NCAA’s decision to delay puts FSU baseball at competitive disadvantage – Orlando Sentinel

A string of curious decisions by the NCAA has conceivably put FSU baseball at an unnecessary disadvantage as the Seminoles find themselves one way away from advancing to the Super Regional round of the NCAA tournament.

Or at the least, the Seminoles lost the advantage afforded to them by advancing in the winner’s bracket to the championship series in the Tallahassee region.

Tallahassee has been plagued by severe weather and consistent rain since Sunday afternoon, right around when College of Charleston and Auburn were set to faceoff in an elimination game. The contest was delayed by more than six hours, with Charleston eventually beating Auburn 3-2 to move on to the championship series against FSU. That contest was slated to start at 6 p.m. Sunday, but was pushed back as the NCAA opted to continue play 2 p.m. Monday instead of starting the game later Sunday evening, at about 10-10:30 p.m.

There is a precedent set where weather-delayed games in the NCAA tournament have started at about 10 p.m., so a late contest was not farfetched.

Instead, the NCAA opted for a Monday contest at 2 p.m. as opposed to playing in the morning or early afternoon. The issue with that, however, was there were weather reports that projected consistent rain in the afternoon, which is commonplace for Florida in the summer. Predictably, a thunderstorm began at about 1 p.m. and lasted until 2:30 p.m., pushing the start of the game back to 4 p.m.

So that’s more than eight hours of rain delay for those counting. And there’s a chance for more rain later in the evening.

This is the debacle at Dick Howser Stadium.

While the poor planning is embarrassing for the NCAA and an inconvenience to the fan base, the real crux of this issue revolves around the competitive disadvantage FSU has been put at.

The Seminoles went 2-0 in the region, earning the right for what was essentially a bye as Auburn and Charleston battled it out in an elimination game. That’s how the format in the NCAA tournament works; the team that wins its first two games is allowed to watch as two possible future opponents wear each other down before facing the undefeated club later in the evening.

FSU – which can advance with one win – earned the right of comparative extra rest. Charleston – which must win two games against FSU to advance – did not.

That right was lost when the NCAA chose to not get the game in on Sunday night. As a result, Charleston has extra time to get refreshed after Sunday’s close contest and is now on as close to equal footing to FSU as it can possibly be given that the Cougars already lost to the Seminoles in this tournament.

Keep in mind that Charleston used two relievers – Chase Henry and Carter Love – in its victory over Auburn. Those players will be at Charleston’s disposal against FSU, something that wouldn’t have been the case had Charleston been forced to play in a back-to-back game Sunday as was originally scheduled.

FSU administrators did not comment on the situation, but LSU’s athletic director added some insight into why the string of delays put the team in the winner’s bracket at a disadvantage. LSU was in basically the exact same situation as FSU, with its championship series getting pushed to Monday as well, so Tigers AD Joe Alleva made his concerns known (h/t to NOLA.com)…

Alleva: “I feel really bad for our fans, more so than anything. I also feel bad for our team. Our team has been here all day waiting to play and now they’re not going to play. They’re very mad and they’re disappointed, and our fans are obviously mad and disappointed. This is definitely a competitive advantage when you’re in the winner’s bracket.

“The NCAA made a decision. They decided they wanted to — they didn’t give me a reason. I don’t have a reason, OK. Frankly, it’s a ridiculous decision. It hurts from the standpoint that when you’re in the winner’s bracket, you have a competitive advantage. That competitive advantage has been negated by this decision.”

Email Brendan at bsonnone@orlandosentinel.com. Follow Brendan’s FSU coverage on Twitter at @OSFSU

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