2012 CBD Mid-Major Poll (May 28th)

FROM CBD NEWS SOURCE
Purdue (44-12) ends the 2012 regular season as the #1 Mid-Major. The Boilermakers will make their first NCAA appearance since 1987 and will host (Gary, Indiana) a regional as announced Sunday. Purdue went 3-0 on their way to winning the Big 10 tourney title with a win over Ohio St and two wins over Indiana including a 6-5 win in the title game.

CONFERENCE CHAMPS

• Pepperdine (33-21) moves up 6 spots to #2 after winning 2 of 3 vs San Diego to win the WCC and earn the automatic bid. It is Pepperdine’s first trip to a Regional since 2008.
• Coastal Carolina (41-17) moves to #4 after winning the Big South again. The Chanticleers went 4-0 on way to tile with wins over Charleston Southern, Radford, High Point before beating Liberty 4-1 in Championship game. It is Coastal’s 6^th consecutive Big South tourney title. They have also won 6 consecutive regular season titles.
• Samford (39-21) climbs 10 spots to #8 after winning their first Southern Conference title and earn their first ever NCAA bid. The Bulldogs beat Western Carolina, App St, and Furman to get to the title game. In a rematch of the 2011 SoCon title game with Georgia Southern the Bulldogs won 9-6 in 10 innings.
• UNCW (38-21) slides up 5 to #12 after winning the Colonial. The Seahawks beat VCU and faced Delaware 3 times winning twice for the title. Delaware forced the “if necessary” game with an 11-9 before UNCW won the title 10-8 in game 2. It will be UNCW’s first regional appearance since 2008.
• Kent St (41-17) comes in at #13 after winning the MAC once again. The Golden Flashes beat Buffalo twice and W. Michigan on way to title game vs C. Michigan which they won 3-1. Kent St has won 4 consecutive MAC tourney titles.
• Utah Valley (47-12) moves up to #15, going 4-0 on their way to Great West title. However the Great West does not have an automatic bid to NCAA so they will need the committee to overlook their RPI #72, according to warrennolan.com, and reward them for their 32 game win streak, won 40 of their last 41 games, and have a nation best 47 wins.
• Stony Brook (46-11) moves up 6 places to #18 after winning the America East. The Seawolves beat Binghamton and Maine twice, including 13-6 in the championship game. Their 46 wins is tied for second in the nation and will not be a team any #1 seed wants to face.
• UT-Arlington (36-23) gets back in the rankings at #19 after going 4-0 on way to winning the Southland. The Mavericks beat McNeese St, TAMCC, Sam Houston St before beating SE Louisiana 13-4 in the title game. It is UT-Arlington’s first trip to regional since 2006.
• St John’s (37-21) enters the rankings at #20. St John’s went 4-0 on their way to their 7th Big East tournament title and their 34^th NCAA regional appearance. The Red Storm beat Notre Dame twice and Seton Hall once before beating South Florida 7-3 in the championship game.
• Belmont (39-22) enters the rankings at #22 winning the A-Sun tourney title after winning the A-Sun regular season title. The Bruins beat Stetson 4-3 to open the tourney but dropped game two 3-1 to Kennesaw St. Coming out of the losers bracket the Bruins beat Mercer 10-3, FGCU 6-4, and Kennesaw St 10-4 in title game.
• Austin Peay (38-22) enters the rankings for the first time in 2012 at #25 after winning their 2^nd consecutive Ohio Valley Conference tourney championship. The Governors won the OVC after losing game 1 to SE Missouri St 4-3 and won 4 straight games out of the loser’s bracket including beating Eastern Illinois 7-0 in game 1 and 3-0 in game two for the title.

DROPPING/HURT NCAA CHANCES

• Louisville (39-20) falls to #7 after going 1-2 in the Big East tourney. The Cardinals opened up with a 8-4 win vs Pitt, however lost their next 2 games, 4-1 vs UCONN and 6-2 vs South Florida. The Cardinals won the Big East regular season and have a RPI of 42 so they should get in.
• Sam Houston St (38-20) and Missouri St (39-20) drop 3 spots to #9 and #10. Both clubs went 2-2 in their conference tourney to put them squarely on the bubble. Missouri St’s is in better shape having a RPI of 37 compared to 52 for Sam Houston St. However Sam Houston St won the regular season in the Southland by 4 games and Missouri St finished 2^nd a ½ game behind Indiana St.
• SE Louisiana (39-21) did move up 5 spots to #11 going 3-2 in Southland tourney losing in title game to UT-Arlington. However, with a RPI of 55 they may come up just a little short. The Loins beat both C. Arkansas and Texas St, split 2 games with SFA and lost to UT-Arlington.
• Appalachian St (39-16) slides 4 spots to #16 after going 1-2 in the SoCon Tourney. The Mountaineers won the opener vs Furman, lost 12-7 to Samford and were knocked out 13-4 by Furman. App St won the SoCon regular season title and has a RPI of 40 so they should be in good shape for a bid.
• Indiana St (41-17) falls 6 places to #17 after going 0-2 in MVC tourney. The Sycamores dropped the opener to eventual champion Creighton 5-0 and lost 8-5 to Evansville. Indiana St won the regular season title in the MVC and has a RPI of 44 so they have a very good shot at an at-large bid.
• New Mexico St (35-22) went 0-2 in the WAC tourney losing to Fresno St and Louisiana Tech. The Aggies have a RPI of 39 but have gone just 5-10 in their last 15 games.
• College of Charleston (37-20) tumbles 10 spots to #24 after going 0-2 in SoCon tourney. The Cougars were thought to be in good shape entering the tourney. However, with an 8-6 loss in 11 innings to Citadel to open the tourney followed by a 14-12 loss to Elon they are going to be one of the last ones in or out. They finished regular season tied with App St for regular season title and have a RPI of 49.

DROPPED OUT

• #20 Florida Atlantic (32-22)
• #22 Mercer (38-21)
• #23 Wichita St (35-25)
• #25 Stetson (35-23)

*RPI’s are from warrennolan.com

We will have one final poll after the post season.