The Road To Omaha statue outside TD Ameritrade Park awaits eight CWS teams (Kirk Markus photo).

Just five days remain until the selections are announced for this year’s NCAA Division One Baseball Tournament. We always receive questions about how selections are made and just how the whole process works.

The tournament starts in just over a week with a field of 64 and culminates with the College World Series in Omaha in June. With all that in mind, here’s a look at how selections will be made this weekend, who is on the selection committee and the formats for the Regional, Super Regional and CWS rounds of the NCAA baseball tournament.

• 64 teams will qualify for the NCAA Baseball Championship.
• 30 of the 64 teams that qualify for the tournament will receive automatic bids based on winning conference championships. Most of those automatic bids go to teams that win their conference tournaments.
• The minimum requirement for at-large selection is an above .500 record against Division One competition.
• The West Coast Conference, Big West and Pac-10 do not sponsor postseason tournaments, so their automatic bids go to the regular-season champion.
• Since there are only 30 automatic bids, 34 at-large spots in the tournament are selected by the NCAA baseball committee.
• The committee uses the Rating Percentage Index (RPI), a computer program that provides the committee with (1) the institution’s Division I winning percentage, (2) opponents’ success and (3) opponents’ strength of schedule. The RPI is an additional tool used in the evaluation of at-large teams. Please note that the adjusted RPI takes into account a bonus/penalty structure. Bonus and penalty values only will be used for non-conference games.
• Regular-season conference standings and/or conference postseason competition shall be considered by the committee when selecting at-large teams.
• The committee may consider comparing data of individual teams, including, but not limited to, overall record, Division I record, overall RPI rank, non-conference record and RPI rank, conference regular-season record and conference tournament results, road record and RPI, last 15 games’ record, its record against teams ranked 1-25, 26-50, 51-100, 101-150 and below 150 in the RPI, head-to-head record, common opponents’ record and input from regional advisory committees.

The same criteria is also used to determine seeding for Regionals and the top-eight national seeds. RPI was said to have been de-emphasized last year, but it is still a huge factor in the selection and seeding process.

The top-eight national seeds essentially are the eight teams that (at least in theory) should make it to the College World Series. Top-eight seeds are guaranteed they would not have to play each other until the CWS.

Regional host sites will be announced on Sunday, May 27, while the field of 64 will be announced on Monday, May 28 (Memorial Day). Selections will be televised on ESPNU.

CLICK HERE to see the list of 30 automatic qualifiers.

The 2012 NCAA Selection Committee

Kyle Kallander – Big South Conference Commissioner
Gary Overton – East Carolina Assistant Athletic Director
David Heeke – Central Michigan Athletic Director
John Hardt – Bucknell Athletic Director
Larry Gallo – North Carolina Associate Athletic Director
Dennis Farrell – Big West Conference Commissioner
Chris Monasch – St.John’s Athletic Director
Mark LaBarbera – Valparaiso Athletic Director
Eric Hyman – South Carolina Athletic Director
Randy L. Buhr – Washington State Associate Athletic Director

The Road To Omaha leads to TD Ameritrade Park and The Dugout – located right across the street from TDA’s home plate entrance. The Dugouthas a ton of authentic college baseball caps – just like the ones the players wear on the field.

If you’re going to Omaha for the College World Series make sure to make your first stop The Dugout for all officially licensed CWS apparel. If you can’t make it to Omaha just follow our red links to The Dugout!

Here’s how the tournament is formatted:

Regionals

• 16 four-team Regional tournaments take place at different locations around the country.
• Ordinarily, all Regional and Super Regional tournaments are located on or near the campus of one of the competing institutions; however, a Regional or Super Regional tournament may be scheduled at a neutral site provided advance approval is obtained from the Division I Championships/Sports Management Cabinet.
• The committee shall attempt to place Regional tournaments so that maximum national balance can be obtained, preferably at least one Regional in each of the eight Division I baseball regions.
• Except for the 16 No. 1 Regional seeds, the pairings for the Regionals, whenever possible, will be based on closest geographical location of the teams to the tournament sites. Teams may be moved outside their regions, if necessary, to balance the bracket, or if the proximity to an opponent outside the region would be comparable and a better competitive matchup would occur.
• Two teams from the same conference cannot be placed in the same Regional.
• Teams from the same conference that are seeded first in their respective Regional will be placed on the bracket to avoid potentially meeting in a Super Regional.
• Typically, #1 seeds host Regionals, but it is possible for a #2 seed to host.
• Teams are seeded 1-4 within each Regional, with the #1 seed playing the #4 seed and the #2 seed playing the #3 seed on the first day of the tournament.
• The tournament is played out in a double-elimination format, with the winner advancing to one of eight Super Regionals.
• As noted below, one change made a couple years back is that the potential game-7 of a Regional (i.e. both teams have one loss) is played on Monday, whereas it used to be played on Sunday night (barring weather rescheduling, there never will be more than two games played in one day at a Regional site).

