Before we get started, I have to give thanks to the LSU baseball team’s return to the postseason. Because it was around this time last year that I had to turn into “summer writing mode” and that was just WAY too early and too difficult to find topics to write about.

For the record, I never want a job on the NCAA selection committee. Nevertheless, I would be ecstatic if they had clearly defined guidelines for the committee to follow so that the coaches knew before they even scheduled for the next year the criterion for seeding.

My problem is, and always has been, that one year they focus on RPI, then the next year it is conference record, then conference tournaments, and, you never know.

These thoughts, and the next two, will probably sound like complaints, but please don’t take them that way. They are just the ramblings of a logical thinker.

In football, half the country complained about Alabama’s spot in the championship game because they didn’t win the conference. So now they are going to “fix” the BCS.

Sports Illustrated advocated a selection committee like in the other sports. Great idea. So here we are in baseball with a selection committee, and Florida is the #1 seed.

One problem. Florida did not win the SEC regular season title, the SEC Eastern Division or the SEC Tournament championship. But they are #1 in the computers and seeded #1 in the NCAA Tournament. No public outcry over this one though.

So, conference finish doesn’t mean that much.

The computers rule. That is why Florida is #1, and Miami is hosting over Kentucky. I got it.

What does not make sense to me, is that conference finish does not matter at the top of the RPI, but it is apparently everything at the bottom. LSU was left out last year because of their poor conference record despite a high RPI. Just like Maryland and Wake Forest this year. It seems to me like the standard for the top teams in the field should be the same for the last teams selected. As for LSU on the field, I like their chances, but there is not much room for error.

The reason LSU earned a national seed was they won the one run games this year that they lost last year. The bad news is that LSU is 2-4 in one run games over the last three weeks.

In my mind, Coach Mainieri is pushing all the right buttons, but some have malfunctioned recently.

I don’t see where he had any choice in the pitching rotation this weekend. Considering LSU’s inability to score runs off decent pitching, the Tigers are going to need a stellar performance by Gausman to win game 2.

There is no reason to think that Nola can’t get LSU into the 6th inning in good shape against ULM, and then the bullpen will have to do the job.

Hopefully, Goody can get hot again closing games. If he doesn’t, it will be a disappointing end of the season this weekend.

Of course, it would take a lot of pressure off the pitching staff if the offense would put consistent pressure on the opponent’s pitching staff. Sometimes all an offensive baseball team needs is to get out of league play where everyone knows you so well.

Hopefully, that will be the case this weekend for the Tigers, and I’ll have some easy topics to write about for a few more weeks.