The ASUN baseball tournament follows a most unique format. Here's why other leagues should follow suit.

DELAND — Jeff Altier knows it’s unique. He understands it takes a minute to digest.

“It's kind of like the Stetson logo,” the Hatters’ outgoing athletic director said. “Until you see the hat in the S, it looks dumb. Then, all of the sudden, you see the hat and go, 'Man, that's a really cool logo!' It's the same thing here. Until you see how it can be used to your advantage, it's a dumb idea. Then, once you see it, you go, ‘Oh my gosh, this really is simple.’”

He was talking about the ASUN Conference baseball tournament format, a brainchild of Altier and Stetson coach Steve Trimper. This is the third year it’s been in place, with one tweak for this spring.

No other Division I league uses it.

“Once you understand it and understand why the tournament is set up the way it is, it's really interesting,” Jacksonville coach Chris Hayes said. “I think it's something that brings a lot of value, especially to a mid-major conference that is trying to maintain national relevance.”

The ASUN Tournament setup

The ASUN Tournament used to feature a double-elimination format — commonplace across the country.

But often, teams earn seeds based on regular-season conference records. Not in the ASUN. Not anymore.

Instead, teams are split into two groups of four teams. Pool A includes the top four teams, Pool B features squads 5-8. The regular-season champion locks up the top seed, yes, but the rest are slotted by Rating Percentage Index (RPI), a formula used by the NCAA that ranks programs and heavily considers strength of schedule.

RPI seeding can lend itself to some oddities.

For example, Stetson and Florida Gulf Coast each finished above Kennesaw State in this season’s conference standings. The Owls notched a better RPI, though, clinching the No. 2 seed behind regular-season champ Austin Peay.

Stetson occupies the third seed. The Eagles are fourth.

The two pools go through different setups for the first four days of the tournament. Starting Tuesday and ending Friday, Pool A competes in a round robin. Each team will play three times.

In Pool B, the four teams battle in a double-elimination bracket.

After Friday’s results, the top three teams from Pool A and top team from Pool B advance to Saturday’s semifinals. The winners of those two games will meet in the finals Sunday.

“The feedback is typically, ‘That's brilliant,’” Altier said. “We're really just playing by the rules that are there and maximizing the benefit for our league with the rules that exist.”

Why is it smart?

By pitting the best squads against each other at a neutral site, those teams gain RPI points, which can only help when it comes to selection into the 64-team NCAA Tournament.

“In this format at least, you can track the RPI of the whole top four and see what happens to them throughout this tournament,” Altier said. “I'm pretty confident not a single one will go down. Every one of them will improve slightly.”

As of Tuesday, Kennesaw State’s RPI was 92nd, Stetson’s was 110th, Florida Gulf Coast’s was 128th and Austin Peay’s was 146th.

As the No. 2 seed, Kennesaw State's first opponent would have been No. 7 Lipscomb, with an RPI of 221, under the old format. Instead, the Owls opposed and beat Stetson Tuesday.

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The reasoning

Altier was a member of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee and served a stint as chair. He learned what the committee values and the importance of RPI in determining who receives the 34 at-large bids into the tourney.

Then, he brought that expertise back to the ASUN. He noticed Stetson’s RPI began the conference tournament at one number. Then, over the course of a few days, it plunged.

“In fact, we looked at it,” Altier said. “Everybody in our conference's RPI drops during the tournament.”

The reason? The format.

If the No. 1 seed played No. 8, which would hold a poor RPI, the top seed’s RPI suffered even if it won. Same thing with No. 2 vs. No. 7 and No. 3 vs. No. 6.

So, while that style of bracket helped the top seeds advance more easily in the tournament because they weren’t challenged as much during the early rounds, it hurt the higher seeds’ chances at securing an at-large bid if it did not win the ASUN title and grab that automatic bid.

And realistically, the first four seeds in the ASUN tournament are the only schools that hold hope of securing an at-large berth. The RPIs for seeds 5-8, aka Pool B, are just too low, so it doesn't matter that their numbers will dip by playing each other. It is impossible ground to make up.

Altier and Co. thought about trimming the ASUN bracket to only the best four teams. But he said that didn’t feel right.

This format sprouted from that. Even though their RPIs are too low for an at-large bid, the bottom four seeds still have an opportunity for a Cinderella run through the conference tournament and an auto bid to the NCAAs because they’re guaranteed one spot in the semifinals.

First, the ASUN coaches had to vote on it. They endorsed it.

Then, the coaches’ recommendation traveled to the league’s administrators. It required some discussion and politicking. Not everyone shared the vision right away. But it eventually passed.

“The better teams obviously want this because it is most advantageous to the better teams,” Altier said. “The teams that are not good, this disadvantages them, and that's intentional. We're not holding any punches or trying to mislead anybody.”

The remedy for the bad teams? Get better.