Here’s the Regional format:

Day 1
Game 1 — No. 1 seed vs. No. 4
Game 2 — No. 2 vs. No. 3

Day 2
Game 3 — Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
Game 4 — Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2

Day 3
Game 5 — Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4
Game 6 — Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5

Day 4
Game 7 — If necessary, same teams as in Game 6

Super Regionals

• Two teams will play a best 2-of-3 format to determine the Super Regional winner.
• Super Regional competition takes place at on-campus sites or alternate sites that are approved by the baseball committee.
• Consideration for hosting shall be given to the higher seed, including the eight national seeds, if a suitable hosting proposal has been received (e.g., meets financial guarantee and quality of facility criteria). If the higher seed has not submitted a proposal, the lower-seeded team will host if its proposal is acceptable.
• If the Super Regional matchup is between equally-seeded teams, the committee shall review the hosting proposals according to the site selection criteria (e.g., quality and availability of the facility, revenue potential and other available accommodations) to determine the host. If only one of the teams has submitted a
  proposal, that team shall host if the proposal is acceptable.
• Winners of the eight Super Regional tournaments will qualify for the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
• The 2012 College World Series begins on Friday, June 15 and runs through Monday/Tuesday June 25/26.

Note: While the tournament starts with 16 #1 seeds, for the purposes of Super Regional pairings only the top-eight national seeds are taken into consideration. According to the NCAA, the other eight #1 Regional seeds all “become a nine seed” when it comes to pairing which Regionals will face off in the Super Regional round. Super Regional pairings are made based on geography rather than actual seed.

Here’s the Super Regional format:

Day 1: Game 1 — Team A vs. Team B
Day 2: Game 2 — Team A vs. Team B
Day 3: Game 3 — if necessary, Team A vs. Team B

College World Series

• The eight winners of the Super Regional competitions will advance to the College World Series.
• Two four-team brackets will play a double-elimination tournaments to determine the bracket champions (similar to the regional format). The winner of each of those brackets advances to the CWS Finals.
• The CWS Finals best 2-of-3 format consists of single games Sun., Mon. and Tues. (if necessary), June 24-26.

By College Baseball 360 co-editor Sean Stires

It looks like the Big Ten, or “BIG” as it likes to moniker itself, is at it again. According to an Associate Press report, there are two ideas being floated by two different Big Ten coaches that would pretty drastically change the way college baseball is played.

The AP attributes one of the ideas to ABCA Hall of Fame coach, John Anderson, of Minnesota. Anderson’s idea is for teams in his conference to stop beginning their seasons in February like the rest of college baseball. Instead, BIG would begin play much later and play out its 56-game regular season into summer – while the College World Series is being played, meaning Big Ten teams would give-up the chance to play in the NCAA Tournament altogether.

“We’re never going to catch those people,” Anderson is quoted saying in reference to the four SEC teams that played at last year’s CWS. “The system works for them, and they’re not going to want to change it.”

The other idea comes from Purdue head coach Doug Schreiber. His plan would be for the SEC to allow schools to play 14 non-conference games in the fall, with those games counting toward the team’s 56-game regular season limit and won-loss record the following spring. IE-Fall 2011 results would have counted toward the current 2012 season.

With respect to both Anderson and Schreiber, their ideas are not completely without merit. Just like the BIG has been doing for the last several years, they are looking for a solution that they think college baseball’s current system has handed them. They all argue that the current system is keeping BIG teams out of the chance to be in and host NCAA Tournament games.

To a certain extent they are correct. The problem is, they are barking up the wrong tree.

You see, the BIG wants it both ways. Its commissioner, Jim Delaney, and the people who run the schools in the conference will not allow their school’s head coaches to over-sign prospective recruits. The practice allows a coach a safety net when highly touted signees opt for professional contracts rather than going to college. The end result is rosters that have a hard time consistently competing with top-notch opponents.

That, along with early extended road trips and early losses leads to bad RPIs and, ultimately, fewer at-large NCAA bids. As cited in the AP article. BIG has received just a single NCAA bid six times since 1999, two bids four times and three bids on three occasions.

