Louisville Excluded From NCAA Tournament Field
(Photo of Louisville Players: William Caudill via University of Louisville Athletics)
INDIANAPOLIS - Selection Monday finally made its triumphant return after a one-year hiatus, but unfortunately for the Louisville baseball program, their bubble was officially burst. For the first time since 2011, the Cardinals were not selected to the NCAA Tournament field.
Excluding the 2020 season in which a tournament was not held due to COVID-19, this is only the second time that head coach Dan McDonnell has missed the NCAA Tournament since his hiring in 2007.
Louisville opened up the 2021 season at 23-11, and were ranked as high as the No. 4 team in the nation heading into the month of May. But due to injuries to the pitching staff and offensive inconsistencies, they went 5-11 in the final month to finish 28-22 and 16-16 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. It was the first time a Dan McDonnell-led team failed to finish above .500 in league play.
Coupled with USF, Rider, Presbyterian and Jacksonville stealing bids by winning their respective conference tournaments, and Louisville’s chances of making the field of 64 were cast in serious doubt.
Arkansas, Texas, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Arizona, TCU, Mississippi State and Texas Tech were awarded the top eight seeds for the tournament. Regionals start on Friday, June 4, Super Regionals begin on Friday, June 11, and the College World Series will take place from June 19 to June 29/30.
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