Mercer

[She Mate Me]

This one is really a head scratcher for me. #28 RPI and left out of the tournament? And teams like NC State and Virginia Tech get in?

I'd be interested in the opinions of those of you who follow this stuff closely. I think the committee tries to do a decent job, but this makes no sense to me...

Mercer Baseball Schedule Scores & Stats | WarrenNolan.com

The 2026 Baseball Schedule for the Mercer Bears with line and box scores plus records, streaks, and rankings.

www.warrennolan.com

Mercer Bears RPI Team Sheet 2026 Baseball | WarrenNolan.com

The 2026 NCAA Baseball Tournament Selection Committee Team Sheet for Mercer Bears with RPI, Strength of Schedule, Quadrant Records, and Every Game Result Ordered by RPI

www.warrennolan.com

 

[ZombieKissinger]

This one is really a head scratcher for me. #28 RPI and left out of the tournament? And teams like NC State and Virginia Tech get in?

I'd be interested in the opinions of those of you who follow this stuff closely. I think the committee tries to do a decent job, but this makes no sense to me...

Mercer Baseball Schedule Scores & Stats | WarrenNolan.com

The 2026 Baseball Schedule for the Mercer Bears with line and box scores plus records, streaks, and rankings.

www.warrennolan.com

I noticed that when I was doing my regional strength setup. They lost big to good teams early in the year, and I’ve noticed the committees will downgrade teams who are kind of gamey with RPI (USC didn’t get a host, in basketball Gonzaga often gets seeded lower than RPI), but they also beat Georgia Tech. Their quad 2 games are weak, but they had a good series win against Troy. I can see weaknesses, but I was expecting them to make it and for NC State not to make it

 

[DawgNsuds]

I noticed that when I was doing my regional strength setup. They lost big to good teams early in the year, and I’ve noticed the committees will downgrade teams who are kind of gamey with RPI (USC didn’t get a host, in basketball Gonzaga often gets seeded lower than RPI), but they also beat Georgia Tech. Their quad 2 games are weak, but they had a good series win against Troy. I can see weaknesses, but I was expecting them to make it and for NC State not to make it

any chance that the NCAA gives NC State the benefit of the doubt due to '21 & '22? Covid eliminating them in '21 and I believe they were left out in favor of Ole Miss in '22? And in no way am I suggesting they would have beat Vandy in the elimination game in '21 so lets not go there.

 

[DT4248]

KPI - 50
DSR - 44
Sonny Moore - 62
Massey - 50

1-4 vs. RPI Q1 (only win was midweek)
29-2 at home, 24 of those in Q4.
3 wins vs. RPI top 100 not at home.

They build their schedule to game RPI and everything else shows that they're gaming the system.

 

[patdog]

RPI is a garbage metric. You almost couldn’t pick a worse one to use if you tried. From what others have posted about Mercers schedule & record, I’d say the committee made the right decision. Same as usc not hosting.

 

[615dawg]

I think the committee missed on this one. Mercer beat Georgia Tech and did what they were supposed to. They thought they were in line for a 2 seed somewhere and got left out completely.

In other news, Mercer is a team that we should try to schedule instead of doing our SWAC Tour. They will always have a top 100 RPI.

 

[MStateDawg]

Multiple things can be true. Mercer's schedule was pretty weak, but also Kentucky losing 8 of 10 SEC series and still getting in is ridiculous. I probably would have picked Mercer over UK.

NC State's Hall of Fame coach is retiring. I knew they were getting in as soon as his retirement was announced last week.

 

[DAWGSANDSAINTS]

Multiple things can be true. Mercer's schedule was pretty weak, but also Kentucky losing 8 of 10 SEC series and still getting in is ridiculous. I probably would have picked Mercer over UK.

NC State's Hall of Fame coach is retiring. I knew they were getting in as soon as his retirement was announced last week.

Kentucky getting in to me was asinine. Wish Mercer had taken their spot.

 

[She Mate Me]

KPI - 50
DSR - 44
Sonny Moore - 62
Massey - 50

1-4 vs. RPI Q1 (only win was midweek)
29-2 at home, 24 of those in Q4.
3 wins vs. RPI top 100 not at home.

They build their schedule to game RPI and everything else shows that they're gaming the system.

You sure like to take strong opinions. I doubt the committee was as sure as you seem to be that they're a fraud.