BIG wants us to believe it’s all the system’s fault, but there’s another northern conference that defies BIG’s argument- the Big East, which has sent three teams to the NCAA Tournament each of the last two years, while BIG has had just one each (Anderson’s Minnesota squad in 2010 and Illinois last year).

Connecticut, Seton Hall and St. John’s all went to the dance last year. There was hardly tropical weather in any of those locales when the 2011 season began, but they all did just fine.  BIG is also the conference that has a better BCS windfall, thanks to several years with multiple teams (Michigan and Wisconsin this year) in BCS bowl games.

What really irks BIG is not just the fact that Michigan’s 1984 team was the last school from the conference to reach the CWS, but also the idea that they don’t think there are enough northern schools hosting NCAA Regionals every year.

The problem with the latter argument is that hosting guarantees nothing. Ask national seed Rice last year. UConn hosted a regional two years ago, only to see Florida State advance all the way to Omaha. The Huskies started on the road in the Clemson Regional last year, upsetting the Tigers and advancing to the program’s first Super Regional.

There’s also the fact that other northern teams like Notre Dame, Nebraska, Missouri State, and even Oregon State have all been to Omaha in the last decade. Granted, Nebraska (which just left the Big 12 for BIG) and Oregon State both had the advantage of playing better teams in conference play, helping their RPIs. However, OSU beat Michigan in 2007 and Missouri State got past Ohio State in 2003 in Super Regionals to earn CWS berths.

Notre Dame rattled-off an unheard of eight straight NCAA appearances from 1999-2006 under then head coach Paul Mainieri. The foundation of his teams, which included future MLB pitchers Brad Lidge and Aaron Heilman in the late ‘90s, was pitching. Those two would have been teammates with current Chicago Cub Ryan Dempster had he not opted to go the pro route instead.

Mainieri’s Irish earned its CWS bid in 2002 after first beating Ohio State in the South Bend Regional and then going to Tallahassee and toppling No. 1 ranked Florida State (which carried a 25-game winning streak into the best of three series).

Delaney has tossed around the idea of a “Northern World Series” if the kind of “access” to the NCAA Tournament that he wants isn’t attained. That event could take place in the late summer if Anderson’s plan to push back his conference’s start date were to go into effect.

The event could even be televised. A Big Ten Network spokesperson told the AP “BTN will televise baseball wherever the Big Ten play it.” That is unless it’s at what the conference had hoped would be one of the premiere early season events, The Big East/Big Ten (or vice versa, depending on year) Challenge. Event organizers practically begged BTN to televise at least some games during the four year run of the Challenge to no avail.

I completely empathize with Big Ten coaches and the challenges they face. I have long said that it is ridiculous that with around 300 Division One college baseball teams (of which around half are northern) should start the season in February when pitchers and catchers are just reporting to spring training.

It is extremely challenging for every northern team to practice (mostly indoors) and hit the road for the first 3-4 weeks of every season, but it still no more challenging for Purdue or Michigan than it is for Notre Dame or Cincinnati. However, there was also a time (not so long ago) when there was no uniform start date to the college season. That set-up allowed warm weather schools to get double-digit games under their belts before the snowbird schools came south.

Give Schreiber credit though, he has put together a schedule that, if it wins 36 or so games, should be in the at-large discussion if it warrants at the end of the season. Purdue’s non-conference slate includes games against the like of East Carolina, Auburn, Southern Mississippi, Wichita State, Louisville, and a three-game series in May at UCLA. That doesn’t even include a Maryland team that has turned out to be pretty good so far.

Schreiber and Anderson are trying to help their teams and others in their conference. The problem is their conference needs to get out of their way.

After hearing from some coaches and readers the following was added after the initial post of this column:

As I hope I stated clearly enough (I know I have in the past anyway) the start of the season needs to be pushed back AT LEAST to the first weekend of March. Things will never be completely fair for northern teams as long as the college season starts before April. Schreiber’s plan to play 14 games in the fall is the best of these two options. Of the coaches I have talked to since this news broke, they favor that idea. One possibility could be putting both a minimum and a maximum number of fall games for all teams.

An idea we have mentioned here on CB360 before is allowing “exempt” fall games (exhibitions that would not count toward the 56-game limit) in an effort to give the college game more exposure, especially in the north where Big Ten schools and Big East schools with football could tie fall games in with a home football weekend. Playing regular season games in October would take it a step further, where schools like Notre Dame, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Cincinnati, Ohio State, and others could tie an entire weekend series in with a football weekend, thus killing three birds with one stone. They get to play some home games in the fall, they get more exposure for their baseball team and they don’t have to spend three weeks on the road in late February and March.