The benefits outweighed the shackles of tradition.

“There was about six of us that got together and said, ‘Hey, this is what's best for the league,’” Florida Gulf Coast coach Dave Tollett said. “It's not just best for FGC. It's best for the league because the more teams we can get in, the better it is for our league.”

The format not only eliminates the RPI decrease, but from an administrative standpoint, Altier said it also is easier to organize. The game schedule is more predictable.

In the A Bracket, the matchups are predetermined rather than dependent upon the results of the other contests. The players and coaches take solace in that, as well. There are no surprises during the first four days.

The results

In Year 1, it worked.

As the No. 1 seed, Liberty failed to claim the tournament title, falling to No. 3 Kennesaw State in the finals, but both teams got in.

The Owls punched their automatic ticket with the championship. The Flames also cleared the NCAA cut because of their RPI.

“When Liberty got in, I think (the ASUN Tournament format) made a huge difference,” Hayes said.

It should’ve succeeded again last year, at least according to Tollett.

Lipscomb entered the ASUN event as the top seed and justified that position with a sprint to the trophy. Florida Gulf Coast went to the finals as the No. 2 seed.

The Eagles sat in good playoff position late in the regular season. But they lost their final two series against league foes that didn’t qualify for the conference tournament, tanking their RPI. They also faltered in their last non-conference game.

“We, as a team, screwed it up the last two weeks,” Tollett said.

Heading into the 2024 campaign, the ASUN altered the format slightly.

During the first two years of this structure, Pool B competed in a round-robin schedule just like Pool A.

That led to two unnecessary games last year, where Pool B teams had to play despite one of them having no shot of moving on to the semifinals.

“It was playing innings,” Altier said. “It wasn't consequential to the outcome of the tournament.”

So this year, Pool B shifted to a double-elimination bracket while Pool A kept the round robin. This way, every game matters toward the outcome of the tournament, and the Pool B winner still has to hit the field for at least three games like the Pool A clubs. It might be four, which puts Pool B at a disadvantage with pitching and fatigue.

But again, Pool A is supposed to be a reward for the teams that had the best season. Those teams could need to win only one of their three pool games to reach the semifinals.

“To try to give that extra incentive because, really, there aren't that many at-large bids that we're fighting for,” said Hayes, whose Dolphins are the No. 5 seed. “So every little bit helps down the stretch.”

Hayes, Tollett and Trimper all said the format has affected the way they construct their schedules. They prioritize a tough non-conference slate with an eye on RPI.

“You can't do much about your conference schedule, but your non-conference schedule and who you play, when you play them, where you play them matters,” Hayes said. “You want to play a quality schedule. We want to test ourselves against the best teams in the country and prepare ourselves for the conference season and ultimately the conference tournament.”

And the more ASUN teams do that, the more each cashes in when playing each other (higher RPI vs. higher RPI).

“You really want to be in Pool A,” Trimper said. “I think the biggest factor is, if you look at your schedule, you want to try to schedule a hard non-conference because you might not have all the wins, but you could be a team that gets into that Pool A by having a .500 record.”

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The future

Stetson freshman Logan Hughes admits he asked his teammates to explain the ASUN Tournament format to him this week. He’s still a little confused by it, but that’s fine.

“I'm just trying to play and do whatever they say,” Hughes said. “Whatever coach writes in the GroupMe, that's what I do that day.”

The coaches have it figured out.

They already have the next step in mind, too.

Before this season, the NCAA modified the RPI formula. It now heavily favors road games.

Based on Stetson’s credentials, Trimper thinks his Hatters would rank in the 50s or 60s using last year’s RPI calculations. With the changes, they were 110th when their game against Kennesaw State started Tuesday.

Traditionally, Stetson has played the majority of their games at home. It enjoyed 35 home games this season compared to only 21 on the road.

In 2025, three of its first four weekends are road series. That is not a coincidence. It’s an adjustment.

Hayes and Tollett are making similar decisions for their programs.

“You have to adapt,” Hayes said. “You have to understand what the world you're in is right now and then be ready to change tomorrow because it's going to change. That's kind of what this is about.”

Could other conferences adapt to a tournament structure similar to the ASUN’s?

Don’t expect it from the power conferences. Their teams can boost their RPIs simply by squaring off with each other.

But for non-power leagues?

“It's something I think all the mid-major conferences need to look at,” Hayes said.

Tuesday's scores

• FGCU 13, Austin Peay 3

• Kennesaw State 6, Stetson 5

• Jacksonville 6, Eastern Kentucky 2

Wednesday's schedule

• Kennesaw State vs. FGCU, 10 a.m.

• Central Arkansas vs. Lipscomb, 2:30 p.m.

• Eastern Kentucky vs. Central Arkansas-Lipscomb loser, 7 p.m.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: ASUN baseball: Inside the most unique college conference tournament