I'm not sure how scheduling a 3 game series at Oregon State is gaming the system. Only 6 of their 23 Q1 & Q2 games were at home. I assume more road games is easier on your RPI, but rather than gaming that just seems like an issue smaller schools with good programs are going to have. Big schools ain't coming to play at your place.

All of their 5 Q1 games were on the road and they were all high quality teams. No #55 road wins in their Q1 resume. For those unaware, a road win over #60 counts as a Q1 win. Teams like Mercer also don't get opportunities to play Top 25 teams in three game series at home to pick up a big win or two here and there. SEC and ACC bubble teams get a few of those weekend opportunities.

It's pretty obvious from all their Q1 games being on the road that they probably have a hard time getting anybody good to play them at home. They got Troy to come in and took two of three.

Obviously they played a ton of Q3 and Q4 games, but they were pretty impressive in taking care of business, especially compared to teams they were probably being compared to.

Vs Q3 & Q4:

Mercer 34-2
Va Tech 17-7 (lost a third of their Q4 games)
NC State 19-6

It's just a conversation. I'd just be much more interested in seeing a team like Mercer have an opportunity than big conference teams that have pretty sketchy seasons.

 

[00Dawg]

Alford specifically called out that Mercer had plenty of opportunities to schedule tougher teams in their region. I suspect this was indeed a shot across the bow of teams gaming RPI.
USC received a similar message.

Not sure I'd have left them out, but he did speak to it.

 

[maroonmania]

Alford specifically called out that Mercer had plenty of opportunities to schedule tougher teams in their region. I suspect this was indeed a shot across the bow of teams gaming RPI.
USC received a similar message.

Not sure I'd have left them out, but he did speak to it.

Yea, right or wrong, Alford kept harping that strength of schedule was a big metric for this committee and Mercer had one of the worst. Was a big reason USC is a lower 2 seed when their RPI would have them hosting.

 

[Perd Hapley]

RPI is a garbage metric. You almost couldn’t pick a worse one to use if you tried. From what others have posted about Mercers schedule & record, I’d say the committee made the right decision. Same as usc not hosting.

It’s actually not a garbage metric. But there are always going to be 1-2 outliers. That’s why there’s a committee…..to sort out the outliers. But 95% of teams are going to fall within +/- 3 or 4 spots of their RPI in the end. And even the outliers are still going to be within +/- 10. For a relatively simple formula that could fit into an Excel spreadsheet to rank over 300 baseball teams, it does a pretty good job of providing an initial baseline for the committee…..which is all that it is really supposed to do.

 

[She Mate Me]

NC State's Hall of Fame coach is retiring. I knew they were getting in as soon as his retirement was announced last week.

Didn't realize that. That might explain a lot.

 

[She Mate Me]

Alford specifically called out that Mercer had plenty of opportunities to schedule tougher teams in their region. I suspect this was indeed a shot across the bow of teams gaming RPI.
USC received a similar message.

Not sure I'd have left them out, but he did speak to it.

It certainly didn't help playing 3 against Alcorn.

I suspect this was a message about scheduling tougher if you're in a weak conference.

 

[mstateglfr]

any chance that the NCAA gives NC State the benefit of the doubt due to '21 & '22? Covid eliminating them in '21 and I believe they were left out in favor of Ole Miss in '22? And in no way am I suggesting they would have beat Vandy in the elimination game in '21 so lets not go there.

Anyone that gives a team a bid based on something from 4 or 5 years ago should be dragged into the street and pelted with rotten vegetables.
That is so clearly inappropriate that it is difficult to think it would actually happen.

 

[patdog]

It’s actually not a garbage metric. But there are always going to be 1-2 outliers. That’s why there’s a committee…..to sort out the outliers. But 95% of teams are going to fall within +/- 3 or 4 spots of their RPI in the end. And even the outliers are still going to be within +/- 10. For a relatively simple formula that could fit into an Excel spreadsheet to rank over 300 baseball teams, it does a pretty good job of providing an initial baseline for the committee…..which is all that it is really supposed to do.

It's far too simplistic with bad assumptions and weights. Virtually every other metric out there is better than RPI.

 

[patdog]

Anyone that gives a team a bid based on something from 4 or 5 years ago should be dragged into the street and pelted with rotten vegetables.
That is so clearly inappropriate that it is difficult to think it would actually happen.

yeah. That didn't happen. Message boards come up with some of the craziest ideas you've ever seen.

 

[She Mate Me]

It's far too simplistic with bad assumptions and weights. Virtually every other metric out there is better than RPI.

