2015 Baseball Opening Round Brackets Announced
By Alan Grosbach, Manager of Communications and Sports Information
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – (Opening Round Schedule | Watch Bracket Show) The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially announced the seeds and brackets for the 2015 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round. The 45 teams will play double-elimination tournaments with five teams at each of the nine locations. The event takes place from May 12 – 15.
Opening Round champions will join host Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) at the 59th annual Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series at Harris Field in Lewiston, Idaho, May 22 – 29.
For the first time in NAIA baseball history, at-large teams were determined by a National Selection Committee (NSC). The NSC consists of one representative from each geographic area, a representative from the National Administrative Council (NAC) Rules and Ratings Committee, the president of the NAIA-Baseball Coaches Association and three at-large members. The committee evaluated teams throughout the year on various criteria
Seeding for the Opening Round was determined by the National Selection Committee (NSC), which was created as a pilot group for the 2015 season. The committee used the same criteria as they did for at-large selection. There are also three additional considerations that were taken into account – geographical location of teams, financial considerations and final rating.
To access the full championship selection and seeding policy, click HERE. For a list of frequently asked questions on the NSC, click HERE.
The 2015 Opening Round hosts include: Bellevue (Neb.), Davenport (Mich.), Embry-Riddle (Fla.), Faulkner (Ala.), Georgia Gwinnett, Kingsport (Tenn.) CVB, Oklahoma Baptist, Oklahoma City and The Master’s (Calif.). Among the group, Bellevue and Davenport are playing as hosts for the first time.
The Opening Round field is comprised of 29 automatic qualifiers – given to conference regular-season champions, tournament champions or tournament runners-up – and 16 at-large teams. Conferences with 10-or-more members received two automatic qualifiers, while leagues with less than 10 are given one.
For the first time in NAIA baseball history, at-large teams were determined by a National Selection Committee (NSC). The NSC consists of one representative from each geographic area, a representative from the National Administrative Council (NAC) Rules and Ratings Committee, the president of the NAIA-Baseball Coaches Association and three at-large members. The committee evaluated teams throughout the year on various criteria.
Overall, there are 27 repeat qualifiers from the 2014 National Championship Opening Round, including five defending Opening Round champions – Faulkner (Ala.), Georgia Gwinnett, Oklahoma Baptist, Oklahoma Wesleyan and Tabor (Kan.).
The American Midwest Conference, Golden State Athletic Conference and The Sun Conference lead all leagues with four teams each represented in the field of 45.
Last season, four of the nine hosts won their respective Opening Round tournaments. Overall, hosts have won 26-of-54 all-time Opening Rounds. Embry-Riddle and former-member Lee (Tenn.) boast the most Opening Round titles with five each.
The No. 1 seeds were dominant in the 2014 event, as eight-of-nine punched a ticket to the Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series. Third-seeded Cumberland (Tenn.), which would go on to win its third national title, was the only non-No. 1.
For more information on the 2015 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round and Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series, click here.