Rob Vaughn says he typically likes to let his team’s work speak for itself, but the Alabama baseball coach felt it necessary to do a bit of campaigning ahead of the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
Alabama (41-16, 16-14) is safely in this year’s tournament field. However, the Crimson Tide is currently on the bubble to be selected as one of the 16 regional hosts.
After going 1-1 in this week’s SEC Tournament, Alabama currently sits at No. 11 nationally in terms of RPI. According to Warren Nolan, the Tide ranks No. 18 in strength of schedule. Alabama is 16-13 in Quad 1 games, 4-2 in Quad 2, 4-0 in Quad 3 and 17-1 in Quad 4. That includes a 24-1 record in non-conference play.
Will that resume allow Alabama to earn a hosting site when the NCAA Tournament bracket is revealed on Monday? Vaughn believes it should.
“To me, it's a no-brainer,” Vaughn told reporters following Alabama’s SEC Tournament defeat to Tennessee on Wednesday. “This team went out and won every single midweek game all year. We lost one non-conference game all year. We've done some really good things. You win 17 games in the league with the top 12 RPI. I think it's kind of silly that we're talking about, are we hosting, are we not? It should be seeded in the top 16.”
Entering Thursday, Baseball America moved Alabama behind the hosting line, projecting the Tide to travel to No. 15 national seed TCU in the NCAA Tournament. In doing so, the service bumped up Ole Miss to a regional host, following the Rebels’ SEC Tournament win over Florida on Wednesday. Ole Miss (38-18) currently ranks No. 17 in RPI but is No. 9 in strength of schedule, according to Warren Nolan.
Alabama has played five of Baseball America’s projected 16 regional hosts. The Tide beat projected No. 9 national seed Coastal Carolina (45-11) during the Jacksonville Classic in Florida back in February. Alabama also won two out of three games at home to projected No. 6 seed Georgia (42-15) earlier this month. The Tide lost two out of three games in series on the road against projected No. 4 seed LSU projected No. 5 seed Vanderbilt and projected No. 7 seed Auburn.
“A lot of these teams that you're seeing kind of as locks to host are teams we played this year or teams we beat this year,” Vaughn said. “This league is just something different. Believe me, I spent a lot of time out of this league and got super annoyed with every coach. I got up here and was like, man, you're two games over .500 in your league and you think you should host, and then you come walk through this league and you understand exactly why you should host doing that.
“But like I said, it's out of my control. Now, do I think this team has done enough? I don't think there's any doubt. I think that resume should speak for itself. But it's in the hands of the committee now, and we'll get back to Tuscaloosa, get back to work, and be prepared for whatever comes next week.
Vaughn and Alabama will now have to wait to see where they stand following the conclusion of this week’s conference tournaments. The NCAA Tournament bracket will be revealed Monday at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN2.
“I think no matter what, our team knows what our strengths are, and we know what we have to work on,” Alabama center fielder Richie Bonomolo Jr. told reporters following Wednesday’s loss. “If we're hosting a regional or going somewhere for a regional, it's not going to matter. We're still just going to show up and do what we do.”
