Possible Changes to NCAA Baseball Tournament

[TexasTerror]

The NCAA Div I Baseball Committee is exploring changing the format of the NCAA tournament - which could lead to a 'regional' for some of the schools who do not get it - though not with four teams, but with two. Interesting concept - I must be honest, I like it! It probably helps with keeping the travel costs down and we get a true three-game series featuring #1 vs #1 pitchers, etc!


Committee members also talked about the format of the tournament. Currently, there are 16 four-team, double-elimination regionals on the first weekend, followed by eight two-team super regionals that are played in a best-of-three format. The winners advance to the College World Series.

The committee considered having 32 first-round regional sites that would be conducted in a best-of-three format among just two teams per site. It could possibly be followed by eight four-team, double-elimination super regionals. Another option is for the entire tournament to be conducted in a best-of-three format until the CWS. This would call for an additional weekend to complete the tournament.

“Some committee members feel that our regular season is being played in best two-out-of-three or three-out-of-four formats,” Weiser said. “If the regular season is being driven in that fashion, some believe that postseason play should be in a two-out-of-three format.”

One of the positives to shifting to a 32-team, two-team regional format would be an opportunity for more teams to host NCAA championship play, particularly those teams in the northern region of the country. But the need for more institutional staff, umpires and tournament managers would also increase.

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/NCAA/Resources/Latest+News/2010+news+stories/December/DI+Baseball+Committee+opts+for+stopwatch+over+pitc h+clock

[bonarae]

It's a great idea, but consider the fact that most of the colleges who consistently have a place in the postseason are from the South and the West. Will the other teams from the other two regions travel farther than previously thought?

[TexasTerror]

It's a great idea, but consider the fact that most of the colleges who consistently have a place in the postseason are from the South and the West. Will the other teams from the other two regions travel farther than previously thought?

You also have stadium issues - are the stadiums in different locales equipped to properly handle an NCAA tournament? I guess it does not really matter in some cases, because with a "smaller regional" with only two teams, you probably are not getting the loads of media that would cover a regular-sized regional.

[NHwildEcat]

It is always good to look at the way you are conducting something such as the NCAA baseball tournament. Now if we can just get them to play with actual baseball bats (wood) and not those softball bats they currently use. D-2 is talking about going all wood. The NE-10 already is an all wood conference. It use to make sense to have metal bats, but the costs associated with wood have greatly been reduced.

[bonarae]

It is always good to look at the way you are conducting something such as the NCAA baseball tournament. Now if we can just get them to play with actual baseball bats (wood) and not those softball bats they currently use. D-2 is talking about going all wood. The NE-10 already is an all wood conference. It use to make sense to have metal bats, but the costs associated with wood have greatly been reduced.

Softball bats? The all-metal ones? Organized baseball and independent professional leagues all use wood bats.

[NHwildEcat]

Softball bats? The all-metal ones? Organized baseball and independent professional leagues all use wood bats.

It isn't completly baseball unless there is a wood bat. The game is a game of tradition which the NCAA spits on with the metal bats...just sayin.