Tulane beat Memphis, taking a two-spot RPI hit in the process, but the day was a net gain anyway because Southern Miss lost to La Tech, ULL lost to South Alabama and Coastal Carolina, Michigan, TCU and Oklahoma State also lost. Those are all teams competing with the Wave for one of the final regional hosting spots.
As long as Tulane keeps winning, I really can't see any of those teams beating it out as a host. And before you get too concerned about LSU, remember that the Tigers and Wave both hosted in 2001 and 2005. LSU is competing with Vanderbilt for the sixth hosting spot out of the SEC, so the only way Tulane could be in trouble there is if they give seven hosting roles to SEC teams.
As of tonight, my guess for the hosts is Florida, Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, South Carolina and LSU out of the SEC, Louisville, Miami, NC State, FSU, Virginia and Clemson out of the ACC, Texas Tech out of the Big 12, Tulane and two West Coast teams to be determined later or maybe one West Coast team plus Rice.
Tulane's toughest battle may be finishing ahead of East Carolina in the AAC. The Pirates were trailing USF 7-2 tonight when their first 11 batters reached base to start the 6th, sparking a 14-7 comeback win. That's incredible, and all 11 got on by hits or walk instead of errors. There's a good chance ECU will lose only one more conference game with USF at home and UCF on the road, and the Pirates might not lose any.
As long as Tulane keeps winning, I really can't see any of those teams beating it out as a host. And before you get too concerned about LSU, remember that the Tigers and Wave both hosted in 2001 and 2005. LSU is competing with Vanderbilt for the sixth hosting spot out of the SEC, so the only way Tulane could be in trouble there is if they give seven hosting roles to SEC teams.
As of tonight, my guess for the hosts is Florida, Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, South Carolina and LSU out of the SEC, Louisville, Miami, NC State, FSU, Virginia and Clemson out of the ACC, Texas Tech out of the Big 12, Tulane and two West Coast teams to be determined later or maybe one West Coast team plus Rice.
Tulane's toughest battle may be finishing ahead of East Carolina in the AAC. The Pirates were trailing USF 7-2 tonight when their first 11 batters reached base to start the 6th, sparking a 14-7 comeback win. That's incredible, and all 11 got on by hits or walk instead of errors. There's a good chance ECU will lose only one more conference game with USF at home and UCF on the road, and the Pirates might not lose any.