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BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
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From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, May 12, 2008
By Brian Bailey |
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Resident seeding guru maps out
scenarios
By
Brian Bailey
�2009 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
East Carolina is set to
close out the regular
season this week with a
road game at UNC-Wilmington
and three home games
with Memphis.
The Pirates enter the
week a strong second
seed in the upcoming
NCAA regionals,
according to former East
Carolina coach Gary
Overton.
Coach �O� is our
resident expert on the
field. He and nine
others comprise the NCAA
Baseball Tournament
Selection Committee.
He�ll spend a week in
Indianapolis to help set
the field for the
upcoming NCAA regionals.
He also took time out
to join me on the
radio on
Monday night.
�It�s only my opinion,�
said Coach Overton, "but
I believe the Pirates
have to win the
Conference USA
tournament, or win the
regular season title in
Conference USA to have a
chance (at hosting).�
The other side of the
coin says the Pirates
also have to move into
the top 16 in the nation
in the rankings. RPI�s
and strength of
schedules both come into
play.
�The good news is that
the Pirates are in (the
tournament),� said
Overton. �Right now they
are a strong number two
seed. If they finish
strong they could slip
in and still be a host
team in the regionals.
But again, they have a
lot of work to do.�
Overton also said the
committee will certainly
look at a club�s last 15
games. Those last 15
include a team�s run in
their respective
tournament.
The Pirates will be
favored to do well in
Hattiesburg. Conference
USA utilizes a pair of
double elimination
tournaments to determine
the two finalists for
the televised
championship game. The
Pirates wouldn�t see
Rice until the
championship game.
Coach �O� stressed that
the NCAA Committee�s job
is to try and balance
the regionals. That
balance is more of a
competitive balance as
opposed to a regional
balance. If it takes
sending an ECU out west
to best balance a
regional, then the NCAA
will do that.
The season is down to a
handful of games, but
there is still plenty on
the line.
What the Pirates need is
a nice winning streak to
end the year. A little
eight-game winning
streak would give the
Pirates a C-USA title
and most likely that
host spot in the
regionals.
Overton said he didn�t
think there was a
scenario that would give
the Pirates a host roll
as a number two seed. He
said that might happen
with a Big Ten school or
someone else out in the
Midwest.
For Coach �O� and the
rest of the selection
committee, it�s an
interesting two weeks to
come. The Pirates need a
strong push to make
their case for an NCAA
regional at Clark-LeClair
Stadium.
The largest crowd to
ever see a regular
season game in North
Carolina is
one of the highlights
of 2009.
It would be nice to
follow that up with the
largest crowd to ever
see a postseason game in
our state.
The Pirates are on the
outside looking in as
far as hosting goes. But
in baseball, all you can
really ask for is a
chance. The Pirates do
have a chance.
BB
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05/12/2009 02:53:11 AM |
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