Regional Pairings--my picks in bold

[sluggers]

Tuscaloosa Regional - May 21-23 at Tuscaloosa, Alabama
No. 1 seed Alabama* (48-9) vs. Alcorn St. (24-24)
Lipscomb (48-11) vs. UAB (36-20)

Stanford Regional - May 21-23 at Stanford, California
Stanford* (36-17) vs. Texas Tech (36-16)
UC Davis (26-27) vs. No. 16 seed Hawaii (44-13)

Hawaii is overrated, and Stanford is underrated.

Columbia Regional - May 21-23 at Columbia, Missouri
No. 9 seed Missouri* (46-11) vs. Creighton (37-21)
DePaul (38-16) vs. Illinois (43-6)

I'm betting Illinois doesn't get by DePaul.

Atlanta Regional - May 21-23 at Atlanta, Georgia
Oregon (33-19) vs. Auburn (30-24)
Jacksonville St. (30-17) vs. No. 8 seed Georgia Tech* (49-9)

Oregon surprises Georgia Tech.

Los Angeles Regional - May 21-23 at Los Angeles, California
No. 5 seed UCLA* (40-11) vs. St. Mary's (CA) (30-21)
Fresno St. (39-19) vs. San Diego St. (33-14)

Fresno State once again bumped by the Bruins.

Baton Rouge Regional - May 21-23 at Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Texas A&M (42-14) vs. La.-Lafayette (42-16)
McNeese St. (38-25) vs. No. 12 seed LSU* (44-14)

LSU looks pretty good.

Amherst Regional - May 21-23 at Amherst, Massachusetts
No. 13 seed Arizona St. (41-15) vs. Boston U. (34-20)
Long Island (37-16) vs. Massachusetts* (42-8-1)

What is up with Arizona State at Amherst? This is like a SoCal team heading to an ASA qualifier in Tumbleweed, Kentucky. This isn't even fair.

Gainesville Regional - May 21-23 at Gainesville, Florida
UCF (35-21) vs. FIU (36-19)
Bethune-Cookman (32-22) vs. No. 4 seed Florida* (43-8)

One of these days, Florida might actually have to beat a good team to advance out of its regional.

Seattle Regional - May 21-23 at Seattle, Washington
No. 3 seed Washington* (45-6) vs. North Dakota St. (33-23)
Nebraska (29-27) vs. North Carolina (40-18)

Why even play the Seattle Regional? It would be more environmentally friendly to just have everyone stay home and award the plaque to Washington.

College Park Regional - May 21-23 at College Park, Maryland
Fordham (47-10) vs. Maryland* (33-22)
Syracuse (32-24) vs. No. 14 seed Oklahoma (43-10)

Sorry, I fell asleep. Oklahoma is playing who?

Columbus Regional - May 21-23 at Columbus, Ohio
No. 11 seed California (41-17) vs. Bucknell (28-18-1)
Kentucky (31-25) vs. Ohio St.* (37-12)

Bears clean up in Columbus.

Athens Regional - May 21-23 at Athens, Georgia
Florida St. (43-16) vs. Radford (36-15)
Elon (38-19) vs. No. 6 Georgia* (43-11)

U.S.News & World Report said Elon was USA's top "school to watch". Uh...I'll pass watching Georgia maul Elon.

Austin Regional - May 20-22 at Austin, Texas
No. 7 seed Texas* (42-13) vs. Iona (28-24)
East Carolina (42-16) vs. BYU (43-11)

Did Rick Perry (governor of Texas) pay-off someone at NCAA to get Texas this cush regional?

Tucson Regional - May 21-23 at Tucson, Arizona
Oklahoma St. (43-14) vs. Hofstra (43-10)
Cornell (37-13) vs. No. 10 seed Arizona* (43-11)

With Arizona's pitcher hurting, Oklahoma State will cruise.

Knoxville Regional - May 21-23 at Knoxville, Tennessee
No. 15 seed Tennessee* (42-13) vs. Ball St. (43-14)
Virginia (33-21) vs. Louisville (39-17)

Finally, Tennessee beats Ball State.

Ann Arbor Regional - May 21-23 at Ann Arbor, Michigan
Notre Dame (45-10) vs. Illinois State (32-18)
Wright St. (30-28-1) vs. No. 2 seed Michigan* (46-6)

Michigan v. Notre Dame...again. Michigan trounces the Golden Domers in 5 innings.

 

[absdad]

My pics pretty much mirror yours. I don't know about OSU having a "cruise". It will be interesting to see what, if anything, happens with UA between now and then. They had a stellar year, hopefully it's not ending. But it sure looks that way.

 

[shockcoach]

My question is, why is WA, who has been #1 in the polls since winning last year and who obviously has the most dominant pitcher in NCAA, seeded #3? Come on now, does the seeding committee want to lay odds and wager bets with me, taking MI or AL and I'll take WA to win the NC? They made mince meat out of the PAC 10 this year, winning every series and only losing 3 games total! One of which Danielle Lawrie did not pitch (ASU).

Would anyone here bet against WA playing either AL or MI in a 3-game series? ANYONE!?

Other than that, I agree, too with what you have down. If Fowler can pitch...I'll take AU over OSU, though.

 

[TheRogue]

My question is, why is WA, who has been #1 in the polls since winning last year and who obviously has the most dominant pitcher in NCAA, seeded #3? Come on now, does the seeding committee want to lay odds and wager bets with me, taking MI or AL and I'll take WA to win the NC? They made mince meat out of the PAC 10 this year, winning every series and only losing 3 games total! One of which Danielle Lawrie did not pitch (ASU).

Would anyone here bet against WA playing either AL or MI in a 3-game series? ANYONE!?

Other than that, I agree, too with what you have down. If Fowler can pitch...I'll take AU over OSU, though.

For the same reason it happens in all sports; L-East coast bias!!

Only way to fix it is to win it all again.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Fowler has a pinched nerve. Akamine has a sprained knee. Both will try to practice on Thursday.

 

[absdad]

For the same reason it happens in all sports; L-East coast bias!!

Only way to fix it is to win it all again.

In reality it's called "RPI". Don't confuse "Coaches polls" (popularity contests), for hard statistics. As far as actual hard numbers, WA has not been #1 all season. They have a truly dominant pitcher, and they are very good. But last season is over...