Texas baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle raised an interesting question this week regarding the format of the College World Series. In Schlossnagle’s eyes, the NCAA baseball tournament unfolds in a way that’s totally different from the regular season.
In the regional round, 16 groups of four teams play a double-elimination tournament. The survivors move to the Super Regionals, where it becomes a best-of-3 series.
Schlossnagle suggested that instead, the NCAA should use the Super Regional format throughout the tournament. In his eyes, doing so would reduce some of the upsets and make it more likely for the best teams to make the College World Series.
Last year, that didn’t happen. Schlossnagle’s own Longhorns were one of three top eight seeds that didn’t make it out of the regional round. The top two seeds, Vanderbilt and Texas, both got bounced, leading to some unexpected squads making it to Omaha. Louisville and Murray State both made the College World Series, beating fellow unseeded teams Miami and Duke to get there.
Would changing the format make a difference for the better? Here’s a look.
The Current Format Requires the Entire Pitching Staff
Schlossnagle has a point that regional play is different from regular season play. In the regular season, a team can punt on a bad game and try again tomorrow. In the regionals, the manager has to be thinking about not just the first game, but any potential games that follow.
That requires contributions from everyone on the staff. It also forces younger players to learn how to pitch their way out of tight situations. One of the biggest complaints about today’s game is that pitchers don’t know how to work out of jams. At the minor league level, that’s not taught properly anymore. Minor league pitchers focus more on the stats the parent club is looking for, not the process of getting them.
College pitchers have to learn how to pitch, and there’s no better test for it than the regionals. It also requires managers to think strategically. If a team has one ace pitcher and a bunch of question marks, does it throw its ace first and try for one sure win, or does it save its ace for a tougher lineup and try to muddle through the opener? Answering those questions sets the best teams apart and ensures that it’s a true team effort.
Switching Formats Would Mean a Lengthy Postseason
This might be one of the best reasons not to switch: playing three rounds of best-of-3’s would require three full weeks before getting to Omaha. That weighs on teams, especially in the summer.
Nobody wants to keep playing college baseball into July. The older players want to hit the ground running with their professional teams, and the younger players want to get away from the daily grind.
In addition to the lengthy postseason, the change would saddle small-conference champions with a massive hurdle. It’s hard for a small conference school to find two top-quality pitchers, let alone three. If every series became best-of-3, they’d be up against it in every round. The regional format gives smaller schools a reasonable chance.
A Switch Wouldn’t Have Prevented Upsets
Schlossnagle’s argument looks a little ridiculous given what happened to his team. Texas got two shots at Texas-San Antonio last year. The Longhorns lost to the Roadrunners both times. Additionally, Texas got to open with Houston Christian, while UTSA faced Kansas State. The Longhorns had every opportunity to set their rotation to create the matchup they wanted.
What ruined Texas last year wasn’t the format. It was poor fielding and a subpar showing from ace Luke Harrison and the bullpen. Texas committed three errors in two losses to the Roadrunners, and the Texas bullpen hit five batters in the second defeat alone. That’s going to be costly against any opponent.
Vanderbilt was in the same boat. The Commodores actually won their first game against Wright State before losing their second to Louisville. Vandy then got shut down by Griffen Paige, who came in with just one appearance longer than four innings all season. Paige threw eight innings of one-hit ball, ending the Commodores’ season.
Bottom Line
Moments like Paige’s are part of what makes the college postseason so special. While Schlossnagle’s argument that regional play isn’t like the regular season isn’t without merit, tournament play should be different from the regular season. That’s one reason the casual fan starts to tune in. The games mean more, the strategy shifts and great moments become possible.
It’s an interesting discussion. But as with most things, it’s a change that doesn’t need to happen. The current format mixes proper teaching of fundamentals, teamwork and exciting moments. It should be left the way it is.
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