The NCAA plans to study the current format for the baseball tournament and is contemplating a change to add a step to the process.
I know, why mess with something that is working? Probably pressure from the northern schools who feel left out of the process because, frankly, we play better baseball where it’s warm.
The plan would have 32 sites for the first round, a best-of-three series to start things off. The winners would move to a second three-game super regional and the winners of that would advance to a super-duper regional. And then finally, the College World Series.
Three reasons to consider it:
1. Northern schools would get to host regionals.
2. All the games would involve host teams drawing bigger crowds.
3. It would be more like the three-game series teams play during their conference seasons.
One reason it won’t happen:
When are you going to play this added weekend? The NCAA doesn’t want the CWS extended to the July 4 weekend. And you can’t move the start of the season back anymore because northern schools are snowbound. Dennis Poppe, the NCAA vice president for football and baseball, implied in the Omaha World-Herald that the conference tournaments would have to be moved. But to where?
The schedules are already tight. The only way to make the proposal work would be to cut a weekend off the conference season. I’m not sure that’s a good idea.
We’ll see where this goes but for my money I believe they’re just looking at this idea to say they aren’t resting on their laurels. Don’t look for it to happen.
Pat, I wondered how long it would be before the NCAA started screwing with the format. The northern schools will whine that they are not represented and ESPN would prefer bigger national audiences driven by teams in all regions of the country.They have tried to include the northern schools in the past with “flexible” regional selections and match ups but unfortunately, the northern schools can’t seem to win their way out of regionals they host.
I guess it is okay to have the frozen four played every year by the same 8-10 schools in the north but heaven forbid that schools below the Mason-Dixon line control the CWS.
Pretty typical of the overall state of the union these days. Instead of getting better at something. change the rules to ensure success.
This is ploy by the university of miami to not have to play the Gators in any type of regional. After being knocked out of the CWS by the Gators the last three years they are desperate!!!! lol Maybe what they should do is go back to the Big east. Maybe they can get to Conference Championships there!!!!!!!!!!!!!
what time is the gator baseball game today, June 27, 2011, can it ever be in the Gainesville Sun online?? If it is, where?????