So Ray, How do you feel about Clemson?

Louise and I watched the baseball selection show today at noon.  There was no doubt that Clemson would host a regional, and I thought it an excellent chance that they would get a top-8 seed, which would give them an opportunity to host a super regional.  After all, they were ranked anywhere from 4-6 nationally prior to the ACC tournament where they won 2 before losing in the semi-finals to eventual tournament winner Florida State.

I was a little surprised when UNC popped up as the No. 6 national seed ahead of Clemson.  Then I was really surprised when Clemson did not even make the top 8, ending up as a 10 seed.  I have nothing against UNC; they are an excellent team and a perennial power in baseball.  But last I checked, they’re in the same conference as Clemson.  That means they play similar schedules and their comparative won-loss records should be pretty telling.  Let’s see now, Clemson had an overall record of 45-14; UNC’s overall was 38-8.  Clemson’s conference record, including the conference tournament, was 24-8 vs a 23-10 record for UNC.  Oh, and UNC didn’t even advance out of  their “Pod” round robin play in the conference tournament.

So, I’m wondering what’s going on here.  Then it became very evident as the announcers brought in the chairman of the selection committee, none other than USC’s Ray Tanner.  Did you see the shit-eating grin on Ray’s face when the announcer questioned him about their rationale in putting UNC in ahead of Clemson?  He even had the audacity to talk about the importance of how teams finish the season.  Oh really, Ray?  Clemson was 13-2 in their last 15 conference games, while UNC was 11-4 in their last 15 conference games.   I’ve looked hard, and I haven’t found one category or statistic that would lead a reasonable person to rate UNC higher than Clemson.

Ah, but Ray wasn’t through yet.  Did you notice how he’s got the two hottest teams in the ACC, Florida State and Clemson, situated in the brackets so if they each win their regional, they will face off in a super regional?  So he’ll at least keep one of the ACC’s best teams from going to Omaha.  I wonder if any of the regional hosts from the SEC are in that situation?  Of course not.