Will Kansas State baseball survive shaky Big 12 performance and gain NCAA Tournament bid?
Kansas State baseball may have limped to the finish line, but it does not appear that a 1-2 record in the Big 12 Championship this past week will cost the Wildcats an NCAA Tournament bid.
Losses to Kansas and TCU, sandwiched around an elimination game victory over West Virginia in Arlington, Texas, did cause the Wildcats' RPI to plummet to No. 46 or 47 after they spent much of the season in the low-to-mid 30s. But most NCAA bracket experts haven't held that against them, primarily because of their demanding schedule.
K-State came out of the conference tournament with a 32-24 overall record after going 15-15 in Big 12 regular-season play.
In the latest predictions by D1 Baseball and Baseball America, K-State held steady as a No. 3 regional seed. Both publications placed the Wildcats the Fayetteville, behind No. 5 overall seed Arkansas and Louisiana Tech, with either Oral Roberts (D1 Baseball) or Southeast Missouri (Baseball America) at No. 4.
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The NCAA selection show will take place at 11 a.m. CT Monday on ESPN 2. The 16 four-team regionals will run from May 31-June 3.
"I think there’s going to be a next week," K-State coach Pete Hughes said following the Wildcats' 9-4 elimination loss to TCU. "Our resume speaks for itself.
"A full body of work with a strengthened schedule. No. 1 strength of schedule in the conference with unbalanced scheduling. I feel really good about having a next week."
While K-State's RPI has dropped from third to sixth in the Big 12 over the past couple of weeks, its strength of schedule trails only Oklahoma. The Sooners have the ninth-most difficult schedule with the Wildcats next at No. 26.
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State baseball counting on tough schedule to deliver NCAA bid
