The Big Ten received a record number of berths to the NCAA baseball tournament today.

Michigan State wasn’t one of them. And for the second time in three seasons, the Spartans’ omission is a controversial one.

Oregon, a team that MSU swept on the road in nonconference play during the regular season, earned an at-large berth to the 64-team field. The Spartans, though, got left out again and were one of the final teams to miss the field, similar to what happened in 2013.

“Another really challenging decision,” Central Michigan athletic director Dave Heeke, an East Lansing native who is chairman of the NCAA’s Division I baseball selection committee, said during the ESPNU broadcast. “Michigan State was in that grouping of teams that were closely considered. Yet, we can’t just point to one thing. … Oregon had become a very, very hot team. They’d done some incredible things, they had some significant marquee wins over teams in the tournament.

“Michigan State had a nice season. Again, they’re a very good ballclub. I’d point back to the RPI gives us one of those indicators. It does force a ranking, so to speak. But it is just one of those indicators we look at.”

According to RPI projections by website D1baseball.com, the Ducks (37-23) had the No. 62 RPI out of 301 Division I teams, while MSU was ranked 51st. The Spartans also had wins over Clemson and Coastal Carolina, two other teams that earned bids.

MSU ends its season with a 34-23 overall record. The Spartans tied for third place in the conference regular season at 14-10, then went 1-2 in the Big Ten Tournament.

Five Big Ten schools will advance to postseason play, surpassing the previous record of three. Michigan earned the conference’s automatic tournament bid by winning the league tournament Sunday. Illinois is the No. 6 national seed. Iowa, Maryland and Indiana all earned at-large berths.

The Spartans defeated Michigan in their lone meeting this season, a nonconference game, and took one of three from Illinois and two of three from Indiana during the regular season. Maryland defeated MSU in the opening game of the Big Ten Tournament.

Before the announcement, Baseball America listed the Spartans as one of the final eight teams to be left out, while D1baseball.com had them as one of its final five teams projected to miss the tournament.

Chris Solari writes for the Lansing State Journal.