Texas is officially in the NCAA postseason for the 60th time and hosts a regional for the 36th time. Following a 42-15 regular season that included a Big 12 championship, the Texas Longhorns landed the No. 2 national seed when the NCAA unveiled its bracket live on ESPN2. This season’s national seed is the highest Texas has received since 2010 when it was awarded the No. 2 national seed.
A look at who is joining Texas in the Austin Regional, which begins Friday at 1:00 p.m. with Texas vs. Southern:
No. 4 seed – Southern
The SWAC Tournament champions finished 20-28, and punched their ticket in thrilling fashion with a 7-6 win over Jackson State University. Southern finished 0-6 versus Q1 opponents and 0-2 versus Q2 opponents. Southern’s strength is working counts, getting on base, and making things happen with aggressiveness. Southern stole 78 bases in 101 attempts and six different players have seven steals or more. Pitching is the clear weakness.
No. 3 seed – Fairfield
Many wondered how the committee would treat Fairfield, who basically broke RPI this year. Despite losing the conference tournament, Fairfield finished No. 3 in RPI. How? RPI rated 16 of Fairfield’s opponents as Q2 teams. However, ELO – strength rating – rated Fairfield’s entire schedule as a Q4 schedule. So, basically, Fairfield’s schedule was not nearly as strong as RPI suggested.
All that said, Fairfield didn’t finish 37-3 by accident. It does an excellent job of limiting walks (78 all season; 2.26 per game) and is a well-balanced offense, although the group is a bit top heavy and lacks depth.
No. 2 seed – Arizona State
The Sun Devils finished fifth in the Pac-12 after being swept by UCLA to end the season. Led by freshman Ethan Long, who has hit 16 homers, Arizona State’s strength is its offense. As a team, it is hitting .287/.360/.458 and does most of its damage with doubles (107) and homers (58) rather than steals (36-of-57). On the mound this season, ASU has struggled to the tune of a 5.12 team ERA and .272 batting average against.
Looking ahead to a possible super regional matchup…
The Austin Regional is matched with the Gainesville Regional, which includes No. 2 seed Miami. Florida is one of the most talented teams in the country and has been playing very well lately. Obviously, Miami is another talented club capable of winning that region.