To be clear, the points northern coaches raise about the inequity of northern and southern teams in college baseball is valid. However, the Big Ten has more resources than any other northern conference, yet the conference has continually chosen to blame the NCAA for all of its woes rather than looking within at how it has hamstrung its baseball schools with self-imposed policies like not allowing over-signing and restricting junior college transfers to its baseball programs. (SS)

OMAHA, Neb. – The NCAA is making approximately 10,000 reserved seat tickets available (or 750 per game) for sale under a random selection process for the 2012 NCAA College World Series (CWS).

The process, similar to what is used for other NCAA championships, is a system where fans sign up for the opportunity to be randomly selected to purchase reserved seats at face value.

“In order to participate, fans need to fill out an online application that will qualify them for a random, computerized drawing to determine who can purchase the single-game, reserved seat tickets in advance of the Series,” said Josh Logan, director of ticketing for NCAA championships.

Beginning at 12:00 a.m. Eastern on Feb. 24, fans can apply at www.NCAA.com/CWS for the chance to be selected to purchase up to four tickets per game for as many as four 2012 CWS games. There is no charge to apply and fans will have until March 19 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern to submit their application. Incomplete applications and applications received after the deadline will not be accepted.

A random, computerized drawing among all eligible applications will be held on or about March 31. All applicants will be notified by the NCAA via the email address submitted on their application form, whether their application was selected or not, on or about April 6. Those selected may not transfer their opportunity to purchase tickets.

Prices for reserved seating

A tiered pricing system for reserved seat tickets at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha will be utilized starting with this year’s championship. “This change reflects the viewing experience at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha and brings the College World Series in line with most collegiate and professional sporting events that tier their prices based on location within a sporting venue,” Logan acknowledged. “In most baseball venues, seating between first and third bases is valued higher for the viewing experience compared to other seating options along the lines and in the upper levels. This preference is reflected in the new tiered pricing at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha.”

Ticket prices for seating sections 107-117, between first and third base, will be $30 for the qualifying rounds (the first 14 games) and $35 for the Finals games. Ticket prices for seating in sections 100-106 and 118-124, which are located down the first and third base lines, will be $29 for the qualifying rounds and $34 for the Finals games. Ticket prices for reserved seating in the upper level and grandstand (200 and 300 levels respectively) will remain unchanged from 2011, selling for $28 each for the first 14 games and $33 each for the Finals games.

(Release)

By College Baseball 360 Editor Sean Stires

February is almost over, and that means just one thing to college baseball coaches, players and fans alike – it’s ping time! The season starts tomorrow and every team in the country, with maybe the exception of Arizona State (see below), starts with a clean slate.

Teams from Connecticut to Cal, Michigan (State if you prefer) to Miami, Oregon to Orlando (with both Stetson and UCF nearby), Tennessee to Texas, and nearly 300 points in between all have their sights set on Omaha.

South Carolina is the two-time defending champ, but a stocked Florida team is the unanimous No. 1 and wants to dethrone its SEC rival. Plenty of other non-SEC teams like Stanford, North Carolina and Texas A&M to name a few are all legitimate preseason threats to the Gamecock throne.

Before they get to the promised land though, they all have to navigate their own 56-game regular season gauntlets along the road to Omaha.

Most of them, like Arkansas-Little Rock and New Mexico last year, won’t have the regular season credentials for even the NCAA field of 64, but they’ll get their shot if they can roll the dice hard and come-up big with a postseason conference tournament title and the automatic NCAA bid that comes with it.

Who will be this season’s Jeremy Lin – the team or player to come out of nowhere -  and who will be this year’s Philadelphia Eagles – the team with all the preseason hype only to fall flat – ?

They’re all out there, we just don’t know who they are yet.

We’re thinking about all that and a lot more heading into 2012. Here’s a look at some of the other stuff on my own mind:

Let’s Start With Exposure

College baseball needs a dose of early season exposure. Pitchers and catchers are just starting to think about reporting to Spring Training, but the college game is starting en-masse this weekend – IN FEBRUARY.

College baseball reaches its crescendo in Omaha in June. That’s where guys like Trevor Bauer, Scott Wingo and Matt Curry (UCLA, South Carolina and TCU, respectively) get their shots at the national stage – when the games are on ESPN and people around the country are watching. The conundrum is, once the College World Series is over most of those college baseball heroes fade from the memory of the casual fan.

