Projected Field Of 64: May 1
Postseason
Want to get in-depth coverage? Subscribe to D1Baseball
MORE LINKS:
• Postseason Stock Report
• RPI Nitty Gritty
• Projections Primer
? Committee Podcasts: National Seeds/Hosts | At-large/Auto bids
The latest D1Baseball.com Field of 64 projection is out, and there are plenty of important changes to discuss.
For starters, there are two new national seeds this week. NC State and East Carolina moved out of the top eight, as the Pack was swept by North Carolina last weekend, while the Pirates were swept by Houston at home. Meanwhile, North Carolina is trending the right direction and leads the ACC, while Clemson moved in as the final national seed. The Tigers have an iffy record against RPI Top 25 clubs, but other metrics are strong, the conference record continues to get better, and the RPI is climbing at an impressive pace.
Though the Pack and ECU are no longer national seeds, they are still in our Top 16 and expected to host. The only change in the hosting department is a Big 12 flip with Oklahoma State, which is in total control of the conference standings, leapfrogging Texas, which had an ugly road series loss to West Virginia this past weekend.
In terms of at-large bids, four teams moved out this week: LSU, Wichita State, South Alabama and Arizona. The four new teams in the field include South Carolina, Missouri State, Houston and red-hot Baylor.
The SEC leads the way in overall bids with 11, while the rest of the conferences break down like this: ACC (6), Big Ten (6), American (5), Big 12 (5), Pac 12 (3), Conference USA (2), Atlantic Sun (2) and Missouri Valley (2).
As always, this is a projection: we’re not trying to illustrate what the field would look like if the season ended today. We’re still looking ahead, taking into account remaining schedules and our evaluations of the talent of the contenders, in addition to their bodies of work, of course.
Last Five In: Louisville, Mississippi State, Baylor, Iowa, Missouri State
First Five Out: LSU, Wichita State, Troy, FGCU, South Alabama
The postseason projections are compiled by D1Baseball experts Kendall Rogers, Aaron Fitt and Mark Etheridge.
