The talk of Connecticut hosting an NCAA Regional in a few weeks continues to get louder.
The Huskies are 39-10 and sitting a half-game ahead of Louisville for first place in the Big East. They have an RPI of 20. Reports are that the Huskies might make a bid to host in Norwich, Conn., former home of the Connecticut Defenders and now the home of the short-season Connecticut Tigers. Since their season doesn’t begin until June, Dodd Stadium in Norwich has a wide open schedule.
I haven’t lived up this way for that long, but I can’t ever remember an NCAA Regional in New England. It would be pretty cool.
Kendall Rogers of Rivals College Baseball thinks it may happen:
With the limited scheduling opportunities and other aspects, such as the RPI, always working against teams in the region, it’s very impressive to see the Huskies with an RPI of 20. The Huskies don’t exactly have a bunch of wins against RPI Top 25 or 50 teams, but have taken care of business in their games against RPI Top 100 teams with a 10-4 record. The NCAA has shown the past few seasons that it wants to expand the game into other regions of the country. The NCAA now has an opportunity to give a Big East team with a high RPI an NCAA regional host. Barring some bad losses down the stretch I would be very surprised if Connecticut doesn’t host. It just makes too much sense.