How much weight will conference tournament performance carry when the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee makes its decision on the 16 baseball regional hosts this weekend?
If it's a lot, both Clemson and South Carolina will need to step up their games for the remainder of the ACC and SEC tournaments, respectively.
The Tigers were in a tie game until a late rally gave N.C. State a 6-3 victory. USC rallied from three runs down to tie Mississippi State, then surrendered two runs in the ninth and lost, 5-3.
Under the ACC's round-robin pool play format, Clemson has two more chances to shore up - if it needs to - its case to be a regional host. One is against regular-season champion North Carolina, which was ranked No. 1 nationally for most of the season, on Friday. The other is against Miami on Saturday.
If the ACC is awarded more than four regional bids, Clemson may be in good shape if it can at least split the remaining two ACC Tournament games. Florida State, N.C. State, UNC and Virginia figure to be locks.
The Tigers likely are battling Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, and possibly Miami, for any additional regional slots from the ACC. Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech enhanced their resumes with wins over FSU and Virginia, respectively, on Wednesday.
South Carolina may have less wiggle room. The Gamecocks face SEC regular-season champ Vanderbilt today in an elimination game in the SEC Tournament. The Commodores are coming off a shutout loss to Texas A&M in their SEC opener.
The Commodores won both games over the Gamecocks in a rain-shortened series in Columbia in the regular season.
LSU and Vanderbilt are locks to be regional hosts and national seeds. How many more regionals are awarded to SEC teams? By virtue of a 3-1 edge in head-to-head meetings, Mississippi State would seem to have the edge over USC if those teams are being considered for one host spot.
So, are the Gamecocks battling Arkansas and Mississippi for a fourth regional bid for the SEC? Arkansas has the weakest RPI - one of the factors used in selecting NCAA Tournament teaams - among the three. But the Razorbacks are still in the winners bracket of the SEC Tournament. Would a two-and-out in Hoover squash the Gamecocks' hosting chances?
Give your predictions for Clemson and USC in the poll at the right of this page. Voting ends at noon (EDT) Sunday.
Elsewhere, Furman and The Citadel started with wins in the Southern Conference Tournament. College of Charleston got rained out in its opener and will play twice today, weather permitting.
Coastal Carolina is right where it wanted to be in the Big South Conference Tournament: 2-0 and enjoying a Thursday off.
Charleston Southern suffered its second consecutive loss and was eliminated on Wednesday.
USC Upstate jumped to an early lead over regular-season champ Mercer in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament, but ended up being hammered, 12-6. The Spartans face an elimination game today.
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