Selecting Baseball Post-season Tournament Participants

The post-season Division 1 baseball tournament involves a field of 64 teams with 31 teams being awarded automatic bids for winning conference titles.  Six of these automatic bids typically come from power baseball conferences.  These teams are often 1 seeds.  The remaining 25 automatic conference championship bids are typically 3 or 4 seeds.

If a team is not a conference champion, then they’re competing for the remaining 33 invited at-large spots.  That’s where the RPI or Ratings Percentage Index comes into play.  The most powerful conferences send multiple runner-up at-large teams to the tournament.  These at-large teams are typically high RPI ranked teams and are often slated at 2 or 3 seeds.

In inviting the 33-at large teams to the 64-team field in the post-season tournament, the selection committee uses the following criteria:

  1. Overall record
  2. Division 1 record
  3. Overall RPI Ranking (Teams with an RPI ranking of 45 or above have a chance at making the cut for an at-large selection if they are from a baseball power conference.  Any team with an RPI ranking higher than 32 is virtually assured an invitation.)
  4. Non-conference record and RPI rank
  5. Conference regular-season record and conference tournament results
  6. Road record and RPI
  7. Last 15 games’ record
  8. Record against teams ranked 1-25, 26-50, 51-100, 101-150 and below 150 in the RPI
  9. Head-to-head record (record against other potential invitees to the tournament)
  10. Common opponents’ record (same as in #9)

As you can see, the RPI ranking is an important but controversial metric used in the tournament selection process and appears in 4 of the 10 criteria employed by the selection committee. The information is presented to the committee in a tabular format known as the “nitty gritty report”.

The 16 regional host sites consist of the 8 national seeds (teams that are very high in the above 10 criteria) and the next best 8.  These teams include the power conference champions and other high level performers and are presented on the day before the remaining members of the 64-team field are announced.

Conference Team Championship Update

With today’s win over USC in baseball, OSU’s earned its second consecutive outright Pac-12 championship.  A second milestone was passed with the baseball title.  No previous decade had produced more than 7 team championships at OSU, but baseball has added an 8th championship in the decade.  That record will likely be surpassed again before the decade is complete.

Conference Championships by Sport:

Wrestling (21) – 2014, 2013, 2012, 2010, 2007, 1994, 1992, 1984, 1983, 1979, 1978, 1977, 1976, 1973, 1972, 1970, 1969, 1968, 1967, 1966, 1965

Men’s Basketball (12) – 1990, 1984, 1982, 1981, 1980, 1966, 1958, 1955, 1949, 1947, 1933, 1916

Gymnastics (6) – 2013, 2011, 1996, 1994, 1992, 1991

Baseball (5) – 2014, 2013, 2006, 2005, 1952 (Won 9 Northern Division titles)

Football (5) – 2000, 1964, 1957, 1956, 1941

Softball (1) – 2005

Conference Championships by Decade:

1910-19 1
1920-29 0
1930-39 1
1940-49 3
1950-59 5
1960-69 7
1970-79 7
1980-89 6
1990-99 7
2000-09 5
2010-19 8

Baseball RPI

The RPI or Ratings Percentage Index is a metric used by the NCAA Selection Committee as an aid in choosing schools for the 33 at-large spots and in seeding the post-season baseball tournament.  The following is intended to illustrate how the RPI is calculated so that fans can better understand the changes in RPI values and as a result, the rankings in the RPI.

Logan Ice (OSUprof photo)

Logan Ice (OSUprof photo)

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OSU Baseball Superlatives

Current NCAA national rankings for the OSU baseball program:

  • On-base percentage – Conforto #1
  • Base on balls/game – Conforto #1
  • Base on balls – Conforto #5
  • Batting average – Conforto #8
  • RBI/game – Davis #6, Conforto #9
  • Hits allowed/9 innings – Wetzler #1
  • ERA – Wetzler #2
  • WHIP – Wetzler #4
  • Winning percentage – OSU #4
  • ERA – OSU #4
  • Shutouts – OSU #5 tie
  • Hits allowed/9 innings – OSU #6
  • WHIP – OSU #10
  • Fielding percentage – OSU #11
  • Base on balls – OSU #11 tie
  • Home attendance average – OSU #26

    Conforto at the plate in 2014 (OSUprof photo)

    Conforto at the plate in 2014 (OSUprof photo)

A Financial Profile for OSU Baseball

We’ve learned that only football and men’s basketball at OSU consistently bring in more revenues than expenses, and therefore, the sports generate a “profit”.  Baseball currently supplies 3% of all department revenues and accounts for 3.5% of total expenses.  This article profiles the financial health of the baseball program and trends in the program over time.  Future articles will present similar profiles for other OSU sports programs. Continue reading