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Southern Miss baseball is the No. 9 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, missing out on a top-eight seed by one spot.
Being among the eight highest-ranked teams in the field is sought after because those teams are guaranteed to host a super regional if they advance past the regional round.
Most bracket projections over the last week had the Golden Eagles (44-15) hovering right on the cusp of being a top-eight seed. The NCAA selection committee seemingly agreed, listing Southern Miss at No. 9.
Florida (39-19) earned the No. 8 seed in the bracket after winning 10 of its last 12 games and making it to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament before losing to Georgia 8-7.
Southern Miss and Florida are neighbors in the RPI rankings. The Gators finished the season at No. 11, barely edging out the Golden Eagles who finished at No. 12.
The two teams have similar resumés and both programs had cases to be seeded over each other.
The biggest reason for Southern Miss being ranked lower than Florida is the discrepancy between the two squads when comparing strength of schedules, a statistic the selection committee takes into account. Florida's schedule ranked as the second most difficult in the country while Southern Miss' ranked 35th.
The Gators' strength of schedule is bolstered by the fact that they play in the SEC. In the last month of conference play alone, Florida played against Texas A&M, No. 14 in RPI, No. 26 Oklahoma, No. 37 Kentucky and No. 63 LSU. Three of those teams made the NCAA Tournament. The Gators also beat No. 21 Alabama in the SEC Tournament.
Southern Miss' strength of schedule isn't bad, seeing that the Sun Belt Conference is one of four conferences with five or more teams in the tournament field. But the bottom half of the league offers little competition. The average RPI of teams Florida beat is 39 compared to the Golden Eagles' 65.
The Gators also played against 28 Quad 1 opponents, 12 more than Southern Miss and had a slightly better win percentage, 57.1% and 56.25% respectively, in those games.
Although Florida ended up higher than the Golden Eagles', there were a few resumé advantages for Southern Miss.
Southern Miss had a better win percentage of Quad 2 opponents, 81% compared to Florida's 70%, and a better win percentage against opponents that were either Quad 1 or Quad 2, 70.3% to 60.5%.
Both Southern Miss and Florida played Alabama and Ole Miss. In games against those two common opponents, Southern Miss was 2-1 and Florida was 2-6.
Ultimately, the Golden Eagles' didn't secure a top-eight seed, but they will still host a Hattiesburg Regional from May 29 to June 1. Southern Miss will take on Little Rock on May 29 (1 p.m. CT on ESPN+) at Pete Taylor Park.
All times CT
Game 1: No. 1 Southern Miss vs. No. 4 Little Rock, 1 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
Game 2: No. 2 Virginia vs. No. 3 Jacksonville State, 6 p.m. on ESPN+.
Game 3: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 3 p.m., TBD
Game 4: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2, 8 p.m., TBD
Game 5: Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4, 4 p.m., TBD
Game 6: Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5, 8 p.m., TBD
Game 7 (If necessary): Rematch of Game 6, TBD
Davis Wilson covers Southern Miss athletics and Hattiesburg news for the Hattiesburg American. Email him at [email protected] or find him on X at @Davis_Wilson.
This article originally appeared on Hattiesburg American: Southern Miss baseball misses out on top-eight seed in NCAA Tournament: Here's why
Continue reading...
Being among the eight highest-ranked teams in the field is sought after because those teams are guaranteed to host a super regional if they advance past the regional round.
Most bracket projections over the last week had the Golden Eagles (44-15) hovering right on the cusp of being a top-eight seed. The NCAA selection committee seemingly agreed, listing Southern Miss at No. 9.
Florida (39-19) earned the No. 8 seed in the bracket after winning 10 of its last 12 games and making it to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament before losing to Georgia 8-7.
Why Florida over Southern Miss for a top-eight seed?
Southern Miss and Florida are neighbors in the RPI rankings. The Gators finished the season at No. 11, barely edging out the Golden Eagles who finished at No. 12.
The two teams have similar resumés and both programs had cases to be seeded over each other.
The biggest reason for Southern Miss being ranked lower than Florida is the discrepancy between the two squads when comparing strength of schedules, a statistic the selection committee takes into account. Florida's schedule ranked as the second most difficult in the country while Southern Miss' ranked 35th.
The Gators' strength of schedule is bolstered by the fact that they play in the SEC. In the last month of conference play alone, Florida played against Texas A&M, No. 14 in RPI, No. 26 Oklahoma, No. 37 Kentucky and No. 63 LSU. Three of those teams made the NCAA Tournament. The Gators also beat No. 21 Alabama in the SEC Tournament.
Southern Miss' strength of schedule isn't bad, seeing that the Sun Belt Conference is one of four conferences with five or more teams in the tournament field. But the bottom half of the league offers little competition. The average RPI of teams Florida beat is 39 compared to the Golden Eagles' 65.
The Gators also played against 28 Quad 1 opponents, 12 more than Southern Miss and had a slightly better win percentage, 57.1% and 56.25% respectively, in those games.
Although Florida ended up higher than the Golden Eagles', there were a few resumé advantages for Southern Miss.
Southern Miss had a better win percentage of Quad 2 opponents, 81% compared to Florida's 70%, and a better win percentage against opponents that were either Quad 1 or Quad 2, 70.3% to 60.5%.
Both Southern Miss and Florida played Alabama and Ole Miss. In games against those two common opponents, Southern Miss was 2-1 and Florida was 2-6.
Ultimately, the Golden Eagles' didn't secure a top-eight seed, but they will still host a Hattiesburg Regional from May 29 to June 1. Southern Miss will take on Little Rock on May 29 (1 p.m. CT on ESPN+) at Pete Taylor Park.
Hattiesburg Regional schedule
All times CT
Friday, May 29
Game 1: No. 1 Southern Miss vs. No. 4 Little Rock, 1 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
Game 2: No. 2 Virginia vs. No. 3 Jacksonville State, 6 p.m. on ESPN+.
Saturday, May 30
Game 3: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 3 p.m., TBD
Game 4: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2, 8 p.m., TBD
Sunday, May 31
Game 5: Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4, 4 p.m., TBD
Game 6: Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5, 8 p.m., TBD
Sunday, June 1
Game 7 (If necessary): Rematch of Game 6, TBD
Davis Wilson covers Southern Miss athletics and Hattiesburg news for the Hattiesburg American. Email him at [email protected] or find him on X at @Davis_Wilson.
This article originally appeared on Hattiesburg American: Southern Miss baseball misses out on top-eight seed in NCAA Tournament: Here's why
Continue reading...
