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College baseball writer criticizes NCAA over Notre Dame regional hosting decision

275133747_4796292347117549_592518599057046758_nby: Jonathan Wagner05/30/22j_wags74
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(David Jensen/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The NCAA announced the 16 regional host sites for the upcoming NCAA Baseball Tournament on Sunday night, and the decisions immediately sparked a heated debate across the country. Notre Dame was viewed as a possible national seed as one of the top eight hosts, but the Irish were instead left out of the hosting picture altogether.

Following that surprising decision from the NCAA committee, D1Baseball expert Kendall Rogers was shocked that Notre Dame was not a host. He believes that the Irish deserved to host due to their strong all-around resume.

Auburn, a projected No. 2 seed entering Sunday, instead got the nod as one of the 16 regional hosts. Rogers doesn’t hate that decision, but is more surprised on Notre Dame being left out.

“I actually have zero issue with #Auburn hosting,” Rogers tweeted. “#Tigers have some very strong metrics. But @NDBaseball not hosting is just strange, especially after the screw job the #Irish received last season.

“With @AuburnBaseball hosting, that means @NDBaseball is not hosting despite having a No. 14 RPI, 14-7 record vs. RPI Top 50 AND an 18-13 #ACC aggregrate record. Very odd decision by the committee to leave the #Irish out.”

Notre Dame finished with the No. 13 RPI after Sunday’s results after going 35-14 overall on the season. The Irish had a strength of schedule of 54, and a 14-7 record against top 50 teams, as Rogers noted. A potential downfall for the Irish was a non-conference strength of schedule of 259.

Regardless, Rogers would have had Notre Dame as a host if he was making the bracket.

“Oklahoma and Notre Dame would be hosting if I picked the 16.”

The 16 regional hosts picked over Notre Dame

Even though Notre Dame won’t be a regional host, the Irish will still be playing in the NCAA Tournament next weekend. The Irish will likely be one of the highest rated No. 2 seeds in a regional, and will provide a scary matchup to whichever regional they land in.

These are the 16 teams that were picked as hosts on Sunday night. The full NCAA Tournament bracket will be revealed at 12 noon ET on Monday.