Big 12 Baseball Tourney Day One - Chaos! Mayhem!

I had prepared an article for yesterday that talked about the fact that the Big 12 tourney would determine which of the top three teams in that conference would get a national seed in the NCAA baseball tourney.

My favorite was Oklahoma State. They’ve beat Nebraska, Texas A&M, Texas and Missouri in head-to-head series and they lost the conference by a single game.

Texas A&M was the favorite until they cratered, losing their last two series of the season. In the last they were swept by Texas, playing themselves right out of a national seed.

Nebraska has played great baseball, but their sweep against Missouri showed their deficiencies. They’ve over-achieved this season, but the pitching staff is young and inconsistent. When the pitching staff isn’t on, the offense hasn’t been good enough to overcome the problem. Finishing third in the Big 12 isn’t good enough to get a national seed this season, regardless of schedule strength or RPI.

Missouri under-achieved this season, losing series to Oklahoma State, Texas Tech (who finished last the in Big 12) and getting swept by Texas A&M.

Heading into the tourney, it’s clear the national seed would go to one of the top three teams, provided by won the tourney.

Now, after day one, chaos rules supreme.

• Missouri is the only favored seed to win, beating Texas in 10 innings, 3-2
• Texas A&M sucks the big one losing to eighth-seeded Oklahoma
• Nebraska flops, losing to Baylor 10-4.
• Oklahoma State, a team I would have picked as favored to win it, loses tonight to Kansas State, 3-2.

The Texas A&M loss is shocking and they appear to be in a complete tailspin.

The Nebraska loss is disappointing but understandable. They’re playing a Baylor team that has it’s back against the wall. Nebraska will host a regional, they’re in the NCAA tourney, but Baylor has to get some quality wins or they won’t make it.

Oklahoma State losing to Kansas State is inexplicable. The Wildcats’ pitcher, Brad Hutt, is a good pitcher. But holding the Cowboys to only two runs is pretty darned good.

Does no one want a national seed? I know that baseball has it's streaks and slumps, but holy cow!