It’s hard enough to catch lightening in a bottle, let alone keep it there for eight months, but why not give it a shot?

Take those eight teams that got to Omaha at the end of the season and gather them to start the next season – and put it on TV.

Can you see it? The 2012 Road To Omaha First Pitch Challenge – with South Carolina, Virginia, Cal, and Texas A&M in one pool and Florida, Vanderbilt, North Carolina, and Texas in another pool.

You wouldn’t play out the entire double-elimination tournament like the CWS format, just a pair of four-team round robins. Each team gets three teams in three days.

Big names, which all got maximum exposure at the end of the last season, big early interest.

Play the games at Dodgers Stadium and/or Anaheim and it’s easy programming for MLB Network. As much as I like MLB Network, it would be much better than watching Prime 9 on a loop all weekend!

It is college, so some of the names and faces will be a little different, but as Tommy Lasorda would tell you, the name on the fronts of the jerseys will be the same.

It’s not so crazy. Now, can we just make it happen?!

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SEC Dominance

As college baseball fans know, it’s not just a football conference. The left coast doesn’t want to hear it, but the claims of the SEC’s dominance of college baseball are not greatly exaggerated. It is somewhat staggering to look at just how good the conference is when it comes to success at the College World Series. Start with the fact that all 11 players named to last year’s CWS All-Tournament Team were from the SEC, and throw-in the fact that with South Carolina’s back-to-back titles the last two years the conference has now won three straight national titles (LSU – 2009).

A total of 46 SEC teams have advanced to Omaha since 1990, with LSU at the head of the pack at 12 trips. Florida (6), South Carolina (5), Georgia (5), Mississippi State (4), Alabama (3), Tennessee (3), Auburn (2) and Arkansas (2) have each gone multiple times in the last two decades as well. The Bayou Bengals have won six of the conference’s nine national championships in that time, with Georgia (1990) and South Carolina (2010 & 2011) claiming the other three. South Carolina, Florida and Vanderbilt were the conference’s three CWS representatives in 2011, and all three were among the last four teams remaining at the event.

While last year was the SEC’s high water mark in that regard, the conference has failed to have at least one team among the last four alive in Omaha just five times since 1990.

The SEC just keeps getting tougher as well, with Dave Serrano leaving Cal State Fullerton to claim Tennessee as his new address. Serrano is one of 11 coaches to ever lead two programs to the College World Series (current Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn and LSU’s Paul Mainieri are part of the club as well). Serrano took UC Irvine to the 2007 CWS and then led Fullerton to Omaha two years later.

CLICK HERE to listen to a preseason podcast with LSU head coach Paul Mainieri.

CLICK HERE to listen to a preseason podcast with Florida OF Preston Tucker.

Speaking Of New Addresses

Vanderhook

Rick Vanderhook begins his first season as head coach at Cal State Fullerton in 2012, but he is anything but unfamiliar with the land of the Titans. Vanderhook, who spent the last three seasons as an assistant at UCLA, is just the fifth head coach in program history.

Vanderhook was an assistant coach for a total of 21 seasons in Fullerton under the previous four head coaches: Augie Garrido, Larry Cochell, George Horton, and Serrano, so don’t look for the Titans’ offensive philosophy to change. Vanderhook inherits a lot of returning experience offensively, but he’ll need to replace a ton of pitching, including Noe Ramirez and Tyler Pill are gone from the weekend rotation, and two-way player (and closer) Nick Ramirez.

Arizona State Is Out

After sending six teams to the NCAA Tournament last year, one thing is certain in 2012 – if the Pac-12 gets six bids this year Arizona State will not be among them. After 12 straight NCAA appearances, the Sun Devils are banned from the 2012 NCAA postseason for infractions that were committed under former head coach Pat Murphy’s watch. ASU advanced to the College World Series in current head coach Tim Esmay’s first season in 2010 and fell to Texas in Super Regional play in Austin last year.

The argument can be made that most, if not all, of the players on this year’s roster were not even around when the actual infractions (lack of institutional control by the school) took place. That’s fair, but don’t forget that ASU was allowed to participate in last year’s NCAA Tournament while the appeals process took place. A higher percentage of those player, who played for Murphy, were there when the infractions took place.

Bottom line, it’s not a good situation for anyone and this year’s probation is step one in the moving on process.

