05-22-2022, 06:12 AM
(05-21-2022, 02:57 PM)BostonCard Wrote: I would have to believe we are locks to host super regionals?
Unfortunately, that remains more in question that it really ought to be.
Going into the weekend, Stanford was 4th/5th in the polls, which aren't directly relevant but indirectly so. They'll probably stay about there. Outside of OSU, the others ahead of Stanford also were winning. OSU did lose two of three and finished behind Stanford in the conference standings, but may have had too big a lead in pollsters' minds for Stanford to have passed them.
RPI is the potential problem. During the week, Stanford rose 5 spots, but the last home win over $C caused them to drop from 7th to 8th - or perhaps more accurately Miami's win over Notre Dame was enough better than Stanford's win to allow them to pass us by. Losing 2 straight, or 2 of 3, in the Pac 12 tournament would cause Stanford's RPI to fall back down - perhaps as far as into the teens.
As often is the case, how much the committee weighs the RPI remains an issue. Some years it seems they realize its inadequacies, others they follow it as if it were divine revelation.
Given that Stanford won 2 of 3 at Corvallis and won the Pac 12 championship outright, will that out-weigh OSU's better overall win percentage and RPI to give Stanford the mantle of best team in the west?
It seems to me that both OSU and Stanford have resumes to be top 8 seeds, and the direct results would seem to me to put Stanford first of those two. But as in most years, RPI is an issue.
