http://www.baseballamerica.com/college/field-64-behind-curtain/
TCU As A National Seed
The only moderate eyebrow-raiser among the top eight seeds was Texas Christian’s selection over Texas A&M, Vanderbilt or Florida State. The Aggies and Commodores appeared to have the strongest cases, and ourfinal projected field of 64had A&M as a national seed, the only one of the eight where we differed with the committee.
“There were several teams under consideration there,” Heeke said. “Certainly, Texas A&M, Florida State, Vandy, Dallas Baptist were all teams that we were talking about. . . . Vanderbilt had a fantastic year and was really playing well later in the year. But, we try to slot those teams in. TCU had been a very strong team for the majority of the year. They beat UCLA. They split with Dallas Baptist. They won a series with Arizona State. They sweep Texas, who’s now in the field. They did beat Vanderbilt in a neutral site game. We line those teams up side by side and look the very best we can to pick that. Ultimately, the committee votes, and that vote inserted TCU as your No. 7 seed.”
The clearest edge TCU has over the other contenders was the fact it won its conference’s regular season title, albeit in a very weak year for the Big 12. The Aggies appeared to have the best measurables in other categories, with a 23-10 record against the top 50 and 10-4 road record. TCU also had the fewest top 50 wins (seven) of any of the teams Heeke mentioned as being under consideration. However, the Aggies left themselves vulnerable by slumping down the stretch, going 1-3-1 in their last five weekend series, while TCU surged by winning 17 of its last 18 regular-season games, though it went 0-2 in the league tournament.
The impression given by Heeke was that Vanderbilt was the last team cut from the national seed list. The Commodores finished lower in the RPI at No. 10, behind TCU at No. 8, but did have more top 50 (13) and top 100 (30) wins. However, between TCU’s better RPI, its regular-season title, and a head-to-head win against Vanderbilt at the Dodgertown Classic in March, it was enough to tip the scales in the Frogs’ favor.
“Vandy had a great year. They won their division,” Heeke said. “They went to their conference championship. They did all the things that they needed to do. But we did think that TCU had an excellent year and played a tremendous schedule. It was a good year for them.”
TCU As A National Seed
The only moderate eyebrow-raiser among the top eight seeds was Texas Christian’s selection over Texas A&M, Vanderbilt or Florida State. The Aggies and Commodores appeared to have the strongest cases, and ourfinal projected field of 64had A&M as a national seed, the only one of the eight where we differed with the committee.
“There were several teams under consideration there,” Heeke said. “Certainly, Texas A&M, Florida State, Vandy, Dallas Baptist were all teams that we were talking about. . . . Vanderbilt had a fantastic year and was really playing well later in the year. But, we try to slot those teams in. TCU had been a very strong team for the majority of the year. They beat UCLA. They split with Dallas Baptist. They won a series with Arizona State. They sweep Texas, who’s now in the field. They did beat Vanderbilt in a neutral site game. We line those teams up side by side and look the very best we can to pick that. Ultimately, the committee votes, and that vote inserted TCU as your No. 7 seed.”
The clearest edge TCU has over the other contenders was the fact it won its conference’s regular season title, albeit in a very weak year for the Big 12. The Aggies appeared to have the best measurables in other categories, with a 23-10 record against the top 50 and 10-4 road record. TCU also had the fewest top 50 wins (seven) of any of the teams Heeke mentioned as being under consideration. However, the Aggies left themselves vulnerable by slumping down the stretch, going 1-3-1 in their last five weekend series, while TCU surged by winning 17 of its last 18 regular-season games, though it went 0-2 in the league tournament.
The impression given by Heeke was that Vanderbilt was the last team cut from the national seed list. The Commodores finished lower in the RPI at No. 10, behind TCU at No. 8, but did have more top 50 (13) and top 100 (30) wins. However, between TCU’s better RPI, its regular-season title, and a head-to-head win against Vanderbilt at the Dodgertown Classic in March, it was enough to tip the scales in the Frogs’ favor.
“Vandy had a great year. They won their division,” Heeke said. “They went to their conference championship. They did all the things that they needed to do. But we did think that TCU had an excellent year and played a tremendous schedule. It was a good year for them.”