Going Golden Bear Hunting

Cal's tumultuous 2011 season ended in Omaha

At this time last year Cal and head coach David Esqeur were just trying to keep the program alive. What a difference a year makes. After not only managing to Save Cal Baseball, Esquer managed to take his Golden Bears all the way to Omaha for the first time in nearly 20 years. Cal was the feel good story of 2011, but that CWS trip puts a bigger target on their backs this year.

“I hope we have that bull’s eye on our back,” Cal pitcher Justin Jones recently told College Baseball 360. “We’ll have to see how that plays out and see what happens I guess. We now know what it takes to get there to Omaha, and it’s really helped with the practice, the preparation and the hard work we all put in. Now we know that what was once kind of out of the reach is now in our reach. It’s in our eyesight. We feel like we can reach it every year now.”

Cal’s run to the CWS gives the Pac-12 six teams that have played in the CWS since 2004, along with Oregon State, Arizona State, UCLA, Stanford, and Arizona. The Cinderella run is the stuff of movies and, more importantly, what college athletics is all about. By the way, Jones says he would want Johnny Depp to play him if they were to make a movie.

CLICK HERE to listen to a preseason podcast with Cal’s Justin Jones.

Conference Confusion

While baseball is an afterthought when it comes to all the shuffling in college conferences, the landscape of the sport will be affected greatly by all of the movement. Nowhere have things been more volatile than the Big 12 Conference, where who is staying and who is leaving have been the biggest questions over the last couple years.

First, Nebraska bolted for the Big Ten and Colorado moved out west for Pac-10/12 expansion. The latter didn’t affect baseball, but the loss of the Cornhuskers means a three time College World Series team is gone to even farther northern climes.

While Utah does not immediately make the conference tougher on the diamond, Bill Kinneberg does bring a solid program with him to an already tough conference. The addition of Utah also means all 11 current Pac-12 baseball teams have made the NCAA Tournament field at least once since 2004. Kinneberg led the 2010 USA Collegiate National Team to a silver medal performance at the 2010 World University Championships. His Utes also finished their last season in the Mountain West Conference with 29 wins. Kinneberg’s roots in the Pac-10 run deep. He was a member of Arizona’s 1980 national championship team and was also an assistant coach on Arizona State’s 1993 and ’94 CWS squads.

Texas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State flirted with the Pac-12, but ultimately stayed put. Meanwhile, Texas A&M and then Missouri decided it was time to jump for the SEC. Those two teams will play one last season in the Big 12 in 2012, but don’t expect any touchy-feely send-offs for them in their swan song season. Things could be as bitter as ever when the two rivals square-off for possibly the last time Apr. 27-29.

TCU and West Virginia will take their place. The Horned Frogs are a year removed from an Omaha trip, while the Mountaineers – a team that has traditionally been long on offense but pitching thin – have not been to the NCAA Tournament since 1996.  What it all means the immediate future is nine baseball teams competing in the Big 12 in 2012.

Other conferences will see more shuffling as well. Hawaii will come aboard as a Big West member for the 2013 season, while San Diego State joins-up in 2014(though SDSU football is Big East bound) . Cal State Bakersfield and Texas State will join the WAC, Memphis, Houston and Central Florida are leaving Conference USA for the Big East, Fresno State is leaving the WAC for the Mountain West, and of course the Mountain West and Conference USA just announced plans to merge. Former DI Independent Dallas Baptist, which advanced to the program’s first Super Regional last year, is playing in the Missouri Valley Conference this year, but will head to the WAC next year.

It’s not confusing at all…

Is Virginia here to stay?

Brian O'Connor doing an interview at the 2011 CWS

Brian O’Connor has led his Cavaliers to the College World Series in two of the last three years, but the challenge to get there again will be even greater in the near future. O’Connor’s recruiting has been nothing short of phenomenal since taking over the program in 2004, but arguably his biggest recruit – Danny Hultzen – is now gone. Hultzen was a freshman on UVA’a 2009 CWS squad and ended his career with a school record 32 wins before being the second overall pick (Seattle Mariners) in the 2011 MLB Draft. While he is the biggest man to replace, there are other holes to fill as well.”

“From a pitching standpoint off last year’s team, we lost 70 percent of our innings,” O’Connor told CB360 of his turnover. “We lost three guys that threw over 100 innings and another pitcher that threw over 75 innings.”

Branden Kline is the biggest name back from the ’11 CWS squad. He shined last year with 18 saves, while moving from midweek starter to closer. O’Connor told College Baseball 360 that Kline will start the new season in the weekend rotation, but could return to the closer role if other starters emerge.

