Think mid-majors get hosed on Selection Sunday? Consider the 54-3 Minnesota softball team.
The Minnesota softball team went 54-3 in the regular season and won the Big Ten tournament title. It is riding a 25-game winning streak, last losing on April 1, and is ranked No. 1 in the most recent USA Today coaches’ poll. And yet on Sunday, the NCAA tournament selection committee somehow decided that none of that mattered in sending the Gophers on the road for the regional round of the Division I softball championship.
Just in case you’re not familiar with the 64-team NCAA softball tournament format, a recap: The top 16 teams as determined by the selection committee each host a four-team regional. The winner of that double-elimination round robin moves on to a two-team, double-elimination super regional series, usually hosted by the higher-seeded team, and then the eight teams to come out of that advance to the College World Series in Oklahoma City.
In other words, Minnesota is unlikely to get a single home game despite being regarded by many as the best team in the country. The Gophers will play their regional games at 16th-seeded Alabama in a group that also features Louisiana Tech and Albany. Should they advance, a trip to top-seeded Florida seems likely unless the Gators are upset in the regional round.
Florida, by the way, is ranked one spot below Minnesota in the coaches’ poll.
Anyway, the NCAA tried to explain its puzzling decision in a statement issued Monday after what the Star Tribune described as repeated media requests. It all came down to Minnesota’s record against other top 10 and top 25 teams and its strength of schedule, which the selection committee regarded as inferior.
“When the committee compared Minnesota against other teams being considered for the top 16 seeds, Minnesota did not have as many regular-season Top 10 and Top 25 wins as compared to other teams,” the NCAA wrote. “The teams that were selected as the 16 seeds had at least one or more Top 10 wins and between four to 18 Top 25 wins. Minnesota did not have any Top 10 wins and only two Top 25 wins.
“Furthermore, Minnesota’s strength of schedule was 114. The top seeded teams had strength of schedules ranging from 1 to 36.”
Still, the Gophers finished the season ranked 11th in the RPI, another metric used by the committee, and beat all but two of the teams on their schedule (two of their three losses were to the University of Washington at a March tournament in Seattle; Washington earned the No. 6 seed in the tournament).
“I think when you go back and look at our preseason schedule, we go to Texas and Texas twice,” Minnesota Coach Jessica Allister told the Star Tribune. “We go to the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, sweep Notre Dame and N.C. State. Go to LSU, beat LSU on their home field. Go to Fresno, who’s a top-20 team last year, beat Fresno. Go up to Washington, go to Cal, go to Oregon State.
“I think it’s a tough thing to swallow when you hear that that schedule’s not good enough because I’m not quite sure what else we could have done in the preseason.”
The Minnesota softball team went 54-3 in the regular season and won the Big Ten tournament title. It is riding a 25-game winning streak, last losing on April 1, and is ranked No. 1 in the most recent USA Today coaches’ poll. And yet on Sunday, the NCAA tournament selection committee somehow decided that none of that mattered in sending the Gophers on the road for the regional round of the Division I softball championship.
Just in case you’re not familiar with the 64-team NCAA softball tournament format, a recap: The top 16 teams as determined by the selection committee each host a four-team regional. The winner of that double-elimination round robin moves on to a two-team, double-elimination super regional series, usually hosted by the higher-seeded team, and then the eight teams to come out of that advance to the College World Series in Oklahoma City.
In other words, Minnesota is unlikely to get a single home game despite being regarded by many as the best team in the country. The Gophers will play their regional games at 16th-seeded Alabama in a group that also features Louisiana Tech and Albany. Should they advance, a trip to top-seeded Florida seems likely unless the Gators are upset in the regional round.
Florida, by the way, is ranked one spot below Minnesota in the coaches’ poll.
Anyway, the NCAA tried to explain its puzzling decision in a statement issued Monday after what the Star Tribune described as repeated media requests. It all came down to Minnesota’s record against other top 10 and top 25 teams and its strength of schedule, which the selection committee regarded as inferior.
“When the committee compared Minnesota against other teams being considered for the top 16 seeds, Minnesota did not have as many regular-season Top 10 and Top 25 wins as compared to other teams,” the NCAA wrote. “The teams that were selected as the 16 seeds had at least one or more Top 10 wins and between four to 18 Top 25 wins. Minnesota did not have any Top 10 wins and only two Top 25 wins.
“Furthermore, Minnesota’s strength of schedule was 114. The top seeded teams had strength of schedules ranging from 1 to 36.”
Still, the Gophers finished the season ranked 11th in the RPI, another metric used by the committee, and beat all but two of the teams on their schedule (two of their three losses were to the University of Washington at a March tournament in Seattle; Washington earned the No. 6 seed in the tournament).
“I think when you go back and look at our preseason schedule, we go to Texas and Texas twice,” Minnesota Coach Jessica Allister told the Star Tribune. “We go to the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, sweep Notre Dame and N.C. State. Go to LSU, beat LSU on their home field. Go to Fresno, who’s a top-20 team last year, beat Fresno. Go up to Washington, go to Cal, go to Oregon State.
“I think it’s a tough thing to swallow when you hear that that schedule’s not good enough because I’m not quite sure what else we could have done in the preseason.”
