The thing is, OSU, Texas and West Virginia were all set to go to the playoffs. All three had a great chance to host. They really don't want to throw too many innings this week. Everybody else needs some resume enhancement. OSU phoned it in today. We got some breaks from the man calling balls and strikes, to. I think the conference wants as many in as possible. All the bubble teams so far have won, except the 4-5 matchup.
The guys calling the game said seven are likely in. That had more crinson sunglasses than Bullmarket. Today surely helped though. I really don't understand why they do double elim. Hurts the conference for when it really counts.
#1 Texas, #2 Okie State and #3 WVU go down on day 1. I like it.
You say, "I think the conference wants as many in as possible". Well, of course they do, but unless I am misunderstanding you, you make it sound like these wins and losses were planned. If that is true, it's time for me to pack up and leave college sports. Fortunately for me, I know better than that.
To say that 7 teams could get in, is Bullmarket-level homerism - well, you need to take a look as OU's RPI, strength of schedule and wins vs. top teams. OU's conference record is the only glitch and could be the killer. Let's see how all these conference tournaments pan out and leave it up to the selection committee.
Toby Rowland is employed by Sooner Sports. He's a fine play-by-play guy who is paid to call games wearing crimson glasses. Kinda how it works. If you listened to his radio program on KREF each morning in Norman, you'd hear a very objective, reasonable analysis of OU's chances, their weaknesses and their strengths. OU is on a delicate bubble. They badly need another win in the tournament to possibly get in.
OSU wanted the win just as bad as the Sooners. They put five pitchers out there. Tossing 10 more pitches
per inning than OU isn't how you win games. The Sooners were very smart and aggressive with their base running. And got the hits early, going up 7-0. That'll knock the air out of an opponent.
All that said, my gut tells me OSU will emerge from the losers bracket and win the tournament. They're a solid team.