It is getting to be that time of year... 7 games remain on the Cowboy's schedule before the Big 12 Tournament (which is currently praying for the Thunder to be eliminated before May 25th. If KD and the crew are still alive at the end of May, attendance at the Big 12 tourney might be in the triple digits. This town's Thunder-boner commands all the vital sport-supporting blood that would otherwise be directed at the Big 12 tourney.... wow, that was, and still is, a long parenthetical break within a sentence... I left off, and after the closing parenthesis will continue after "7 games remain on the Cowboy's schedule before the Big 12 Tournament"...aaannnddd go*) and they are still jockeying for inclusion, and best possible position in college baseball's postseason. Let's take a look at where the Cowboy's stand, and what their outlook is for the post-season.
*2011 worst writing candidate
First, let's take a look at the Cowboy's resume:
| as of 5/12 | |
|---|---|
| Overall Record | 32-16 |
| Record vs D1 | 30-16 |
| Home | 24-5 |
| Neutral | 4-2 |
| Away | 4-9 |
| Big 12 | 12-8 (3rd) |
| NCAA Rank | 24 |
| RPI | 29 |
| vs RPI top 25 | 5-8 |
| vs RPI top 50 | 7-9 |
| vs RPI top 100 | 18-15 |
| Key wins | #13 Texas (2-1), #15 OU (2-2), #39 K-State (2-0) |
| Bad losses | #14 A&M (0-3), #74 Kansas (1-2), #141 Ohio St (1-1) |
As it stands right now, almost everything on that resume easily falls into the "getting an at-large bid" category. The only rough spot being the road record (which is awfulness), but the rest of the resume more than makes up for that blemish. Even if the Cowboys limp in at 2-5 or something, they are safely in the field. But... could they potentially host a regional?
Ehhh... probably not. Another marquee series win (a la Texas) over OU, A&M, or TCU might have put the Cowboys on better footing for hosting, but unfortunately that didn't happen, and the Cowboys remaining opponents, while decent, would not qualify as marquee wins. However, 16 teams host regionals, and after the top 11 or so the teams are pretty interchangeable. It is not inconceivable that the Pokes rankings could jump from the mid-to-low 20's into the mid teens and put them in the discussion to host. Hell, RPI #20-#32 are only separated by 0.01 of a rating point. With the Cowboys remaining games being against Baylor (RPI #41), Tech (#42), and Missouri St (#72), the chance to move their RPI into the teens is there for the taking, not to mention the padding of the "vs RPI top 50" record. And if the Cowboys can move into the discussion over the next two weeks, the Big 12 Tournament offers the opportunity to solidify a hosting bid.
There is no doubt (I'm just a girl) that it is going to take an impressive finish... something along the lines of 6-1, a nice showing in the tourney, and some losses by the likes of OU, Arkansas, Clemson, Rice, Stetson, and others to move the Pokes even into consideration for hosting duties, but we can rest assured that barring a monumental collapse, the at-large bid is coming, and that we will have something to root for in June.