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NCAA Baseball Snubs Cry ‘Bias’ As Conspiracy Theories Formulate Surrounding Selection Committee

#College Baseball
by Last Updated
A baseball rests on the edge of the infield.

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The NCAA Baseball Tournament field was unveiled on Monday as 64 teams will battle for the right to call themselves national champions. As is the case with every selection process, across any sport, certain teams believe they’ve been snubbed after that final bracket has been set.

This year’s field of snubs has focused in on one interesting trend following the college baseball reveal. They’ve developed a conspiracy theory of sorts as reasoning for why their teams were left out!

A number of squads boasted tournament-worthy resumes at season’s end only to see themselves on the outside looking in when all was said and done.

The most notable of the bunch include College of Charleston, TCU, and California.

The Cougars ripped off a 41-win season, landing the CAA regular season crown before falling in the conference tournament final to UNC Wilmington. Despite the success, CofC was omitted by the selection committee.

Maybe the most glaring of snubs, it was unfortunately one that head coach Chad Holbrook foresaw happening.

He was heard pleading his case to the NCAA Baseball Tournament committee following that season-ending loss.

“If you told me before this weekend that we had to win the tournament to get in, I think that would be criminal. We won the regular season. In my view, you should be judged on three months, not 2-3 days.

“If (CofC) is not in the NCAA Tournament, there is something wrong with the selection process.”

Those pleas fell on deaf ears.

The same is true for the Horned Frogs, who started the year as a Top 10 team before posting a 33-21 mark against one of the 35 most difficult schedules in college baseball.

Cal, too, was snubbed after a 36-win campaign – its best mark in a decade.

Instead, the committee gave the nod to four bubble teams in Florida, Indiana, Coastal Carolina, and Kansas State. Coincidence? Maybe not!

NCAA Baseball Tournament conspiracy theory formulates.

What did each of those last four teams have in common? Their Athletic Directors were on the selection committee!

Inconsistencies in selection criteria haunt committees each and every postseason as those standards viewed as most heavily weighted seem to change from year to year.

Head-to-head competition was clearly thrown out the window with TCU owning a series win over a team that was selected in its place.

Instead, this year’s committee valued strength of schedule according to committee chair (and Coastal Carolina AD) Matt Hogue.

Each of the four bubble teams to make the tournament field boast Top 40 Strengths of Schedule. Still, their success against those slates were somewhat lackluster.

Florida, who had the most difficult schedule, went just 28-27 and was booted in the opening round of the SEC Tournament. Indiana and Kansas State both went 32-24, while Coastal Carolina’s coach had all but conceded his bid at season’s end.

He might’ve been as surprised as anyone to hear his team included in the field.

Fans of those snubbed teams quickly jumped on the notion that AD influence played a part in the selection process. It’s certainly an interesting storyline to consider!

Do they have a legitimate gripe about this year’s omission? Many believe so!

Jacob Elsey BroBible avatar
BroBible writer. Jacob is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and is based in Charleston, SC.
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