The NCAA has released official in-season RPI rankings for the first time this season, with Vanderbilt, Rice and South Carolina atop the rankings through games of last Sunday. The RPI is a tool used by the NCAA baseball committee to aid in the selection of at-large teams to the 64-team regional field.
As usual, teams in the Pacific time zone did not fare particularly well in the rankings—something West Coast coaches and critics of the RPI have noted with increasing criticism through the years. Here’s how the RPI ranks the top 10 teams in the Pacific time zone, with RPI ranking noted in parentheses: |
| |
| Top 10 Top West Coast Colleges, RPI Rank |
| |
College |
*Record |
| 1. |
Long Beach State (5) |
23-14 |
| 2. |
Arizona State (8) |
32-10 |
| 3. |
San Diego (20) |
32-14 |
| 4. |
Pepperdine (21) |
30-13 |
| 5. |
Cal State Fullerton (23) |
26-12 |
| 6. |
UC Irvine (24) |
28-11 |
| 7. |
Oregon State (25) |
31-8 |
| 8. |
Arizona (27) |
31-9 |
| 9. |
Southern California (43) |
21-20 |
| 10. |
UCLA (51) |
22-16 | |
| *Through games of April 22 |
| -- Alan Simpson |
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