Top-50 Results/Links (May 10-11)

Plenty of drama and key results unfolded over the past few days, as top-50 teams in the CB360 Composite National Rankings (CNR) continued to make postseason positioning. There are only so many spots open in the 2010 NCAA Tournament field … and many teams will find the chair being “pulled out from under them” unless they take care of business in these types of key midweek games (along with posting strong conference results over the final couple weeks).

There were only 24 games (two of them rained out) on the May 10-11 docket involving CB360 top-50 teams, but plenty of key results were posted (all results and links posted at bottom of release):

(note that the CNR numbers referenced on this page are from the most recent update, on May 5, with the CNR set to recalculated and posted later today, May 12):

• Eight of the 22 games played on Monday or Tuesday (36%, a high rate for midweek action) resulted in upsets of CB360 top-50 teams.

• All five of the top-50 games played on Monday produced noteworthy results, while five of the 17 Tuesday games involving CB360 top-50 teams went to extra-innings.

• Arizona State – #1 in the May 5th CNR and the updated NCAA RPI (released May 11) – returned from a five-day break to sweep a pair from BYU (14-0/3-2), as the Sun Devils avoided a potential upset and remained on track for a possible #1 overal national seed.

• Coastal Carolina (#5 CNR/#6 RPI) completed its Big South Conference series sweep of Winthrop (10-4).

• Connecticut (#19 CNR/#24 RPI) posted a key win, 11-7, over a Boston College team hoping to surge into the NCAAs (BC is #48 in the RPI) … UConn is bidding to host an NCAA Regional (ostensibly as a #1 or #2 seed) and results such as the win over BC can only help that cause.

• Washington State – which entered the week #47 in the NCAA RPI –posted a pair of pivotal results, winning 9-4 on Monday to complete a Pac-10 series sweep of California (#24 in the CNR/#31 RPI) before winning 6-5 at Portland (#43 CNR/#76 Portland).

• NCAA Regional in the Northwest? – Speaking of Portland, results from numerous teams could play a role in whether an NCAA Regional is placed in the Northwestern (presumably at the University of Oregon, but maybe even at Oregon State should the Beavers close strong) … one linchpin in that scenario would be Portland qualifying for the NCAAs, likely as an at-large (after the Pilots were swept by WCC frontrunner San Diego; there is no WCC Tournament this year and the regular-season champ gets the automatic NCAA bid) … Oregon State (#47 CNR/#31 RPI) was hoping to ride the momentum of its wild sweep of Oregon (all three games were decided by one run, two of them in extra innings), but OSU lost on Monday to San Diego (4-1) … Oregon (#20 CNR/#29 RPI) – which also lost the previous week to Portland – went on to end its four-game slide on Tuesday, outlasting USD in 11 innings (13-4) … time is running out for Oregon/Oregon State and Portland, as each tries to do its part to help bring an NCAA Regional to the Pacific Northwest (note: teams from the same conference cannot be placed in the same Regional and the NCAA prefers to minimize air travel, thus producing the key factor of Portland qualifying for the NCAAs).

• Vanderbilt (#25 CNR/#15 RPI) boosted its chances to be one of the 16 number-1 seeds in the NCAAs, thanks to a 17-inning win, 11-10, at Louisville (#6 CNR/#4 RPI). The loss could put a slight dent in Louisville’s bid for one of the coveted top-8 national seeds.

• UC Irvine – a team that stands #28 in the CNR but is not graded nearly so highly in the NCAA RPI (#52) – would appear to be a team that needs to show the selection committee something over the final weeks of the season … such a result came on Tuesday, as the Anteaters edged UCLA (#8 in both CNR and RPI) in a 2-1 pitchers duel.

• South Alabama (#59 RPI) – which conceivably could play its way into an NCAA at-large spot – posted a big upset over surging Auburn (#18 CNR/#17 RPI), in a high-scoring home game for the Jaguars that extended to 11 innings (10-9).

•  Oklahoma State (an NCAA at-large longshot, with a #85 RPI) similarly picked up a big win, topping Rice (#23 CNR/#26 RPI) in a 12-5 game.

• NCAA at-large bubble team Florida Gulf Goast (#51 RPI, but favorite to win the Atlantic Sun) also knocked off a CB360 top-50 team, winning 8-5 at Florida Atlantic (#36 CNR/#33 RPI). FAU’s status as a potential NCAA at-large entrant likely a bit more in doubt following this loss.

• Mercer was yet another team that knocked off a CB360 top-50 team, posting a road shutout (5-0) vs. The Citadel (#39 CNR/#41 RPI). The Bulldogs had a strong start to the season, but this loss will be added to the negative marks on The Citadel’s NCAA resume.

• Indiana posted one of the craziest finishes you could ever see, rallying from a 16-8 deficit with 2-outs in the 8th to beat Kentucky in 10 innings (18-17; yes the Wildcats scored in the top of the 10th) … Kentucky (#44 CNR/#22 RPI) was hoping to ride the momentum of its SEC series win over South Carolina, but the Wildcats remain an NCAA-selection enigma (UK currently is 10th in the SEC, with a 9-15 league mark).

• In addition to the games mentioned above, Arkansas (#7 CNR/#7 RPI) also won in extra innings, avoiding what would have been a damaging loss to its hopes for a top-8 national seed (the Razorbacks beat Louisiana Tech, 5-4 in 10 innings; played in North Little Rock).

Monday’s Top-50 Results/Links (5/10/10; upsets in italics)
(based on most recent cB360 Composite National Rankings – 5/5/10)