SEC rules selections for NCAA
FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks are among a record-tying 10 SEC baseball teams to make the NCAA Tournament.
The SEC also had 10 teams in 2014, and the Atlantic Coast Conference had 10 in 2016.
Half of the top eight national seeds are SEC teams with defending champion and No. 1 Florida, No. 4 Ole Miss, No. 5 Arkansas and No. 8 Georgia.
The Pacific-12 is the only other conference with more than one top eight seed: No. 2 Stanford and No. 3 Oregon State.
“I think the representation of our league was about as good as it can be,” University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Coach Dave Van Horn said. “Ten teams is hard to do.
“We talked at the beginning of the year about how we as coaches thought the league was going to be really deep. There weren’t a lot of weekends where you could go in and say, ‘If we play good baseball, we’re going to win two.’ You had to play really good baseball to win two.”
Other SEC teams to make the NCAA’s 64-team field are Auburn, LSU, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.
Kentucky was one of the last four teams left out, according to ESPN. The Wildcats were No. 32 in the Ratings Percentage Index — a formula which ranks teams based on their record and strength of schedule — but finished 13-17 in SEC play and then lost their SEC Tournament opener.
“Kentucky is a very, very talented team,” Van Horn said. “I think [the SEC record] is what ultimately got them, but if you look at their resume, it was pretty good. They beat a lot of really good teams. Had a lot of really good nonconference wins against some big-name teams [Houston, Louisville and Indiana] that are in regionals.
“I see that they have a beef. But I guess it was just a bad year for them to not win too many games in league play due to the fact we had 10 other teams already getting in.”
The ACC tied the SEC with four teams among the top 16 seeds who are hosting regionals. The Big 12 and Pac-12 tied for second with two teams.
The Big 12’s top 16 seeds — No. 9 Texas Tech and No. 13 Texas — were a combined 0-3 at Arkansas in regularseason games.
Opener requested
Arkansas is playing Oral Roberts University in the opening game Friday at 2 p.m. rather in the 7 p.m. nightcap because that’s the way Razorbacks Coach Dave Van Horn wanted it.
Van Horn’s request to play the first game was granted by the NCAA.
“I like playing the early game,” Van Horn said. “I think it gives you a chance to battle weather if there’s any weather issues. It gives you a little bit of an opportunity to recover a little bit longer, win or lose.
“There’s a few other advantages. You don’t have to sit around all day. You just go out there and play.”
Shuttle to Baum
Arkansas will provide a free round-trip shuttle service to and from Baum Stadium for the games this weekend.
Shuttle buses will run from Lot 56 — located on the corner of Martin Luther King Boulevard and Razorback Road — to Baum Stadium starting at noon Friday before the 2 p.m. opener and run throughout the second game and after it ends, according to a news release.
Pickup for fans wishing to return to Lot 56 will be behind the Baum Stadium plaza in front of the facility.
Parking around the UA campus is expected to be especially tight Friday because of the Walmart shareholders meeting.
Still a thrill
Coach Dave Van Horn has directed his Nebraska and Arkansas teams to an NCAA regional for the 19th time in 20 years, but he said the emotion associated with the achievement never gets old.
The announcement on ESPNU that Arkansas is hosting a regional this weekend — even though it was a foregone conclusion because the Razorbacks were SEC West cochampions — was exciting for the veteran coach.
“Maybe I don’t show it as much in certain situations,” Van Horn said. “But inside it’s definitely a thrill every time you see your name come up on that board.”
Van Horn said a feeling of satisfaction results from being selected for a regional as the culmination of a year’s worth of work.
“In the summer, you’re seeing which one of your players are going to sign [professionally],” he said. “You’re recruiting. You move into fall ball and you start piecing it together on what you’re thinking.
“You get to the offseason and it starts building. You’re looking forward to January, February to get here. Then it’s the grind of the season, and it’s such a reward to get here and have a chance to continue on, because our goal is to play for another month.”
The only time in the past 20 years one of Van Horn’s teams didn’t make the NCAA Tournament was in 2016.
Hot, but dry
High temperatures between 86 and 95 degrees are expected for Friday through Monday in Fayetteville, but there is no rain in the forecast on the days of the regional games.
That’s a welcome change from the weather issues Arkansas experienced in several regular-season games and at the SEC Tournament.
“It’s nice knowing that when you get up in the morning, you’re going to play and you don’t have to fight the weather,” Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. “That’s going to be a great thing for everybody involved.”
Water stations
Fans attending the Fayetteville regional games will be allowed to bring in clear, plastic, empty water bottles that do not exceed 20 ounces, according to the UA.
There will be free water stations to fill the bottles near Gate D on the firstbase line, and Gate B on the third-base line. Water fountains are also available on the concourse.