Studying the following table closely reveals little reasoning behind the NCAA’s choice of UCLA over Arkansas for a Regional Tournament site. [Btw, if the lettering is small to you, most browsers will allow you to zoom by holding down Ctrl and hitting the "+" on your number pad.]
Notes on these Numbers follow this Post.
| Arkansas | UCLA | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Wins | 38 | 33 |
| Overall Losses | 20 | 22 |
| Conference Wins | 15 | 18 |
| Conference Losses | 15 | 9 |
| Home Wins | 24 | 19 |
| Home Losses | 7 | 9 |
| Away Wins | 11 | 14 |
| Away Losses | 11 | 12 |
| Neutral Wins | 3 | 0 |
| Neutral Losses | 2 | 1 |
| NCAA Baseball RPI | 14 | 34 |
| Baseball America Rank | 19 | 17 |
| Collegiate Baseball Rank | 26 | 12 |
| NCBWA Rank | 16 | 17 |
| USA Today Coaches Rank | 19 | 18 |
| Common Opponents | ||
| San Diego State | ||
| Home | 0-0 | 1-0 |
| Away | 3-1 | 1-0 |
| Georgia | ||
| Home | 0-0 | 0-1 |
| Away | 1-2 | 0-0 |
| Official Stadium Capacity | 10,737 | 1,250 |
| Average Home Attendance | 7,999 | 1,409 |
| Average Overall Attendance | 6,038 | 1,338 |
UCLA has won fewer games, lost more games, is ranked slightly higher in polls overall while being ranked 20 positions higher than Arkansas in the NCAA’s RPI Rating. The capacity of Arkansas’ Baum Stadium is easily four times greater than UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium while Arkansas comfortably draws more than 4 times more people than UCLA. Between the facilities, the comparisons end at “baseball stadium.”
Steele Field at Jackie Robinson Stadium
Courtesy of uclabruins.com
Baum Stadium at George Cole Field
Courtesy of Heather Billgren
Courtesy of Heather Billgren
Explanation?
The only reasonable explanation is that UCLA won the PAC-10.
Surely you wanted Arkansas to host the regional. To soothe your bruised Hog ego, is there any question in your mind about whether you would rather be the King of the PAC 10 or slugging it out in the SEC? — SharpTusk
Notes on Numbers:
Arkansas’ attendance figures are through 57 games. I did not have the attendance for the Vanderbilt game.
UCLA’s “home” attendance numbers are actually games in Los Angeles and include 30 games, not 28.
“On the Cover” Photo Credit: Heather Billgren
Follow me on Twitter @SharpTusk
