Conference tournaments are over, and the Field of 64 has been set for college baseball. We have a total of eight Big 12 teams in the postseason which is tied for the most all time.
Some schools have easier draws than others, and some schools have a tough road ahead of them.
Here are my four thoughts on the Big 12 postseason schedule and what it means for the teams who still have a path to Omaha.
No Big 12 Host
For the first time in over 15 years, there will not be a single Big 12 school hosting a regional. Personally, I felt like at least either TCU, Kansas, or West Virginia should have gotten a regional bid. But thanks to the poor choices be the selection committee, not a single Big 12 school got one.
Instead, TCU will be heading to Corvallis in Oregon State’s regional along with USC and Saint Mary’s. I don’t think TCU should have had to go to a top eight seed due to the fact that they should have been one of, if not the highest two seed. The Horned Frogs got screwed there.
West Virginia got a better draw than TCU as they will head down to Clemson, South Carolina along with Kentucky and USC Upstate. I actually like West Virginia’s chances to make it out of this regional, but Clemson will be tough to beat at home.
Welcome Back, Kansas
For the first time in over a decade, the Kansas Jayhawks are playing postseason baseball. The Jayhawks were one of the best teams in the Big 12 this season finishing only behind West Virginia in the conference standings.
However, their welcome back to the postseason will not be easy because they are going to Fayetteville regional. I know that they are better than Creighton and North Dakota State but the potential matchup with Arkansas inside Baum-Walker Stadium is going to test them like they haven’t been tested all season long. Grab your popcorn because that is going to be a good one.
Claws Out
Both the Wildcats (Arizona) and Bearcats (Cincinnati) will need to scratch and claw their way out of their regionals. Arizona will bead heading up north to face a familiar foe in Oregon while Cincinati will be heading to Tennessee in the Knoxville regional.
The good news for Arizona is that they have Cal Poly and Utah Valley in Eugene as well. The Wildcats should have no trouble there and it will likely come down to beating Oregon to escape.
But Cincinnati will have a much tougher path as they will have to beat a good Wake Forest team and Tennessee to make it out of Knoxville. Either way, both teams are going to need to bring their A game to advance to the Supers.
Sneaking In
When the selection show was on, they showed the last four teams in and the first four teams out for the field of 64. Surprisingly, three of the last four teams in were from the Big 12 with Arizona State, Kansas State, and Oklahoma State. While I did expect Oklahoma State to be in that group, I was a little surprised to see Kansas State and Arizona State in there as well.
Kansas State had a case for a two-seed, but they ended up as three-seed in Austin. They will have to face a sneaky good UTSA team who won the American Conference this season. And if they can get past the Roadrunners, then they will play Texas who is arguably the best team in college baseball.
Arizona State’s regional is interesting to me. They will play in Los Angeles with UCLA hosting. The Bruins were the second-best team in the Big Ten this year, but they aren’t a team that I would call scary. The same can be said for UC Irvine and Fresno State who will be there as well. Out of the three teams who snuck in the postseason for the Big 12, I like Arizona State’s draw the best.
As for Oklahoma State, they managed to sneak in but there is no sneaking out of their regional in Athens. Georgia is a Top 10 team and compete with anyone in the nation and Duke is a very dangerous two-seed. It seems like every year the Cowboys get the short end of the stick when it comes to regional pairings, but this is what happens when you are an inconsistent team all year long.
