The University of Houston is still hopeful it can host a regional in the NCAA Tournament.
After just missing a spot in the NCAA baseball tournament last May, the University of Houston has no such worries this time around.
That doesn’t mean there isn’t anything left to play for when the secondseeded Cougars open the American Athletic Conference tournament against seventh-seeded Memphis at 8 a.m. CDT Tuesday at Spectrum Field in Clearwater, Fla.
“I think we are still in he mix to host (a regional),” said Cougars coach Todd Whitting, whose team is ensured of a third NCAA trip in the last four years. “The résumé looks good right now.”
But is it good enough? UH’s case for one of the 16 regional host sites includes:
• A share of the AAC regular-season title with Central Florida.
• An RPI that has hovered in the 20s (currently No. 24) most of the season.
• The Cougars (36-19) also play in the highly competitive AAC, which ranks behind the Big 12, SEC, ACC and Pac-12.
“Somebody from the American Athletic needs to host a regional because this is one of the best leagues out there,” Whitting said.
In addition, two other factors are still in play for the Cougars. The NCAA selection committee often likes to reward conference champions. And with 16 regional host sites, a team wanting consideration usually needs to be among the top 20 to 25 teams.
UH also is playing well down the stretch, winning eight of 11 games to close the regular season.
Whitting said his team likely needs to reach the AAC tournament championship game and “possibly win it” to get serious consideration for a regional host bid. The Cougars last hosted a regional in 2015.
Houston is the only team in the conference to make it to the tournament championship game all three years, winning in 2014 and finishing as runner-up in 2015 and 2016.
“(The selection committee) will give the bids to people who deserve it,” Whitting said. “Hopefully we’ll play well and keep ourselves in the mix.”
In the most recent NCAA projections, two respected websites — Baseball America and D1Baseball.com — have the Cougars as a No. 2 seed playing in the Fort Worth Regional, which will be hosted by TCU. Among other regional possibilities are Lubbock (Texas Tech) and Baton Rouge (LSU).
Another path to a regional host bid is if another team in contention falters during its conference tournament. Otherwise, the Cougars’ next mission is to land in one of the eight regionals that does not include a national seed.
With Texas Tech and TCU considered locks to host, Whitting said that should not prevent UH from being considered, pointing to a few years ago when four Texas schools hosted opening-round regionals.
“I think only having two lock-down regionals in the state does help us,” Whitting said.
Wherever the destination, Whitting said his team is playing well at the right time.
The Cougars claimed a share of two of the AAC’s top postseason awards Monday, with infielder Jake Scheiner selected co-player of the year and lefthander Trey Cumbie named copitcher of the year. Along with Scheiner and Cumbie, outfielder Corey Julks was picked to the All-AAC first team, while righthander Mitch Ullom, designated hitter/first baseman Joe Davis and catcher Connor Wong were voted to the second team.
“The program is going in the right direction,” Whitting said. “The ultimate goal is to go to Omaha (site of the College World Series). I think the expectation here has been raised to that. But you can’t get there unless you get the other things done first.”