Sweeping Oregon in the Civil War may not have helped the Beavers in the NCAA seedings, or hurt the Ducks, but it made a big difference in the BaseballAmerica.com top 25 poll. The Beavers vaulted all the way from #23 to #16, which should further fuel the fire of the debate and complaint about not only not getting to host a regional, but being sent to LSU. The Tigers, by the way, only fell from #2 to #3 after losing 2 of 3 games in the SEC Tournament.
Oregon dropped from #5 to #10, but is still ahead of one of the teams that passed them, as Arizona didn't move from the 13 spot despite taking 2 of 3 from Arizona St., which dropped the Sun Devils from #16 to #21, and claiming a share of the Pac-12 title.
The team that really made up some ground is UCLA, as the Bruins' win over UC-Irvine and their subsequent sweep of USC vaulted all the way from #9 to #2, trailing only Florida. The Gators climbed from #3 to #1 despite going 2-2 in the SEC Tournament. Florida St. had a disastrous 0-3 week that didn't hurt them at all in the eyes of the NCAA, in what appears to be a pattern, but dropped them from #1 last week to #5.
Stanford beat Santa Clara, but dropped 2 of 3 to California, and once again, suffered no penalty from the NCAA, but did drop from #14 to #19.
Cal-St Fullerton remained the highest rated non-Pac-12 team from the west, and the Titans, who will be visiting Oregon as a 2-seed, remained #12 in the polls, and has to be wondering why they are visiting a "National Seed" instead of hosting their own regional.
The only other western team in the top 25 is a newcomer, as Pepperdine replaced San Diego, moving into the #24 spot, after the Waves took 2 of 3 from the Toreros, and took the West Coast Conference title as well.
Notably, Pepperdine is only 1 spot behind #23 Miami, who went 2-2, and still moved into the rankings, and got to host a regional as well. If Oregon St. overcomes LSU, Miami is the probable next stop for the Beavers, unless #20 Central Florida defeats them.
Wouldn't it be interesting to re-seed the playoffs based on the poll, vs. whatever the NCAA used?
Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com