No other way to put it.For years now west coast baseball fans have been up in arms and for good reason: their teams keep getting worked over by the selection committee.
The basic process itself makes sense: automatically invite conference champions, allow top teams to host regionals, quarrel over remaining "at large" teams. It's quite similar to how the NCAA basketball tournament works.
The major problem seems to be the introduction of several biases in this process. Although it's cited as "just one measure", the RPI rating system seems to be of heavy focus. The RPI itself, according to some, is heavily flawed and works strongly against west coast teams in particular.
Another error is how teams are allocated. This year, like most years, most of the west coast teams are bunched together in a small pack of "regional" groupings, limiting the number who can potentially make it to Omaha for the College World Series. Yet the SEC and ACC get much more favorable treatment.
There are 25 schools in the Pac-10, Big West and West Coast Conference. Eleven made the tournament field. Nine are stuffed in three regionals, meaning only 33 percent of them could advance to a Super Regional.
There are 24 schools in the Southeastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference. Fifteen made the tournament. They are stretched across 11 different regionals, so 73 percent could advance to the next round.
This has been going on for years.
Just the 18-year-olds.
