Year 3 of baseball/softball NIT if I Was King of Sports

by Matt Groom

This is the third year of my baseball NIT bracket.  If I was King of Sports, there would be a NIT for NCAA baseball.  The idea started two years ago when 30-29 Florida was invited to play in the NCAA baseball tournament and 43-10 Campbell was not.  Maybe Campbell was not one of the best 64 teams, but I do believe that 43-10 deserves some extra baseball.  I created a bracket that would invite all teams that had a better record than the at-large with the worst record in the tournament.  I would also invite Division II teams that did not make it to its College World Series if there were not enough teams to fill in the bracket.  In this tournament, the only teams invited would be those who had a better record than the worst at-large team, no more, no less.  The NCAA tournament is meant to invite the best teams.  My tournament's purpose is to reward the teams with great seasons who did not get an NCAA tournament invite.  Because of that, the teams invited, hosts, and seeds are decided solely by record.  If two teams tie, then strength of schedule would break the tie.

In case you are interested, here is the link to the actual NCAA tournament bracket:
http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/baseball/d1

Here would be the field for the 2015 season if I Was King of Sports

Team in question: Mississippi Rebels (30-26 .536). This year, 61 schools had better records.  Two have had an equal record.  If this tournament happened my way, there would be 64 teams in it (the 63 plus one division II school).  The playing style would be the same as the NCAA tournament.

Region I- @ Jacksonville, FL (Host: North Florida Ospreys) (Division II school in italics)
(4) Nova Southeastern (39-13) vs. (1) North Florida (45-16)
(3) McNeese St. (32-25) vs. (2) Duke (31-22)

Region XVI- @ St. Louis, MO (Host: St. Louis Bilikins)
(4) Rider (28-22) vs. (1) St. Louis (35-21)
(3) Illinois-Chicago (29-22) vs. (2) Southeast Missouri St. (36-23)

Region VIII- @ Annapolis, MD (Host: Navy Midshipmen)
(4) Wagner (29-23) vs. (1) Navy (37-20)
(3) Connecticut (35-25) vs. (2) George Washington (32-22)

Region IX- @ Thibodaux, LA (Host: Nicholls St. Colonels)
(4) Troy (30-25) vs. (1) Nicholls St. (34-19)
(3) UAB (33-25) vs. (2) Arkansas-Pine Bluff (25-16)

Region V- @ Hattiesburg, MS (Host: Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles)
(4) New Mexico (32-27) vs. (1) Southern Mississippi (36-18)
(3) Northwestern St. (31-23) vs. (2) UC-Irvine (33-23)

Region XII- @ Columbus, OH (Host: Ohio St. Buckeyes)
(4) Evansville (29-24) vs. (1) Ohio St. (35-20)
(3) Texas Tech (31-24) vs. (2) Central Michigan (35-22)

Region IV- @ Rock Hill, SC (Host: Winthrop Eagles)
(4) Bryant (29-25) vs. (1) Winthrop (40-19)
(3) South Carolina (32-25) @ (2) North Carolina (34-24)

Region XIII- @ Baltimore, MD (Host: Maryland-Baltimore County Retrievers)
(4) Sacramento St. (32-27) vs. (1) Maryland-Baltimore County (34-20)
(3) Campbell (32-25) vs. (2) Penn (22-15)

Region VI- @ Milwaukee, WI (Host: Milwaukee Panthers)
(4) Washington (29-25) vs. (1) Milwaukee (39-20)
(3) Kent St. (31-22) vs. (2) Michigan St. (34-23)

Region XI- @ Memphis, TN (Host: Memphis Tigers)
(4) Central Arkansas (29-24) vs. (1) Memphis (37-21)
(3) Ball St. (33-25) vs. (2) San Diego (33-22)

Region III- @ Hammond, LA (Host: Southeastern Louisiana Lions)
(4) Florida Gulf Coast (30-26) vs. (1) Southeast Louisiana (42-17)
(3) UTSA (33-25) vs. (2) Grand Canyon (32-22)

Region XIV- @ Norfolk, VA (Host: Norfolk St. Spartans)
(4) Samford (32-26) vs. (1) Norfolk St. (27-16)
(3) Davidson (28-22) vs. (2) Liberty (33-23)

