A funny thing happened on the way to the postseason ?
Not funny, not really. After back-to-back national championships, many expected South Carolina to be at this point. But after beginning the SEC season 1-5, those same "many" were saying that the Gamecocks would get to the postseason this year, but may not last very long.
Six weeks after that 1-5 start, USC has reversed their mindset. While national publications have been pegging the Gamecocks as potential hosts in the postseason, USC's winning streak has pushed the program further into consciousness.
The Gamecocks' series win at Arkansas over the weekend has caused two national publications, Baseball America and Perfect Game USA, to place USC as one of their projected top-eight national seeds for the looming NCAA regionals. While only projections, the top analysts have joined Southeastern Baseball in predicting that the Gamecocks will be one of the top-eight seeds and remain at home for the NCAA regionals and Super Regionals.
Last week, Baseball America and Perfect Game has USC on the outside looking in. This week, each is saying that the Gamecocks have done enough to be one of the top eight, perhaps at the expense of another SEC program (Kentucky).
USC is the No. 7 projected national seed this week, according to Perfect Game, and is also a top-eight seed in the other two publications. The Gamecocks have eight regular-season games to play and would presumably just have to hold court to make the projection a reality - should USC complete the thrill ride and claim the SEC regular-season championship, and then not have bubble team Kentucky win the SEC tournament, a top-eight would be a lock.
The Gamecocks seem like a lock to nab the program's 13th straight season of at least 40 wins, and could become the first team in program history to win back-to-back SEC titles. If USC keeps winning, the top-eight becomes more and more likely, and the other teams in the projections would just have to play catch-up.
The selection committee likely wouldn't award four national seeds to the same conference. LSU and Florida, with great records and RPI, have clearly done enough to earn one, and USC is at that point right now. Kentucky, the most surprising team in the country, has a 37-11 overall record that is better than USC or Florida, but has lost its last two SEC series and its soft non-conference schedule is hurting it.
Nationally, Florida State and Baylor seem to be locks to clinch national seeds. Other teams such as Oregon, UCLA, North Carolina, Rice, Purdue and Stanford are bidding for one.
But USC, at least for now, is in a position where if it keeps winning, it won't slip out of the spot. Let the other teams beat each other to pieces and keep fighting - USC can accept what it has obtained and prepare for the postseason.
Link: http://southcarolina.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1363375
Not funny, not really. After back-to-back national championships, many expected South Carolina to be at this point. But after beginning the SEC season 1-5, those same "many" were saying that the Gamecocks would get to the postseason this year, but may not last very long.
Six weeks after that 1-5 start, USC has reversed their mindset. While national publications have been pegging the Gamecocks as potential hosts in the postseason, USC's winning streak has pushed the program further into consciousness.
The Gamecocks' series win at Arkansas over the weekend has caused two national publications, Baseball America and Perfect Game USA, to place USC as one of their projected top-eight national seeds for the looming NCAA regionals. While only projections, the top analysts have joined Southeastern Baseball in predicting that the Gamecocks will be one of the top-eight seeds and remain at home for the NCAA regionals and Super Regionals.
Last week, Baseball America and Perfect Game has USC on the outside looking in. This week, each is saying that the Gamecocks have done enough to be one of the top eight, perhaps at the expense of another SEC program (Kentucky).
USC is the No. 7 projected national seed this week, according to Perfect Game, and is also a top-eight seed in the other two publications. The Gamecocks have eight regular-season games to play and would presumably just have to hold court to make the projection a reality - should USC complete the thrill ride and claim the SEC regular-season championship, and then not have bubble team Kentucky win the SEC tournament, a top-eight would be a lock.
The Gamecocks seem like a lock to nab the program's 13th straight season of at least 40 wins, and could become the first team in program history to win back-to-back SEC titles. If USC keeps winning, the top-eight becomes more and more likely, and the other teams in the projections would just have to play catch-up.
The selection committee likely wouldn't award four national seeds to the same conference. LSU and Florida, with great records and RPI, have clearly done enough to earn one, and USC is at that point right now. Kentucky, the most surprising team in the country, has a 37-11 overall record that is better than USC or Florida, but has lost its last two SEC series and its soft non-conference schedule is hurting it.
Nationally, Florida State and Baylor seem to be locks to clinch national seeds. Other teams such as Oregon, UCLA, North Carolina, Rice, Purdue and Stanford are bidding for one.
But USC, at least for now, is in a position where if it keeps winning, it won't slip out of the spot. Let the other teams beat each other to pieces and keep fighting - USC can accept what it has obtained and prepare for the postseason.
Link: http://southcarolina.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1363375