It was truly awful in the early days when there was no weighting for home, away and neutral.

It's ok, just based on the fact that by the end of the year it's reasonably accurate on who the best teams are. A much better tool than it once was, but there are better ones.

 

[patdog]

It was truly awful in the early days when there was no weighting for home, away and neutral.

It's ok, just based on the fact that by the end of the year it's reasonably accurate on who the best teams are. A much better tool than it once was, but there are better ones.

It's a somewhat reasonable tool. But there are several schools that are very obviously grossly over or under ranked by it. USC and Mercer being two. Southern Miss & Nebraska being 2 others.

 

[She Mate Me]

It's a somewhat reasonable tool. But there are several schools that are very obviously grossly over or under ranked by it. USC and Mercer being two. Southern Miss & Nebraska being 2 others.

Southern is probably overrated. But I'll stand by my opinion that they deserve the benefit of the doubt and their high seeding.

They play in a pretty tough conference that has produced a team that has won a natty and almost won it last year. They won that conference and the tournament.

They also scheduled a high quality non conference schedule and performed very well against it. Teams like that should be rewarded, plain and simple.

I also don't think they're the 9th best team in the country, but again, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

I think you may be underestimating Nebraska. We'll find out.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

You sure like to take strong opinions. I doubt the committee was as sure as you seem to be that they're a fraud.

I'm not sure how scheduling a 3 game series at Oregon State is gaming the system. Only 6 of their 23 Q1 & Q2 games were at home. I assume more road games is easier on your RPI, but rather than gaming that just seems like an issue smaller schools with good programs are going to have. Big schools ain't coming to play at your place.

All of their 5 Q1 games were on the road and they were all high quality teams. No #55 road wins in their Q1 resume. For those unaware, a road win over #60 counts as a Q1 win. Teams like Mercer also don't get opportunities to play Top 25 teams in three game series at home to pick up a big win or two here and there. SEC and ACC bubble teams get a few of those weekend opportunities.

It's pretty obvious from all their Q1 games being on the road that they probably have a hard time getting anybody good to play them at home. They got Troy to come in and took two of three.

Obviously they played a ton of Q3 and Q4 games, but they were pretty impressive in taking care of business, especially compared to teams they were probably being compared to.

Vs Q3 & Q4:

Mercer 34-2
Va Tech 17-7 (lost a third of their Q4 games)
NC State 19-6

It's just a conversation. I'd just be much more interested in seeing a team like Mercer have an opportunity than big conference teams that have pretty sketchy seasons.

You get awfully defensive when somebody flat proves you wrong.

 

[She Mate Me]

You get awfully defensive when somebody flat proves you wrong

Speaking of thin skin, I've really gotten under yours it seems.

Nothing about this thread was about me being right. I wanted to hear thoughts on what people thought the committee was looking at. Seems it was probably that they didn't like Mercer's non con scheduling. That wasn't obvious to me before I posted this.

Jackass.

 

[patdog]

Southern is probably overrated. But I'll stand by my opinion that they deserve the benefit of the doubt and their high seeding.

They play in a pretty tough conference that has produced a team that has won a natty and almost won it last year. They won that conference and the tournament.

They also scheduled a high quality non conference schedule and performed very well against it. Teams like that should be rewarded, plain and simple.

I also don't think they're the 9th best team in the country, but again, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

I think you may be underestimating Nebraska. We'll find out.

They deserve to host. But they should be in the #13-#16 seed quadrant. #9 is a joke. They've lost to Arkansas St (twice), Troy (twice), South AL, Old Dominion, SE Louisiana, Tulane (awful this year), App St. and Nicholls St. They do have 4 top 20 wins (3 midweek and 1 over Oregon St.). But that's a lot of losses. And somehow the Ark. St. games count as Q1 games (Q1-4 needs to be revamped too - calling a game vs #60 RPI a Q1 game is a joke).

 

[She Mate Me]

They deserve to host. But they should be in the #13-#16 seed quadrant. #9 is a joke. They've lost to Arkansas St (twice), Troy (twice), South AL, Old Dominion, SE Louisiana, Tulane (awful this year), App St. and Nicholls St. They do have 4 top 20 wins (3 midweek and 1 over Oregon St.). But that's a lot of losses. And somehow the Ark. St. games count as Q1 games (Q1-4 needs to be revamped too - calling a game vs #60 RPI a Q1 game is a joke).

