The NCAA has spoken and the Texas Longhorns' win over Texas A&M two weeks ago was enough to cement the #7 seed in the NCAA tournament beginning on Thursday. The Horns will play #4 seed Princeton at 6:30 on Friday and could also see #2 Texas State, who has played Texas close twice in midweek affairs, or Kent State later in the weekend. The NCAA clearly put added weight on Texas having lost just one series all season, overlooking their less than stellar RPI and SoS. Should the Horns be fortunate enough to escape the regional, they'll face the winner of the Arizona State-Arkansas-Charlotte-New Mexico regional.
Entering the tournament, Texas appears to be in as good a shape as anyone in the country. Look for Augie to play the regional strategically, with Cole Green as our guess for the first starter against Princeton, saving Taylor Jungmann for a potential Texas State/Kent State matchup. It's worth noting that Bobcat hitters struck out 24 times in the two games against Texas, all without seeing a single pitch from Jungmann.
Much more on the Austin regional in the days ahead. In the meantime, you can see the full bracket here.
In news unrelated to the 2011 Horns, 2012 signee Josh Bell is telling MLB teams that he's going to forgo the draft to play at Texas. Take it for what it's worth, but situations like this are far more common with the MLB draft than undergrads heading to the NBA or NFL drafts early. Recent Longhorns stars Taylor Jungmann, Jordan Danks and Kyle Russell all come to mind as players who did similar things prior to the draft. Bell is ranked as the #21 prospect in the MLB draft according to Keith Law, who calls Bell perhaps the "best pure bat in the high school corp." If true, it could be a huge get for Augie. No word from Dylan Bundy or Blake Swihart, Augie's other two prized recruits, on whether they'll follow Bell to Texas, but getting just one of the three likely first round picks on the 40 acres next season is fantastic.
Friday, June 3
Game 1 1 pm #3 seed Kent State vs. #2 seed Texas State
Game 2 6:30 pm #4 seed Princeton vs. #1 seed Texas
Saturday, June 4
Game 3 1 pm Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 1
Game 4 6:30 pm Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 1
Sunday, June 5
Game 5 1 pm Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4
Game 6 6:30 pm Regional Championship Game
Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5
Monday, June 6
Game 7 ** 1 pm Second Regional Championship Game
Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5
** played if Game 5 winner wins Game 6