and got an 11 seed for the tournament. I smell a rat. Even the announcer thought it odd. Obviously somebody effective on the committee has a personal problem. The excuse will be that we were rained out this past 3 games. What else could therer be?
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SoonerinNC
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I think we had a higher seed last year and we are clearly a better team this year. I'm sure the Kansas loss had something to do with it but I don't understand how a team ranked 4/5 most of the year gets an 11th seed.
SoonerNorm
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I think they heavily relied on the RPI which is pretty much a worthless stat, IMO.
They went almost exclusively with the rpi which means almost nothing in softball. The rpi had Kansas ranked fairly highly---above Baylor and Texas---both of whom beat Kansas in Lawrence three times. We took two of three from Kansas in Lawrence.
What the rpi really showed is a very strong influence favoring teams that did not venture out west. The message now is to play the preseason in the south. One good week in the south, regardless of whom you play, is worth mor than going on the road out west.
What the rpi really showed is a very strong influence favoring teams that did not venture out west. The message now is to play the preseason in the south. One good week in the south, regardless of whom you play, is worth mor than going on the road out west.
The balance of power in softball has shifted from the West Coast to the SEC. Syb is absolutely correct, we took it on the chin by going to Hawaii and losing games that you can't lose to Kansas and Baylor at home. The other part is losing 4 games to weather during the season. We had a last chance to play on national tv wiped out on Saturday. Of course, the Big 12 has been devastated in softball since Nebraska, Missouri, and A&M left to be replaced by two schools that don't play softball, TCU and WVU. No doubt, the Big 12 is a major downer in softball. I just hope UW beats Alabama.
Stringmusic
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WE have an RPI of 13- which is ridiculously incongruent with the ability and talent of the Sooner team. SEC love again, just like in football. I hope we can get in there and show 'em what's what.
The only good thing about this absurd seeding is that it may tick us off. We have had a tendency to be complacent at times, like when we lost to Baylor and Kansas in the first game of a series. Then, we woke up after the first game. This may cause us to wake up.
Remember that they seeded us low in basketball, too. A team that finished a clear second in the Big Twelve, which the rpi said was the toughest conference, was a five seed. Here, the conference winner was an eleven seed.
Remember that they seeded us low in basketball, too. A team that finished a clear second in the Big Twelve, which the rpi said was the toughest conference, was a five seed. Here, the conference winner was an eleven seed.
MsProudSooner
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If the rest of the softball world can come up with an excuse to send us somewhere else for a Super Regional, they will do so simply because the Softball World Series is always in OKC. It's a simple as that. Hopefully, this is the kind of team that will be motivated by the insult.
This is true! We've been sent to the NE (UMass and maybe somewhere else) a couple of times in the past when we were clearly a top seed IMO just because we're close to OKC.
And what galls me even more is the fact that they seeded both Alabama and Tennessee in the top eight – which means both of those schools will get to play at home for both of the first two weekends. Neither of those teams deserved to be seeded higher than the Sooners.
I agree with some of our other posters. Being disrespected by the softball hierarchy should provide our Sooners plenty of motivation. If we make it out of the first weekend (as we should), we will go to the Tuscaloosa Regional, where it's likely we'll be matched up against Bama. While that's a tough place to play (their softball fans are about like their football fans: crazy), they are in no way unbeatable. In fact, it would do this body good to see us whip both Bama and Tennessee, two of the darlings of the selection committee.
I agree with some of our other posters. Being disrespected by the softball hierarchy should provide our Sooners plenty of motivation. If we make it out of the first weekend (as we should), we will go to the Tuscaloosa Regional, where it's likely we'll be matched up against Bama. While that's a tough place to play (their softball fans are about like their football fans: crazy), they are in no way unbeatable. In fact, it would do this body good to see us whip both Bama and Tennessee, two of the darlings of the selection committee.
BanjoCharley
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We owe Bama too
In fact, Bama has lost seven home games this year. You know LSU is 44-11 overall but only 7-7 on the road. They are 32-4 at home. They only won 12 games all year outside of Baton Rouge - talk about home cooking.
BlackwellSooner
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LSU started out the season 25-0... against mostly cupcakes and with 22 of those 25 games in Baton Rouge.
The second half of the season wasn't as kind to the Tigers, as they finished 19-11, losing their first game @ #1 Florida. To be fair, LSU did rally and take the next two from the Gators in Gainesville.
LSU lost four times on their home field this season: to Texas A&M (1); Auburn (2); Tennessee (1). They finished the season poorly, going 3-6 down the stretch.
Oliver Hardy
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It's going to be all the sweeter when Patti and the ladies bring home another national championship trophy and smash the powers-that-be right in the face with one of Chamberlin's rockets.
SoonerNorm
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From what little I've read, it appears that RPI is everything when it comes to seedings in softball.
http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-commentary/article/10890028/espnw-ncaa-softball-teams-mercy-rpi
http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-commentary/article/10890028/espnw-ncaa-softball-teams-mercy-rpi
MsProudSooner
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I don't know much about how RPI is figured in softball, but I've read that our seed would have been higher if we hadn't been rained out last week. Weather can affect your RPI rating? Wins and losses should affect your RPI, but not the weather.
I guess the old saying, "Out of sight, out of mind" applied to the Sooners in this case.
The media's and sports public's obsession for all things SEC played the biggest role in determining the seeding, in my opinion. The committee couldn't wait to move Tennessee and Auburn up the rungs of the seeding ladder, based on those teams making it to the SEC Tournament title game. It's curious though, that neither Florida nor Alabama were penalized for not making it to the SEC title game.
