Aaron

Don't they have to toss a coin with all things equal? First tiebreaker is who has been home most which is equal. Second tiebreak is who had home field last time teams played in regional (they have not played). Third is who was road team in their last game (we both were). With all those things equal it goes to a coin flip I am pretty sure (unless they already did it and IU won it but I thought they do it right before first pitch).

I literally have not seen a second of the games this weekend as I have been on a family outing which is my reason for not posting (I followed for a few min on twitter). Sounds like a disappointing game last night and a good win today. May be able to catch a bit tomorrow. Either way while this is not what I completely on board with for future (I.E. poor in game coaching and player development) this season has met my expectations despite the up and downs.

Lets not get started there. That walk off HR by Stanford was one of the worst moments I have seen in IU history in any sports. That literally ended IU's last great team they have fielded in any sport and legitimate shot to win a national title at something. It's one of the few times I almost cried (but didn't) watching a sporting event. The only time I have had a sicker feeling after a loss watching a sporting event is the Steve Bartman game and when Mike Vanderjagt missed that FG very wide against Pitt in playoffs (and i'm over those since both teams have won a title since). The NCAA not always letting teams bat last on their own field is so in line with their hypocritical status on everything no one should be surprised (I would prefer not switching at all but at least let the home team have last at bat in decisive games). The problem is in every sport the NCAA considers the hosting team to be hosting a neutral site tourney game. In every other sport (soccer, swimming, basketball, volleyball etc) it doesn't matter what the NCAA says because only the fans matter and their is no rule built it into the sport that really affects anything. Baseball and Softball are different and the NCAA's hypocritical neutral site stance absolutely matters here and its something that in my mind has not been made a big enough deal off by teams, media etc. Off course since I'm complaining watch us walk off on UK to win the regional on their field. While that would be cool it doesn't change that the rule as it is, is terrible.

And I don't mean to rag on Purdue's park because it is very nice (I think ours is slightly better but theirs is very nice also) but it is in a spot that is a bit away from campus (similar to how University Gym is located for Volleyball at IU) and has only one entrance for in and out so if you don't get out fast you will be stuck in traffic for a bit on the rare occasion of a sellout like when we played them. Another thing is PU has natural grass which is debatable as well. I personally in an ideal world prefer grass (more natural for baseball and lower injury risk) but when playing in spring with a lot of rain and snow it saves you a lot of cancellations from weather. I know we had very few rain outs this year because of the turf and played through several pretty good rain storms while PU with their grass had more rain outs. I had to point this out to several PU fans behind me who were saying how great grass was and how silly we were to have turf. After I explained to them the benefits and disadvantages of both surfaces we agreed it was a matter of personal preference.

It took a lot of arm twisting by Tracy Smith to get to where we are today and to get that stadium built but it happened just in time. Imagine playing the 13 and 14 season in Sembower. That's how perfect timing was. Ask PU how badly that went playing their 2012 season in their awful old ballpark. A great team and hardly any fans showed up in their old park or were aware of the season. Than they had to host regionals in Gary. They finally completed their new park a yr late but have been beyond awful since it was completed and as a result do not draw anywhere near the crowds we do (as I said when I went this year to IU vs. PU their fans were shocked at a full park which is something we get most Friday and Saturday games provided weather is nice). If PU could of showcased that great 2012 team in their new park like they planned I have a feeling it would of lead to continued success and huge crowds similar to what we draw. Just shows how critical it is to make sure you have construction done on time when you are on the verge of great seasons. Any delays will set your program back years (and yes I know we had a couple delays starting project but once ours finally broke ground everything went clockwork and on time vs. PU who sort of ran into an I-69 situation mid-construction and project was delayed over a year).

Well administration agreed to built it in late 90's than decided against (which I have no problem with given how bad a coach Bob Morgan was and the fact that no one cared at that point). Than again in 08 as part of North End zone project it was agreed to be build and ran out of money and was going to shelve it all together. However, as the program began to rise Tracy Smith persisted and they found more money for a scaled back version of a new park. Than as the program rose even further to new heights they ended up building the same facility they planned to in 09 as they went back to more donors who were willing to fund the park on its own now and it finally opened in 2013 15 yrs after the original plans. Better late than never.

Full Bracket with times and TV:

100% agree. We went from one of the worst facilities to one of the best.

Another example of how far the program has come is that when I left the house after the selection show Raekstraw (who was filling in for Dakich) was talking our selection with Chris Lemonis. Thats major major progress. Indy media had no idea we even had a baseball team really prior to 2013. Here is the link to the interview: https://omny.fm/shows/the-dan-dakich-show/052917-dan-dakich-show Looking at NC St I feel like their stats are a clone of us. Their pitching is not much better than ours with a 4.01 team era and all starters mid to high 3's in their ERA except a guy with a 1.87 who looks like a spot starter. Bullpen has a couple guys with ERA's in the 2's but not much else. Offense looks solid but not spectacular but like us hit a ton of HR's with one guy having 16 just behind Dedelow. Overall like I said I feel like I am looking at our stats when reading theirs which should make for a fascinating match up. Uk's pitching just average as well with elite offense so should have a chance to score runs if patient. I still peg UK the heavy favorite but if their was ever a regional we had a chance to get out of this is it given no one having elite ERA's or deep pitching staffs.

