If I Was King of Sports: 2018 Baseball/Lacrosse NIT

I wasn't going to do another one of these posts, because last year I learned that the wooden bat leagues start around the college tournament season. The original idea came to me a few years ago when Campbell University finished 43-10 and did not get a bid into the NCAA baseball tournament. The Fighting Camels may not have had the strongest strength of schedule, but a 43-10 season should be rewarded. In addition, at least one spring sport should have a second postseason tournament. In the fall, football has the bowls in addition to the college football playoff. In the winter, basketball has three additional tournaments to the NCAA basketball tournament. If this tournament was to actually happen, there would have to be a set amount of teams that qualify, and there would possibly have to be some pre-determined sites. But since this tournament is and probably will always be hypothetical, there would be only one basis for qualification for this tournament, have a better overall record than the NCAA tournament at-large team with the worst record. If there are any open spots left, I would fill them with division II teams that did not make it's College World Series that fills the one qualification. (Because there is typically not a lot of money in a NCAA Division II athletic budget, the teams that are chosen would be those from the same region as the regional number 1 seed. In other words, a team like California State-Monterey Bay would not have to travel to New York). Seedings would be based on records with one exception this year. The four teams that were designated "the first four out" will be the automatic top-4 seeds in this tournament. This year 59 teams had better records than the Oklahoma State Cowboys (29-24-1). For this tournament I would have 64 teams (59 Division I, 5 Division II), and it would work just like the NCAA baseball tournament. First Round (*=Division II team) (1) Orlando, FL Regional (Host: UCF) (4) Tampa Spartans (42-11)* vs. (1) UCF Knights (35-21) (3) Sacramento St. Hornets (35-25) vs. (2) Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (32-21) (16) Indianapolis, IN Regional (Host: Butler) (4) South Alabama Jaguars (32-25) vs. (1) Butler Bulldogs (34-20) (3) Indiana St. Sycamores (31-24) vs. (2) Southeast Louisiana Lions (37-22) (8) New York-Staten Island, NY Regional (Host: Wagner) (4) Monmouth Hawks (30-25) vs. (1) Wagner Seahawks (38-18) (3) Seton Hall Pirates (30-20-1) vs. (2) VCU Rams (34-23) (9) Huntsville, TX Regional (Host: Sam Houston State) (4) Nevada Wolfpack (29-24) vs. (1) Sam Houston St. BearKats (39-20) (3) TCU Horned Frogs (32-23) vs. (2) Wichita St. Shockers (35-21-1) (5) Greensboro, NC Regional (Host: North Carolina-Greensboro) (4) North Greenville Tigers (46-10)* vs. (1) North Carolina-Greensboro Spartans (39-15) (3) Charlotte 49ers (34-24) vs. (2) Davidson Wildcats (32-21) (12) Jackson, MS Regional (Host: Jackson State) (4) Liberty Flames (32-26) vs. (1) Jackson St. Tigers (34-18) (3) UTSA Roadrunners (32-24) vs. (2) Missouri Tigers (34-22) (4) Tucson, AZ Regional (Host: Arizona) (4) Azusa Pacific Cougars (41-11)* vs. (1) Arizona Wildcats (34-22) (3) UC-Irvine Anteaters (32-24) vs. (2) Seattle Redhawks (34-23) (13) Oxford, OH Regional (Host: Miami (OH)) (4) George Washington Colonials (32-26) vs. (1) Miami (OH) Redhawks (35-20) (3) Stony Brook Seawolves (33-25) vs. (2) Michigan Wolverines (33-21) (6) Annapolis, MD Regional (Host: Navy) (4) North Carolina Central Eagles (28-24) vs. (1) Navy Midshipmen (38-16) (3) Richmond Spiders (32-24) vs. (2) Elon Phoenix (36-23) (11) Charleston, SC Regional (Host: College of Charleston) (4) Ball St. Cardinals (32-26) vs. (1) College of Charleston Cougars (36-19) (3) Jacksonville St. Gamecocks (32-21) vs. (2) Wofford Terriers (36-23) (3) Lexington, KY Regional (Host: Kentucky) (4) Illinois-Springfield Prairie Stars (47-9)* vs. (1) Kentucky Wildcats (34-22) (3) Pepperdine Waves (31-20) vs. (2) Illinois-Chicago Flames (30-18) (14) New York, NY Regional (Host: Fordham) (4) Fresno St. Bulldogs (30-24) vs. (1) Fordham Rams (35-19-1) (3) Bryant Bulldogs (32-23-1) vs. (2) California Golden Bears (32-22) (7) Omaha, NE Regional (Host: Creighton) (4) Marist Red Foxes (27-23) vs. (1) Creighton Blue Jays (34-16) (3) Grand Canyon Lopes (33-24) vs. (2) Iowa Hawkeyes (33-20) (10) Ruston, LA Regional (Host: Louisiana Tech) (4) Northern Colorado Bears (29-24) vs. (1) Louisiana Tech (39-20) (3) Louisiana-Lafayette Rajin' Cajuns (34-25) vs. (2) UNLV Runnin' Rebels (35-24) (15) Macon, GA Regional (Host: Mercer) (4) Central Arkansas Bears (32-25) vs. (1) Mercer Bears (38-22) (3) Alabama St. Hornets (34-25) vs. High Point Panthers (34-22) (2) Champaign, IL Regional (Host: Illinois) (4) Northwood Timberwolves (38-16)* vs. (1) Illinois Fightin' Illini (33-20) (3) St. Mary's Gaels (36-23) vs. (2) Bradley Braves (32-19) The only other spring sport that could have an NIT would be lacrosse. (Congratulations to Yale, by the way for winning the championship). If there was going to be an NIT, it would probably have 8 teams, but my tournament will have 16 teams (13 from division I, 2 from division II, and 1 from Division III). For this year, I am solely using RPI Rankings (as long as the teams had a minimum .500 record). (16) Franklin & Marshall Diplomats (12-4) @ (1) Rutgers Scarlet Knights (9-6) (9) Lehigh Mountain Hawks (10-7) @ (8) Princeton Tigers (8-5) (12) Detroit Titans/Quinnipiac Bobcats (9-7) @ (5) Vermont Catamounts (12-4)* (13) Massachusetts-Lowell (8-8) @ (4) Ohio St. Buckeyes (8-7) (11) Jacksonville Dolphins (8-7) @ (6) Penn St. Nitany Lions (8-6) (14) Adelphi Panthers (11-4) @ (3) Navy Midshipmen (9-5) (10) St. Joseph's Hawks (14-4) @ (7) Michigan Wolverines (8-6) (15) Wingate Bulldogs (11-5) @ (2) Bucknell Bison (11-4) *=at the time of writing this, I probably would have added a play-in game, because 14 teams finished .500 or better. I did not want to just leave one team out.

The 209 in the Baseball/Softball Postseasons

There are a few local schools being represented in the NCAA Softball College World Series and NCAA Baseball Tournament. Here is a list of colleges and where the players came from... NCAA Softball (1) Oregon - 1 from East Union (Manteca) (3) UCLA- 1 from Merced (5) Washington- 1 from Ceres (7) Georgia- 1 from Ceres (8) Arizona State- 2 from Oakdale NCAA baseball tournament Florida Atlantic- 1 from Lincoln (Stockton) UCLA- 1 from St. Mary's (Stockton) Washington- 1 from El Capitan (Merced)