The NCAA Tournament selection is later this month (5/31), and College Baseball Nation's bubble watch is in full force.
With the Ivy League not playing an official season this year, there are 34 at-large bids to go around. As of now 68 teams from 19 conferences are on the bubble watch. When automatic bids and tournament "locks" are accounted for, that means 30 teams are vying for 15 spots; ten of those teams are in the "need a miracle" category, so only 20 teams are in serious contention and on the bubble. Conference tournaments always bring a few bid stealers, so somewhere between 5-15 deserving teams will be left out.
ACC (12)
Locks (5): Notre Dame, Florida State, NC State, Georgia Tech, Miami
Work left to do (7): Virginia, Louisville, North Carolina, Pitt, Clemson, Duke, Virginia Tech
Miami clinched the series with Louisville on Friday, moving the Hurricanes into the "lock" position. Louisville on the other hand is sneaking down onto the bubble. Pitt, losers of five straight has also seen a serious hit to its postseason chances. Duke, winner of seven straight, is starting to look like a tournament team.
American (4)
Locks (1): ECU
Need a miracle (3): Tulane, Wichita State, Cincinnati
Cincinnati clinched the series with Tulane on Friday. It probably won't be enough for the Bearcats and nearly knocked Tulane off the bubble. The American is looking like a one-bid league.
ASUN (1)
Should be in (1): Liberty
With its RPI holding pat at 30 and a 19-2 ASUN record, Liberty should start to feel pretty good about its at-large potential, should it need it. The Flames won game one of its ASUN quarterfinal series.
Atlantic 10 (1)
Should be in (1): VCU
VCU, winners of 18 straight games, finished its regular season at 34-14. The Rams are nearly a lock at this point.
Big 12 (6)
Locks (4): TCU, Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State
Work left to do (1): Baylor
Need a miracle (1): Oklahoma
Baylor and Oklahoma have now split the first two games of their series. Should Oklahoma win, the Sooner and Bears would each need wins in the Big 12 Tournament to earn an at-large bid. If Baylor clinches the series, they should be in regardless of what happens in the Big 12 Tournament.
Big East (1)
Should be in (1): UConn
With just one game left in its regular season, UConn has its RPI up to 25. That should be enough to get the Huskies an at-large bid.
Big South (2)
Work left to do (2): Campbell, South Carolina Upstate
Campbell has won ten straight games and finished its regular season with a sweep of High Point and an RPI of 39. South Carolina Upstate earned a sweep of its own (over UNC Asheville) and finished with an RPI of 45. Both of those look like good resumes, but history says it's tough to get an at-large bid from the Big South.
Big Ten (6)
Should be in (4): Michigan, Indiana, Nebraska, Maryland
Work left to do (2): Iowa, Ohio State
Who knows exactly what the NCAA Selection Committee will do with the Big Ten? Four bids seems like the floor, and there is some separation between fourth place Indiana and fifth place Iowa. No Big Ten teams were selected among the 20 potential hosts, which is not good news if you're the fifth or sixth place team in the conference in search of an at-large bid.
Big West (3)
Should be in (1): UC Irvine
Need a miracle (2): UCSB, LBSU
The magic number is down to three in order for UC Irvine to lock up the Big West. The Big West has turned into a one-bid league in recent years, so winning the regular season crown (and automatic bid in the Big West) is the only sure way in the tournament. Don't look now, but after being the last team in the country to head back on the field, Long Beach State, is at 76 in the RPI and has an outside shot at making a run in its last eight games.
Colonial (1)
Work left to do (1): Northeastern
Northeastern at #41 in the RPI and 12-6 in non-conference play feels like a team that should be in the NCAA Tournament no matter what. However, 31 of its games have been against Q4 teams. Northeastern is 27-4 in those games, but still, its SOS is #207.
Conference USA (5)
Locks (4): Charlotte, Old Dominion, Southern Miss, Louisiana Tech
Need a miracle (1): Florida Atlantic
What a year for Conference USA. The league will almost certainly get at least four teams into the postseason. Florida Atlantic (RPI #60) moved up five spots with a midweek win over Miami. The Owls will need some wins in the CUSA Tournament.
Horizon League (1)
Should be in (1): Wright State
Wright State is 1-7 against Q1 + Q2 teams. The #28 RPI and #129 SOS feel like just enough to get Wright State an at-large bid should it need it. All that's left on the Raiders' schedule is the Horizon League Tournament.
MAAC (1)
Work left to do (1): Fairfield
With no non-conference play in the MAAC, RPI is meaningless. However, Fairfield's 35-1 record is tough to ignore. The Stags may earn an at-large bid if they fail to get the auto bid. Fairfield won its quarterfinal series in the MAAC Tournament.
MAC (1)
Work left to do (1): Ball State
Ball State won its opener at Ohio and moved up to #49 in the RPI. The Cardinals have little room for error down the stretch.
Missouri Valley (2)
Work left to do (2): Dallas Baptist, Indiana State
Losers of five of their last six games, Indiana State has gone from a sure thing, to a bubble team in a hurry. They have one game left at Evansville to try to salvage the series.
Mountain West (3)
Work left to do: (3) Air Force, Nevada, UNLV
With a series win at Dallas Baptist and wins at LSU and Arizona, Air Force's 8-6 non-conference record is fairly impressive.
Pac-12 (7)
Locks (4): Arizona, Oregon, Stanford, Arizona State
Should be in (2): UCLA, Oregon State
Need a miracle (1): California
Cal holds on for one more week after taking a series against Stanford and started the series at UCLA with a win. The Bears will need to beat UCLA and Oregon to have a shot at an at-large bid. UCLA and Oregon State are all just a win or two away from locking up an at-large bid.
SEC (10)
Locks (7): Arkansas, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Florida, South Carolina
Need a miracle (3): Georgia, Alabama, LSU
Alabama has already dropped the series with Mississippi State. A win in game three would put the Tide at 13-16 in SEC play to end the year. They would still need some wins in Hoover to make it in as an at-large team.
West Coast (1)
Locks (1): Gonzaga
Gonzaga was announced as one of the 20 potential host sites. The Bulldogs are now a lock for the NCAA Tournament.
Likely one-bid leagues: America East, MEAC, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot League, SoCon, Southland, SWAC, Summit League, Sun Belt, WAC
Thanks for stopping by! Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram to keep up with all of our content!