Pitching isn’t the only pressing need O’Connor has entering 2012. His top four statistical hitters from last year are departed as well, but he said he is ready for the new challenge.

“As a coach, you can look at it in one of two ways. You can be concerned about that or you can look forward to it.”

O’Connor added that he had fun this past fall seeing a lot of new faces in new places.

“I love that challenge as a coach of trying to get those young people to the next level of being able to perform every day and be somebody that can really be counted on at a high level of college baseball”

Consistency in the coaching staff has been a key to Virginia’s success as well. Associate head coach, Kevin McMullen, and pitching coach, Karl Kuhn, are entering their ninth year with O’Connor on the Cavalier staff.

CLICK HERE to listen to a preseason podcast with Brian O’Connor.

O’Brien Stepping-up To The Big Stage

Peter O'Brien

After three great seasons at Bethune-Cookman, Peter O’Brien should provide instant impact after transferring to Miami for his final year of eligibility. The NCAA ruled recently that O’Brien will be allowed to play immediately. The  catcher batted .304 with 14 home runs and 69 RBIs in 2011.

The 6’5, 225 lb. senior was the MEAC Player of the Year in 2010 and went on to play for the USA Collegiate National Team that summer. O’Brien was selected in the third round of the 2011 MLB Draft, but turned down the chance to turn pro for a year in Coral Gables and the ACC.

Jim Penders led UConn to a 2011 NCAA Regional win at Clemson before falling to South Carolina in Super Regional play.

The last two seasons have been nearly unprecedented for the Connecticut baseball team. Jim Penders led the Huskies to the program’s first Super Regional in 2011 before falling to eventual national champion South Carolina. UConn has won 93 games over the last two seasons after winning 45 games last year, while becoming the third Big East school to advance to a Super Regional.

Penders must now reload after losing home grown products George Springer and Matt Barnes in the first round of last year’s first year MLB Draft. In this exclusive interview with College Baseball 360 editor Sean Stires, Penders discusses his team’s success last season, replacing the two aforementioned Connecticut natives, how the Nutmeg State has come to produce other top talent like other college standouts Jason Esposito, A.J. Pollock and Matt Harvey, the one thing he would change about college baseball, and more.

Click the “Play” button below to listen to the interview.

Penders.mp3

Preston Tucker at the plate during the 2011 College World Series

Florida has been to the College World Series in each of the past two seasons. Preston Tucker has been there for each of those trips and is back for a chance to win a national championship in 2012.

The senior was drafted in the 16th round by the Colorado Rockies last year, but opted to return to Gainesville instead of turning pro. His return means the Gators return almost everyone from a team that was the national runner-up in Omaha in 2011.

Despite the arrival of BBCOR bats to college baseball, Tucker still had a monster bat last year, batting .308 with 15 home runs, a team-high 74 RBIs, 23 doubles, and a .926 OPS.

In this exclusive interview with College Baseball 360 editor Sean Stires, Tucker discusses his decision to return for his final year at Florida, the reason for his personal success at the plate with the new bats, his teammates, coaches, his team’s chances to win a national championship and more.

Press the “Play” button below to listen to the podcast interview.

Tucker

Brian O'Connor being interviewed by ESPN's Jenn Brown during the 2011 CWS

The last three seasons have been unprecedented for head coach Brian O’Connor and the Virginia baseball team. The Cavaliers are coming off their second trip to the College World Series in the last three years, with a Super Regional appearance sandwiched between the trips to Omaha.

Most of the players, including All-American two-way player Danny Hultzen, are gone from those two teams though. The roster turnover leaves O’Connor and his coaching staff faced with the new challenge of restocking not only the entire weekend pitching rotation, but also most of the everyday lineup.

In this exclusive interview with College Baseball 360 editor Sean Stires, O’Connor discusses those challenges and more – including the one thing he would change if he were king of college baseball for a day.

Press the “Play” button below to listen to the interview.

O\’Connor.mp3

Justin Jones in the Cal dugout in Omaha

The Cal baseball program ran the gamut of emotions during the 2010-2011 year. The Golden Bears experienced the lowest of lows when they thought their program would be eliminated, and then propelled themselves to the highest of highs-with a run to the 2011 College World Series.

Junior pitcher Justin Jones was there every step of the way. In this exclusive interview with College Baseball 360 editor Sean Stires, Jones discusses his team’s run to Omaha as well as the aftereffects.

He was not able to pitch at the CWS due to an injury he suffered in a Super Regional win over Dallas Baptist, so how is his arm now?

