Speculation has been rampant for weeks now about Mississippi State’s chances of hosting a baseball Regional but that came to an end on Sunday night.
The NCAA Selection Committee released its top 16 seeds on social media and Dudy Noble Field will be vacant for a third-straight June. The Bulldogs missed out on a hosting spot this season after being on and off the hosting bubble for the last month.
The biggest issue that the Bulldogs had to fight in the selection process was the RPI. Despite the committee questioning the metric and adding new tools to the process this season, it appears to be something that held up State’s chances of hosting a Regional in Starkville.
The Bulldogs finished No. 25 in the RPI this week and dropped five spots over the last couple of days following a loss to SEC Champion and Tournament Champion Tennessee. State beat RPI No. 32 Ole Miss and No. 2 Texas A&M in the tournament and lost to No. 20 Vanderbilt and No. 1 Tennessee.
The Bulldogs had the fourth most Quad I wins in the country at 16, but the five Quad 4 losses carried more weight to the committee. State’s five losses to those teams were the most out of the top 33 in the country.
With the Bulldogs’ now knowing that Starkville will not be their destination, the question centers around where the committee will send them. State (38-21) will be a two seed when the full bracket is announced on Memorial Day. Fans can tune in to ESPN2 on Monday at 11 a.m. for the full-bracket reveal.
MSU is making its return to the postseason for the first time since 2021 when the Bulldogs won the National Championship. State missed the last two postseasons altogether, including missing two trips to Hoover, Ala., for the SEC Tournament.
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