Beginning Friday, the Aggie baseball team will play host to the College Station Regional for the NCAA Tournament. A&M will host Texas Southern, California and Coastal Carolina in a three day double elimination bracket to see who will move on to the NCAA Super Regionals. Only the top eight national seeds are allowed to host the Super Regional, but A&M was left off of that coveted list. Why was A&M not granted a top eight seed after the magical season they have had?

Possibly the biggest storyline from selection Monday was TCU earning one of the final top eight slots in lieu of teams such as Texas A&M, Vanderbilt and Florida State. Many believe the Horned Frogs did not deserve the spot, and that it should have been granted to A&M.While TCU is a very talented baseball team, when looking at the facts and comparing TCU against other teams, such as A&M, TCU earning a top spot in the tournament is a bit of a head scratcher.

The Aggies and TCU have very similar records and stories to their seasons. Both teams started the season on a tear. A&M finished with 45 wins, while TCU finished with 43, and both have 11 losses on the year. They also are similar in the RPI ranking, with A&M sitting two spots ahead of TCU at No. 6. There is no doubt that both teams are extremely dangerous, especially this time of the year.

There are, however, two glaring facts that should have had A&M ahead of TCU in the national seed race.

First let’s take a look at last week and how both teams fared in their conference tournaments. The Aggies advanced to the SEC Tournament semifinals where they lost a rematch with Vanderbilt. A&M went 2-1 during the tournament, earning a huge key win against ninth ranked Vanderbilt by a 6-1 margin. TCU struggled to the end of the tournament going 0-2, losing to second to last place Baylor, and then dropping their elimination game to Texas Tech. The Big 12 struggled in baseball all season, so going 0-2 in a somewhat watered down tournament should have doomed the Frogs for a national seed.

But there’s more.

One of the biggest factors in the NCAA Tournament selection process is wins versus quality opponents, or wins against foes ranked in the RPI top 50. Against teams in the top 50, the Aggies posted a 14-7 record, seven more wins than TCU, who holds a 7-5 record in those contests. TCU is 4-4 versus the RPI top 25, while A&M was 7-3 on the year in those games. While it is worth mentioning that TCU does have a win over Vanderbilt, the Aggies also house the same win. TCU also split a two game series with Dallas Baptist and were blasted by UT Arlington, both teams A&M handled for wins. The Aggies had more wins versus quality opponents, which should have been heavily looked at by the selection committee.

So, with those facts evident, why did TCU gain a national seed over Texas A&M? One could assume that it is because the committee did not want to leave the Big 12 out of the seeding process. Another reason could be that the committee did not want three SEC teams occupying the top eight seeds. It is a question that will never have an official answer. Does TCU deserve a national seed? Absolutely. They are a very well-rounded, talented team who had an outstanding season. Should they have been picked over A&M for the final spot? It is hard to justify that with the evidence presented, but everyone will have differing opinions. You be the judge.