Region VII- @ Mobile, AL (Host: South Alabama Jaguars)
(4) Middle Tennessee St. (32-27) vs. (1) South Alabama (37-20)
(3) Georgia Tech (32-23) vs. (2) Alabama St. (31-19)

Region X- @ Spartanburg, SC (Host: Wofford Terriers)
(4) Kentucky (30-25) vs. (1) Wofford (39-22)
(3) Jackson St. (32-25) vs. (2) South Dakota St. (33-23)

Region XV- @ Omaha, NE (Host: Creighton Blue Jays)
(4) Oklahoma (34-27) vs. (1) Creighton (32-19)
(3) Northridge St. (33-24) vs. (2) Nebraska (34-23)

Region II- @ Reno, NV (Host: Nevada Wolfpack)
(4) UC-Davis (30-26) vs. (1) Nevada (41-15)
(3) Arizona (31-24) vs. (2) Loyola Marymount (33-21)

I understand that if this tournament were to actually happen, there would have to be a set number of teams invited so that people behind the scenes can plan to
make it the best tournament possible for players, coaches, and fans.  The way I have designed it does not call for that.  It only calls for those who have great seasons.

This year, I have also designed one for softball.  The same rules apply.  This year, I allowed for a play-in game since there were a few extra teams.  Fifty-one teams had better records than the worst at-large team to be invited to the NCAA tournament.  This year, if this tournament was real, and I had everything my way, there would be 8 brackets with 6 teams each (plus 3 play-in games).  The winners would advance to the championship series.  Like the tournament, it would be double-elimination (except for the play-in games).

Team invited to NCAA tournament with the worst record: Kentucky (29-24, .547)

Region I- Kent, OH (Kent St.)
(6) Purdue (31-25)/Florida International (30-24) winner vs. (1) Kent St. (41-13)
(5) Canisius (26-19) vs. (2) IUPUI (33-18)
(4) Drake (32-21) vs. (3) Kennesaw St. (32-19)

Region VIII- Natchitoches, LA (Northwestern St.)
(6) Delaware (30-23) vs. (1) Northwestern St. (36-18)
(5) Hawai'i (32-22) vs. (2) Idaho St. (34-18)
(4) Louisiana Tech (31-19) vs. (3) Mercer (37-22)

Region IV- Riverside, CA (UC-Riverside)
(6) St. Joseph's (23-18) vs. (1) UC-Riverside (39-17)
(5) Ohio St. (30-22) vs. (2) San Jose St. (37-19)
(4) Texas St. (32-21) vs. (3) St. Francis (PA) (31-19)

Region V- Jacksonville, AL (Jacksonville St.)
(6) Savannah St. (22-17) vs. (1) Jacksonville St. (38-17)
(5) Elon (31-22) vs. (2) South Florida (36-20)
(4) Samford (32-22) vs. (3) Georgia St. (38-22)

Region III- Huntington, WV (Marshall)
(6) Lipscomb (31-25)/Grand Canyon (28-22) winner vs. (1) Marshall (35-15)
(5) Coastal Carolina (31-24) vs. (2) Harvard (28-15-1)
(4) Towson (31-22) vs. (3) Bucknell (35-20)

Region VI- Murray, KY (Murray St.)
(6) Miami (OH) (32-24) vs. (1) Murray St. (38-19)
(5) Troy (32-23) vs. (2) St. Louis (36-18)
(4) Stetson (30-20) vs. (3) Albany (30-18)

Region II- Dayton, OH (Dayton)
(6) Furman (31-25)/San Diego (29-23) winner vs. (1) Dayton (39-14)
(5) Rutgers (29-20) vs. (2) Stony Brook (30-16)
(4) Wichita St. (34-23) vs. (3) UAB (32-19)

Region VII- San Antonio, TX (UTSA)
(6) Manhattan (26-20) vs. (1) UTSA (36-18)
(5) Louisiana-Monroe (30-22) vs. (2) Tulsa (36-18)
(4) Fullerton St. (34-22) vs. (3) McNeese St. (36-20)