(05-05-2021 08:53 AM)wrnbldg Wrote: The CAA website says that 6 teams will qualify for the baseball championship, but there is no further discussion of the format. Does anyone know if its the top 3 teams from each division, the top 6 records regardless of division, or some combination? For instance, based on winning percentages, the top 6 teams right now are Northeastern, followed by all 5 teams in the South Division.
Top format is very similar to the last few years, with one key difference: The top team from each division gets the top 2 seeds and accompanying 1st round bye. Right now, that would mean Northeastern and Charleston would be the # 1 and 2 seeds, respectively, if the season ended today.
The remaining seeds are essentially "Wild Cards". The 4 non-division leaders with the best winning percentages get in.
If the season ended today, this would be the field:
1. Northeastern* (12-0, 1.000)
2. Charleston+ (9-7, .562)
3. Elon (8-7, .533)
4. UNCW (8-8, .500)
5. W&M (9-10, .474)
6. Towson (6-7, .462)
* # 1 seed, 1st round bye
+ # 2 seed, 1st round bye
JMU, Hofstra and Delaware (7-9 in standings) would be eliminated. While Northeastern has all but locked up the # 1 overall seed, the # 2 seed is up for grabs between any of the South Division teams (Charleston, Elon, UNCW, W&M, JMU) depending on how the season finishes.
On Day 1 of the tournament, # 4 UNCW would face # 5 W&M, # 3 Elon would take on # 6 Towson, and the 2 losers of those games would face off in an elimination game to finish the day. Northeastern and Charleston would face the winners from Day 1, with NU facing the lowest-seeded winner. Meaning they could face anyone but Elon.