. 37 non-conference RPI. Finally, Troy sneaked into the field as the last team after finishing 39-20 overall, 18-12 in the Sun Belt, with the No. 38 RPI. The Trojans had impressive non-conference numbers, with the No. 15 non-conference strength of schedule and No. 6 non-conference RPI.

But while those four teams made it into the field, others that felt like they were deserving were not as lucky.

The biggest snubs from the 2023 NCAA Tournament field

Arizona State

Arizona State was the first team left out of the field, and they definitely had a case to get in. With an overall record of 32-23, a Pac-12 record of 16-13 and the No. 52 RPI, Arizona State was right on the cusp. The Sun Devils went 1-1 in the Pac-12 Tournament, failing to make it out of their pool. They fell 12-3 to Arizona and won 14-10 over Oregon State.

Ultimately, Arizona State might have been held back by a non-conference strength of schedule of No. 95 and a non-conference RPI of No. 88, in addition to having a 8-14 quad 1 record. They also stumbled to the end of the regular season despite winning two out of three over UCLA in the final weekend. The three weekends before that, they were 1-8 against Oregon, Stanford and USC.

Kansas State

Kansas State was the second team outside of the tournament field. The Wildcats were 35-24 overall with a 13-11 Big 12 record. Interestingly, they also won the head-to-head series against Texas Tech, who made the field. Making it to the Big 12 Tournament semifinal wasn’t quite enough, though, even after picking up a pair of wins after falling into the loser’s bracket on the first day.

The Wildcats had a quad 1 record of 12-14, which wasn’t enough to overcome a non-conference strength of schedule of No. 150 and a non-conference RPI of No. 81.

Kent State

Kent State’s run in the MAC Tournament came to an end in tough fashion, losing twice to Ball State to lose the automatic bid. There was still a chance they could make the field as an at-large, due to a 24-6 MAC record to go along with a 40-16 overall record, with the No. 46 RPI. Kent State also had a non-conference strength of schedule of No. 76 with a non-conference RPI of No. 31.

In the end, Kent State’s downfall could be a quad 1 record of 0-1 and a quad 2 record of 2-5.

UC Irvine

Arguably one of the most surprising snubs of this year’s NCAA Tournament was UC Irvine, who was 38-17 overall and 19-11 against Big West opponents in the regular season, finsihing with the No. 49 RPI. Paired with a non-conference strength of schedule of No. 83 and a non-conference RPI of No. 29, they appeared to be in good shape going into the selection show.

Even though UC Irvine had an 18-11 record against quad 2 opponents, they were just 0-1 in quad 1 games.

USC

Like Arizona State, USC failed to make it out of their pool in the Pac-12 Tournament. The Trojans won their first game, 6-4 over UCLA, before losing 8-3 to Washington to get knocked out. USC hovered around the bubble for much of the season, never being able to gain ground on safely making it into the field.

The underlying metrics simply weren’t favorable for USC. The Trojans were 34-23-1 overall with a Pac-12 record of 17-13, but their RPI sat at No. 53. And with a non-conference strength of schedule of No. 143 and a non-conference RPI of No. 100, they were simply too far out to avoid being one of this year’s NCAA Tournament snubs. The Trojans were also just 5-15-1 against quad 1 teams.

Notre Dame

Notre Dame has been on the bubble all year, and the Fighting Irish weren’t able to find their way into this year’s field. The Fighting Irish had an RPI of No. 54 after going 30-24 overall and 15-15 in ACC play. They also had a 10-12 record in quad 1 games, and went 0-2 in the ACC Tournament.

Like many teams here, Notre Dame’s biggest downfall likely comes back to its non-conference schedule. With a non-conference strength of schedule of No. 272 and a non-conference RPI of No. 104, it’s fair to wonder if the Irish were even in consideration for the bubble.