His other revelations include why he decided to remain a Golden Bear rather than transfer to another school after the announcement that Cal baseball would be cut after the 2011 season, who he would take a bullet for, who he would step in front of a car for, and which actor would play him if a movie is ever made about Cal’s unbelievable season.

Press the “play” button below to listen to the podcast.

Justin Jones – 6’2 – 188 – Jr. – LHP – Oakdale, CA

Head Coach:  David Esquer

JustinJones.mp3

The NCAA has reached an agreement that will allow ESPN to broadcast the College World Series and other NCAA championships through the 2023-2024 academic year.

The deal will give ESPN the international rights to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. It will also continue to hold the rights for the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament as well as both the Men’s and Women’s College World Series.

According to ESPN, its multimedia platforms will air 24  championships – adding women’s gymnastics, men’s and women’s fencing, Division I women’s lacrosse, Division I men’s and women’s outdoor track and women’s bowling. There will be more than 600 hours of live programming annually.

ESPN will air more contests in the early rounds of the Football Championship Series postseason and Division I women’s volleyball, softball and baseball tournaments. The deal, which takes effect immediately, includes expanded coverage of the preseason and postseason NIT.

The 2012 Men’s College World Series will start on Friday, June 15. The CWS typically starts on a Saturday. Click Here to read more about the schedule change.

Have you been watching the race for the MLB Wildcard this month? If you’re a Boston Red Sox fan you have more likely been cringing than actually watching September baseball.

The races for the final AL and NL playoff spots has been great drama for sure, and those races are also exactly why the College World Series should NOT use instant replay as it plans to do in 2012.

Huh?

That’s right, it’s still the regular season, but Major League Baseball doesn’t just use instant replay on home run calls in the postseason, it uses replay in games 1-162 as well as in each and every postseason playoff and World Series game.

Home run calls will be up for review at the 2012 College World Series

College baseball’s (and ESPN’s) plan is to merely use replay for those 15 or so games at the CWS, but not during the Regional or Super Regional rounds of the NCAA Tournament, not during conference tournaments and not during the thousands of games that take place during the regular season.

The rationale is, the technology is in place at the College World Series, so why not use it? I get that argument, but I don’t agree with it.

The fact is, the outcry for change (especially in sports) always comes when the spotlight is the greatest. The spotlight is the greatest in college baseball when those eight teams pull up in their buses in Omaha.

What should have been called a home run during a North Carolina-Vanderbilt game at this year’s CWS was not ruled a home run and ESPN’s cameras caught it. The result?

Outcry.

Every game the Red Sox, Rays, Angels, Braves, and Cardinals have played this month has counted just as much as the ones they played in April and they count just as much as the ones they may or may not play if they make it to the postseason. Instant replay has been an option for each and every one of those games this month and throughout the season, but that is not the case for college baseball.

Go back to 2008. The end of the story is “Wunderdog” Fresno State celebrating a national championship by defeating Georgia at the College World Series, but the journey started well before that.

Fresno had lost three straight with two games left to go in the regular season before it finally clinched the WAC regular season crown. The Bulldogs had to win the WAC postseason tournament just to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Contrary to what some in the NCAA would tell you, those four WAC Tourney games FSU won are postseason games and they all counted just as much as the two at the end of the regular season and the seven combined Regional and Super Regional games they played before the Bulldogs ever got to Omaha.

While they count just as much, instant replay would not have been an option in any of those games.

How about this year’s SWAC and Mountain West Conference postseason tournaments? Alcorn State and New Mexico, respectively, won those tourneys with losing records. If they hadn’t won their tournaments they wouldn’t have received an NCAA bid. Are those games less important than games in Omaha?

I know, those games are not all televised and therefore replay is not an option, but that doesn’t make the ones that are televised more important…this isn’t the Little League World Series (don’t get me started).

The reason instant replay should not be used at the CWS is the same reason the top college baseball players cannot afford to take a day off during the regular season-

Every game counts.

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The Dugout in Omaha is your one stop for the most officially licensed 2011 College World Series apparel.

The Dugout is located right across the street from the Road To Omaha statue outside TD Ameritrade Stadium, but if you left Omaha without that College World Series hat, shirt or memorabilia you were thinking about you can still get it at Dugouthats.com!  The Dugout also has fitted college and minor league caps – just like the ones the players where on the field.

The best part is, when you click on one of the red links to Dugouthats.com you will save 20% on your order when you enter the coupon code CB360!