- Old Dominion (38-14, RPI No. 37)
Good: Tied for the lead in the Colonial at the moment. Beat Virginia earlier this year. 8-5 vs. Top 100 RPI.
Bad: I remember UNC-Wilmington winning the CAA last year and getting snubbed. No other wins to hang their hat on.
Must: At least finish ahead of James Madison in CAA play. Beat Towson this weekend for good measure. Also, at least make the championship round of the conference tourney.

- UC Irvine (32-19, No. 38)
Good: Lots of good wins – Fullerton, USC, Hawai’i, San Diego, Houston, etc. Big West is the No. 6 ranked conference, so they should pull more than two bids.
Bad: Still behind Cal Poly in conference play (by one game). Big West has a habit of getting hosed. Still have a losing record in conference, which may not reflect well.
Must: Go at least 4-2 in series vs. Northridge and UC Riverside. Must pass Cal Poly in the standings. Have no excuses. Leave no doubt.

- Southern Mississippi (35-19, No. 39)
Good: You know C-USA is going to get more than the top three teams in. Went 3-1 vs. in-state SEC rivals. Swept Troy as well. 11 wins vs. Top 50.
Bad: Still tied with East Carolina and Memphis with a losing record in C-USA play (10-11). Just 8-6 in last 14. RPI is in range of dropping below 50 with one bad weekend.
Must: Close out with at least two wins vs. UCF. They’re still pretty solid, but just in case, go ahead and win a few C-USA tourney games for good measure.

- Jacksonville (39-15, No. 41)
Good: Finishing strong, going 15-5 down the stretch. You’ve also gotta love JU’s 14-4 road record, one of the best in the country. A mid-major in the 40s usually is good news.
Bad: Still not a lot of cache value as the Dolphins aren’t listed in a single baseball poll. Only four games against the Top 50 teams, losing all of them to Florida State. That No. 154 strength of schedule sticks out like a sore thumb.
Must: Continue to play well away from Brest Stadium, at Lipscomb and at the A-Sun tourney. Just pile up some Ws.

- Long Beach State (27-23, No. 43)
Good: Second place team in the 6th-ranked conference. What’s to question? It’s the Dirtbags, they always have a black-eye of a won-loss record. C’mon, anyone who beats Rice, USC, Baylor and Texas has done enough, right?
Bad: Getting swept vs. Wichita State was the first indication of trouble. Six tough games remain against hungry teams (UCR and CSF), so a .500 or worse record isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
Must: The RPI doesn’t ensure that a 28-26 or 29-25 record will get the Dirtbags in. A little better offense would help too.

- Kansas (35-23, No. 46)
Good: Scorching in non-conference with wins at Stanford, at Vanderbilt, at Clemson and vs. Wichita State. As a power conference, a sixth Big 12 team getting a bid is very plausible. Owns a series win over Texas Tech, who is also an at-large hopeful.
Bad: Running out of steam by going 6-8 over last 14. Two losses to Northern Colorado last week were a bad wart on the nose. Having four wins over Hawai’i-Hilo is always a kiss of death.
Must: Stay ahead of Texas Tech in Big 12 play and go farther in the tournament. Making the title round wouldn’t be a bad idea.

- East Carolina (32-22, No. 47)
Good: Still has a distinct chance of finishing 4th in Conference USA. Went 3-1 against other local at-large hopefuls College of Charleston and UNC-Wilmington. Recent program success and regional hosting has to score goodwill points with the committee
Bad: Pirates have gone 6-15 in Top 50 games. Getting swept at Southern Miss was a real stake in the heart.
Must: Not really more to say here than to go ahead and beat Memphis this weekend and make a long, surprising run in the conference tournament. Hope that Rice and Houston have a “who cares” attitude in the C-USA tourney.

- San Diego (32-23, No. 54)
Good: Two words no one else can say: Swept Texas. And don’t forget the wins over Houston (2-of-3) and Washington too. WCC has shown to play better than its seedings in recent NCAA Tournaments. So history has something to say.
Bad: Went just 2-4 vs. Pepperdine and San Francisco. 11-18 record vs. Top 100. Committee may end up asking itself, “Does the West Coast Conference really deserve three bids?”
Must: Hope for as little upsets in conference tournaments as possible next week. Season’s over, so the hay’s in the barn (thanks to Mark Etheridge for that one).

- Kent State (33-16, No. 49)
Good: A top 50 rating for a MAC school is about as good as you can hope for. Series win at Winthrop and a W at Vandy look good. Hey, at least the Flashes dominated the MAC.
Bad: For all those nice non-conference wins, they were still winless in six games at Alabama and at Elon. The MAC is still the MAC and that means no respect. Only 10 games vs. Top 100 teams (how did this team make it in the Top 50 RPI?)
Must: Short of winning the MAC tourney, hope the committee has a heart. But really, who doesn’t want to see Emmanuel Burriss play some more? This guy’s freakin’ sweet.

- Michigan (34-18, No. 65)
Good: The RPI isn’t everything, since the Wolverines pulled an at-large bid last year with a low-50s RPI. Haven’t played a lot of Top 100 teams, but a 7-5 record isn’t bad. Wins over Troy, Notre Dame and sweep of Ohio State are nice as is the 22-8 spree the Wolves are on.
Bad: An at-large from the Big Ten isn’t unheard of, but the RPI needs to climb a tad more to justify it. A number 16 conference RPI is ugly too.
Must: Win at least three from Iowa this weekend. Hope that the committee takes a gamble on you guys again, like last year.

- Washington (33-23, No. 69)
Good: Let’s face it, with Tim Lincecum on the hill, this team is a Top 10 team. Wins over Arkansas, Oregon State, USC, UCLA, Hawai’i and Arizona State are a damn impressive list of victims.
Bad: The infamous west coast snub is ready to claim another victim. Three wins came against D-II teams. The big blow may have been the sweep at the hands of Stanford last week. Bad time to faceplant.
Must: Get sweeps or near-sweeps vs. Pacific and Wazzu. And hope there’s a chance that the committee members will want to see this Lincecum guy one more time against good competition.

Borderline Bubble Teams
- Mississippi State (34-20, No. 32)
- LSU (34-20, No. 31)
- Tennessee (31-22, No. 60)
The SEC gets a lot of rope when it comes to the NCAA at-large bids. But one thing that the big boys need to watch out for is an RPI above 29. In the past, a 30-plus RPI is severely frowned upon. And this year, add in the fact that these three may not even make the SEC Tournament, unless they work things out this weekend. MSU and Tennessee already have one foot in the grave, having lost to Ole Miss and Alabama respectively, Thursday. LSU’s win at Florida may have saved their bacon. One last note of interest, this year’s NCAA baseball committee chairman is none other than MSU’s athletic director Larry Templeton. Hmmm.