There was not a lot of drama and anticipation for the Ole Miss baseball team headed into the NCAA Baseball Championship Selection Show on Monday morning.
The Rebels (36-21) had squandered any chance of hosting a regional after being upset by 16-seed Missouri in the SEC Tournament. Ole Miss was simply waiting to see where it would land as a two seed, and now the Rebels not only head to Lincoln Regional hosted by the Nebraska Cornhuskers but will have to face Arizona State (37-19) in its first game.
First pitch is set for 8 p.m. CT on ESPN2 against the Sun Devils who went 19-11 in the Big 12 this season. From an RPI standpoint however, ASU comes in at No. 44 in the latest rankings. Nebraska of course leads the way in RPI at No. 10 and Ole Miss sits at No. 16. The four seed South Dakota State Jackrabbits have an RPI of 239th out of the Summit League.
This is a tough regional draw no doubt about it. ASU has a pedigree of a very solid baseball program just like Ole Miss, and the Sun Devils and Rebels have locked horns in the postseason in the past. Nebraska has had a phenomenal season sitting at 42-15 overall and going 23-7 in the Big Ten.
The Lincoln Regional is paired with the Auburn Regional where the Tigers will be huge favorites to blast through its slate. For Auburn, it has the No. 36 and No. 52 RPI ranked UCF and NC State squads as its two and three seeds comparably.
We will have a more in-depth look at this regional this week prior to the first game, but the good news is the Rebels are back in the tournament while the bad news is its draw is a tough road to get to Omaha.
