Red Raiders Baseball Postseason Update

Big 12 Conference Tournament

The 2017 conference tournament is played in Oklahoma City, at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, where it will be through the 2020 season. The tournament runs from May 24th-28th, and that is where the simplicity and logic of this tournament ends. The Big 12, as everyone knows, currently has 10 members. However, only 9 schools field a baseball team, with Iowa State being the lone one out. So how does a 9-team baseball tournament work? First of all, the 9th place team isn’t invited. Then the remaining 8 teams are split into two four-team divisions who play double elimination until one team from each division is remaining. Baseball is a sport where any team can win at any given time (except Iowa State) and after playing three-game series all season, having a single game decide your fate seems unfair.

Current Standings, Records, and Remaining Series

1. TCU (15-6) @ Oklahoma
2. Texas Tech (13-8) vs Kansas
3. Oklahoma (10-8) vs TCU, vs Oklahoma St
4. West Virginia (11-10) @ Texas
5. Kansas (9-9) vs Kansas St, @ Texas Tech
6. Texas (9-11) vs West Virginia
7. Baylor (8-10) @ Oklahoma St, vs Kansas St
8. Oklahoma St (6-11) vs Baylor, vs Oklahoma
9. Kansas St (5-13) @ Kansas, @ Baylor

Projected Finishes

1. TCU (17-7)
2. Texas Tech (16-8)
3. Oklahoma (13-11)
4. West Virginia (12-12)
5. Texas (11-12)
6. Baylor (11-13)
7. Kansas (10-14)
8. Oklahoma St (9-14)
9. Kansas St (8-16)

With a quick guessing on how the rest of the season goes, Tech would play Kansas in a rematch of the final conference series. The conference tourneys really don’t matter unless you’re a team on the bubble of the national tournament. Currently the top 6 teams in the conference are securely in the tournament, and Kansas is on the outside looking in. A series win in Lubbock would greatly improve their chances, as would a strong showing in the Big 12 tourney.

National Tournament Invitations

Currently it looks as if TCU and Tech are both locks to make the tournament as national seeds. If TCU wins the series in Norman this weekend, they will clinch the Big 12 regular season title. However, if Oklahoma is able to beat TCU, that could open the door for the Sooners to host a regional. Their numbers are just on the edge and taking two from the Frogs might be enough to put them in the discussion. West Virginia, Texas, and Baylor are all currently predicted to be invited, just not hosting.

Right now, the eight teams predicted to be national seeds are Oregon St, North Carolina, Texas Tech, Florida, TCU, Louisville, Clemson, and Stanford. The other eight teams hosting a regional would be Wake Forest, Southern Miss, Arizona, Virginia, LSU, Kentucky, Mississippi State, and Long Beach State. Oklahoma is currently a 2-seed in the Arizona regional, West Virginia is a 2-seed in the Virginia regional, Texas is a 3-seed in the Oregon State regional, and Baylor is a 2-seed in the Long Beach State regional.

For Tech, they are currently paired with Texas A&M, Washington, and Wright State. The winner of that regional would go on to play the winner of Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and New Mexico State. The two New Mexico schools keep jumping in and out of the Lubbock regional, and would make a fun matchup if they were to come back in.