Bammerboy321
Member
1) Strength of schedule
Alabama (35-17) is No. 11 in RPI, with six other Southeastern Conference teams ahead of it. Even though the Crimson Tide will finish the regular season with a three-game home set this weekend against the SEC team with the worst RPI, Ole Miss at No. 79, the Rebels are still the reigning national champions.After that, Alabama only has games against league foes at the SEC Tournament, which could number anywhere from one with an opening-round loss, or up to six games if it can reach the double-elimination portion in Hoover next week.
Regardless, even if it bombs and plays horribly from here on out, Alabama will have an impressive RPI. If it plays well we're easily talking top 10, which would be very difficult for the NCAA tournament selection committee to overlook.
2) The 2022 NCAA Tournament
At this point a year ago, Ole Miss didn't know it was going to make the SEC Tournament, never mind go on and win the College World Series. Despite getting swept by Alabama, finishing below .500 in league play, and going one-and-out in the SEC Tournament, it was the last team into the field of 64.Why? Strength of schedule and meaningful wins. Granted, Army athletic director Mike Buddie is no longer the chairman, but most of the selection committee is the same as in 2022 and it was rewarded for its efforts by the Rebels' remarkable run.
After being 39th in the final NCAA RPI power rankings, Ole Miss ended up being the last team standing in Omaha.
3) Non-conference wins
The Crimson Tide is 13-14 in SEC play this season, and 5-10 against ranked teams (all against league opponents), which on face value doesn't look the greatest. However, numerous things stand out upon further examination:• Only LSU managed to sweep it in a three-game series, when the Tigers were No. 1 and playing at home.
• Alabama is 22-3 in non-conference play, with two of the three setbacks to Columbia back in March, and the other in extra innings at UAB.
• Against non-conference opponents with an RPI in the top 100, Alabama is 5-0.
That last one may be what lands a regional for the Crimson Tide. The breakdown is two wins against No. 88 Samford, two against No. 35 Troy, and one against No. 28 Southern Miss. Consequently, Alabama is 18-14 against teams with a top 100 RPI, with at minimum four more games left to play before selection day.
We quote Baseball America last year as to the importance of that statistic ... "over the last five NCAA Tournaments, teams that received at-large bids played an average of 33.3 games against top-100 competition, with a median of 35. If you break out non-conference competition specifically, last year’s at-large teams played an average of 12 non-conference games against top-100 competition."
