[Husker] NU in championship game

[jschlechte at mobil1.net]

> Jay,
>   I think it is safe to say that you are very
> knowledgeable about college baseball so I am not
> arguing what you wrote.  My question is, how can you
> still think NU will be left out of a top 8 seed?

Thanks for the compliment, but I think you over-estimate my
knowledge.  I think things really are up in the air and
could go a variety ways.

Reasons for top 8 seed -

UT - top 5 RPI, tough non-con schedule, great record.
BU - top 10 RPI, tough non-con schedule, co-Big 12 champ,
Big 12 tourney runner-up or champ.
NU - great record, 50 wins, co-Big 12 champ, Big 12 tourney
runner-up or champ.

Reasons against -

UT - 10-8 in their last 18 games, placed 3rd in their own
conference.
BU - final record 39-21 or 40-20.
NU - poor RPI compared to above two, weak non-con schedule,
national reputation is not as solid as Baylor or UT.

Polls are virtually meaningless when it comes to the NCAA
seeding committee.  NU has been highly ranked before and not
gotten a national seed.  Boyd's world ISR puts them probably
top 10 or very close, which is a better method of ranking
than RPI, but RPI seems to be over-emphasized by the NCAA
committee.

Now, last year NU tanked and had an RPI of around 33 and
should have gotten in, but end of season performance pushed
them out.  There are a lot of variables and the NCAA
committee won't have to answer for their decisions or
explain why they chose the teams they did.  So it really is
a crap shoot.  Some projections have them in the top 8, but
most don't.

- Jay