Like I said, they're probably over seeded, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

Seeding gets pretty muddy past the Top 8. I just don't have a strong opinion on most of the teams from 9 to 16. They all have plenty of warts.

 

[John Deaux VII]

When he found out he got left out, he called the committe chair wanting to know how big a boy he was and said he was on his way to whip some ***.

 

[DT4248]

You sure like to take strong opinions. I doubt the committee was as sure as you seem to be that they're a fraud.

I'm not sure how scheduling a 3 game series at Oregon State is gaming the system. Only 6 of their 23 Q1 & Q2 games were at home. I assume more road games is easier on your RPI, but rather than gaming that just seems like an issue smaller schools with good programs are going to have. Big schools ain't coming to play at your place.

All of their 5 Q1 games were on the road and they were all high quality teams. No #55 road wins in their Q1 resume. For those unaware, a road win over #60 counts as a Q1 win. Teams like Mercer also don't get opportunities to play Top 25 teams in three game series at home to pick up a big win or two here and there. SEC and ACC bubble teams get a few of those weekend opportunities.

It's pretty obvious from all their Q1 games being on the road that they probably have a hard time getting anybody good to play them at home. They got Troy to come in and took two of three.

Obviously they played a ton of Q3 and Q4 games, but they were pretty impressive in taking care of business, especially compared to teams they were probably being compared to.

Vs Q3 & Q4:

Mercer 34-2
Va Tech 17-7 (lost a third of their Q4 games)
NC State 19-6

It's just a conversation. I'd just be much more interested in seeing a team like Mercer have an opportunity than big conference teams that have pretty sketchy seasons.

Road losses don't matter as much to RPI and they lost all 3. If they win one of those games @ Oregon State they're in the tourney - but they didn't so they shouldn't be.

They cancelled a series with Kentucky iirc.

But yea I take a hardline stance when your RPI is wildly disproportionate to every other metric.

 

[She Mate Me]

Road losses don't matter as much to RPI and they lost all 3. If they win one of those games @ Oregon State they're in the tourney - but they didn't so they shouldn't be.

They cancelled a series with Kentucky iirc.

But yea I take a hardline stance when your RPI is wildly disproportionate to every other metric.

What are your thoughts on Virginia Tech?

 

[DT4248]

What are your thoughts on Virginia Tech?

High 3 seed imo. Seeing as someone like Jax State sandbagged to get a 3 with their AD in there, not shocked they got bumped up.

NC State is a hit more egregious imo, but that's to be expected with the retiring coach bump.

The point being, all those teams have an argument to keep them out - Mercer didn't succeed where they needed to and this isn't the first time they've tried to have a cakewalk schedule giftwrap them a tourney spot.

 

[00Dawg]

Anyone that gives a team a bid based on something from 4 or 5 years ago should be dragged into the street and pelted with rotten vegetables.
That is so clearly inappropriate that it is difficult to think it would actually happen.

Right. The time to correct shorting NC State was 2022, when they should've been in instead of UM. Would've saved us all from the least-deserving national champion in sport history.

 

[pmack3641]

This one is really a head scratcher for me. #28 RPI and left out of the tournament? And teams like NC State and Virginia Tech get in?

I'd be interested in the opinions of those of you who follow this stuff closely. I think the committee tries to do a decent job, but this makes no sense to me...

Mercer Baseball Schedule Scores & Stats | WarrenNolan.com

The 2026 Baseball Schedule for the Mercer Bears with line and box scores plus records, streaks, and rankings.

www.warrennolan.com

Mercer Bears RPI Team Sheet 2026 Baseball | WarrenNolan.com

The 2026 NCAA Baseball Tournament Selection Committee Team Sheet for Mercer Bears with RPI, Strength of Schedule, Quadrant Records, and Every Game Result Ordered by RPI

www.warrennolan.com

They could accept bid to tje NIT, oops wrong sport ****

 

[DawgNsuds]

Anyone that gives a team a bid based on something from 4 or 5 years ago should be dragged into the street and pelted with rotten vegetables.
That is so clearly inappropriate that it is difficult to think it would actually happen.

there you go bringing logic to a group that we know justifies what they want to

 

[patdog]

Right. The time to correct shorting NC State was 2022, when they should've been in instead of UM. Would've saved us all from the least-deserving national champion in sport history.

Its bullsh*t to say they ever got shorted to begin with. They got covid. Too bad. Just mean Vandy got to save a pitcher for the finals is all.