Danny Hall was diplomatic Monday on ESPN2 when asked about his team not being selected as one of 16 programs to host the first round of NCAA Tournament games this weekend.
But then the disappointment and frustration and anger festered. And it came to the surface Tuesday when meeting with reporters at Russ Chandler Stadium.
“The fact that the ACC champion is not hosting is, I just think it’s ridiculous, just to be dead honest,” Hall said. “I took the high road (Monday) on national TV, but they try to use the fact that it was our schedule, almost like it was a fluke that we won the ACC championship.”
Hall’s ballclub won 40 games, the ACC’s regular-season title outright and finished with an RPI of 21. It didn’t lose to any teams considered Quadrant 4 (basically the weakest opponents) and had 12 victories against Quadrant 1 competition (opponents considered among the best).
Since 1999, in the NCAA’s current postseason format, which sends four teams each to 16 different regional sites, the ACC regular-season champion had been rewarded with home-field advantage in the first round — until 2025.
Hall said he has seen the narrative that Tech’s schedule played a part in the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee awarding other teams the right to host over his team.
The Yellow Jackets (40-17) played a strength of schedule that ranked 40th, according to the NCAA, and a nonconference schedule that ranked 115th.
UCLA, the No. 15 overall seed, had a strength of schedule ranked 18th and nonconference strength of schedule ranked 35th, with an RPI of 15. UCLA was only 3-7 against Quad 1 opponents and had two Quad 4 defeats.
Southern Mississippi, by contrast, was selected as a site host and the No. 16 overall national seed. The Golden Eagles (RPI No. 19) had a strength of schedule ranked 70th, nonconference strength of schedule of 26th and was 7-5 in Quad 1 games. It also lost five Quad 4 contests.
Southern Miss Athletic Director Jeremy McClain is a member of the 10-person selection committee.
“To try to use the schedule and kind of just continue to double down with guys that are journalists and write, that that’s a reason that we didn’t host, that’s just a joke,” Hall said. “They have no idea how hard it is to win games. I don’t care what league you’re playing in — if you win the league, you have played great throughout the course of the entire season. So, to answer that question, it’s a long answer, but I think it’s a joke."
The veteran coach added, regarding Southern Miss: “Well, they never looked at (the Golden Eagles’ schedule). I’ll just be dead honest. You look at how many Quad 1 games, Power 4 games they played. That league is like eighth or ninth in RPI, so if they wanna use RPI to justify a UCLA or whoever they justified for those last spots, then why wasn’t the RPI applied to the Sun Belt? And that’s nothing against the Sun Belt. It’s a great league. I have ultimate respect for every team in that league. But if you’re a gonna use a metric, then apply it throughout everything that you’re looking at.”
Tech begins its NCAA Tournament run at 4 p.m. Eastern Friday against Western Kentucky in Oxford, Mississippi. It will have to beat the Hilltoppers and then will likely have to get past host Ole Miss, the No. 10 overall seed, at some point on the Rebels’ home field to advance to a Super Regional for the first time since 2006.
“We were definitely disappointed. Thought we had a good regular season and good year and good resume to put ourselves in hosting position,” Tech pitcher Mason Patel said on heading to Ole Miss and not playing in Atlanta. “That’s not in our control, and the only thing we can do is control what we can, and the message afterward was we have all our goals right in front of us of what we still want to accomplish. We’re grateful to still be playing and have this opportunity. It is what it is, and at the end of the day, it’s up to us.”
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