Bang! Indiana the 2 in Lexington and NC State not Virginia the 3. We scored big. Friday 7pm on ESPN3.

Michigan a 3 at UNC. Iowa a 4 at Houston

Nebraska bumps up to a 2 which might speak well for Big Ten. Unfortunately, for them that sends them to Oregon St who is by far best team in country. No other Big Ten Teams in 1st half of bracket but also all the west and far south regionals covered so far on that side. Closer host sites on other side.

2 lesser known projections I have never heard off have us out over Maryland and Gonzaga (2 teams we beat). Two most popular and well known projections that pay most attention (D1 Baseball and Baseball America) have us comfortably in and no where near bubble as 3 in Lexington. Got to think the other 2 projections are blowing smoke but we will see in an hour.

We are still comfortably a 3 in Lexington in last Baseball America projection (we are not mentioned among the 6 teams listed on the bubble) tonight with Maryland 1st team out now. That Grand Slam in the rain by Dedelow to win the series may turn out to be the moment of the year if it comes down to them only taking 4 Big Ten teams. As I suspected though if someone from Big Ten is out it will be Maryland given our 8 spot better RPI and head to head series win. Only thing I don't like about the projection is it gives us UVA as the 2 which would be toughest match up possible given they are top 2 seed and should of probably hosted as a 1 over Houston but given we are in I won't complain.

99% likely you will be removing the question mark from 2107 in just over 15 hours. Your almost certain they're in as well or you would not have started this thread. Host sites in alphabetical order are: Baton Rouge, Louisiana – LSU (43-17) Chapel Hill, North Carolina – North Carolina (47-12) Clemson, South Carolina – Clemson (39-19) Corvallis, Oregon – Oregon State (49-4) Fayetteville, Arkansas – Arkansas (42-17) Fort Worth, Texas – TCU (42-16) Gainesville, Florida – Florida (42-16) Hattiesburg, Mississippi – Southern Mississippi (48-14) Houston, Texas – Houston (40-19) Lexington, Kentucky – Kentucky (39-20) Long Beach, California – Long Beach State (37-17-1) Louisville, Kentucky – Louisville (47-10) Lubbock, Texas – Texas Tech (43-15) Stanford, California – Stanford (40-14) Tallahassee, Florida – Florida State (39-20) Winston-Salem, North Carolina – Wake Forest (39-18) It's the top 15 in RPI with no. 17 Houston getting last host spot over no. 16 Virginia. NCAA if they don't give us Louisville or Lexington will ship us out to Stanford because they love rematches.

Iowa is gonna win so while they are not great far less embarrassing for the conference than Northwestern getting in (basically the equivalent of when we thieved a bid in 09 with a slow start and a strong finish winning conf tourney). Big Ten as 7th ranked conference should have no problem justifying putting 5 teams in and if they can't, we are in better shape than Maryland with a head to head series win, a 9 spot better RPI and one more top 50 win (I still think all 5 get in without a problem but if someone gets left out by Iowa getting in it will be Maryland and not us). I only found 67 remotely deserving teams in all of College Baseball (and that included every possible bid thief and auto bid) and a lot more than 3 have worse resumes than any of the 5 Big Ten teams (besides Iowa who has auto bid) who should get in.

Well looks like Big Ten will get a 5th team with Iowa and Northwestern in championship. Hope Iowa wins. Nothing I hate more than a mediocre barely .500 team like Northwestern having a bad year than winning a conference tourney for undeserved NCAA bid.

I was in Malibu Grill in Btown during Big Ten Tourney in 08 (I moved to Indy in 2010 from Bloomington) and no one even paid attention besides me and I had to ask just to turn it on so its definitely progress.

Prediction: We get the 3 seed in either Louisville or Lexington with Missouri State or Vandy our 2 given geography being only RPI teams that high near those regionals.

That's my point. Not exactly a sports bar and the fact people were watching and paying attention is such a step forward for program compared to 5-10 years ago its unbelievable. Now lets win at a high enough level to keep it that way.

That speaks volumes to how far the program has come in a good way. Not that you were watching but that a restaurant was aware enough to even have the game on. Unless you were at a sports bar BTN is not exactly a go to channel for a normal restaurant.

Glad Lemonis admitted in press conference that he got greedy with Saalfrank and he should not of started 6th. Was not glad though that he didn't seem concerned about Miller's mistake on bases and he said.likes aggressiveness. Overall very mixed on what I heard.

No argument. It's been disappointing but in end we have a solid season with a tourney appearance.

Absolutely but that's a big if. If this is possibility I will do my part to ensure it happens (and not sure how much that is worth) but right now not possible obviously.

Maybe. We also lose a ton from the line-up and I do see some issues with in game management. As I have said program is not by any means in dire straights but it is at a crossroads and could go either way in future.