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FSU A.D. Michael Alford, NCAA committee receive praise for baseball selections

On3 imageby: Ira Schoffel05/25/26iraschoffel

No college selection committee chair will ever receive a 100 percent approval rating. There will be complaints this year, just like every year.

But Florida State Athletics Director Michael Alford seemed to draw favorable reviews from ESPN’s commentators when the college baseball field of 64 was announced Monday.

Alford, who has served on the NCAA Division I Baseball Selection Committee for three years and was the committee chair this time around, appeared on ESPN’s live selection show early Monday afternoon.

At the start of his interview, Alford was asked what metrics the committee focused on when making their decisions.

“Strength of schedule was something the committee really leaned on,” Alford said. “Especially with these expanded conferences — looking at strength of schedule within your conference. That constantly came up when we were looking at different teams.”

Alford also mentioned the standard RPI rating, the KPI (Kevin Pauga Index) and the DSR (Diamond Sports Rating) as metrics that the committee used.

Alford was also asked specifically about some decisions that are sure to draw scrutiny from college baseball fans. One was the inclusion of Mississippi State as a host site when Arkansas did not get the opportunity to play at home.

When it was pointed out the Razorbacks won seven SEC series while the Bulldogs only won four — and that Arkansas won the head-to-head series 2-1 — Alford said Mississippi State benefitted from playing a harder schedule in conference.

Alford then was asked about Kentucky getting into the tournament despite losing eight of 10 SEC series, and he said the Wildcats were rewarded for recording 15 wins against teams that made the NCAA field.

One of the biggest initial complaints from college baseball fans online was the omission of Mercer from the tournament field. The Bears won 44 games and boast the nation’s No. 28 RPI, but Alford said they were penalized because their non-conference strength of schedule wasn’t as good as some other mid-major programs.

ESPN analyst Mike Rooney said he was “heartbroken” for some of the mid-major teams that didn’t make it in, including High Point and Kent State, but he also said, “It’s the most balanced bracket we’ve seen. It’s awesome.”

ESPN’s Kyle Peterson, who has offered harsh criticism of some previous NCAA brackets, also praised the committee choices and credited them with not pitting the same teams against each other in the Regional and Super Regional rounds. That has been a common complaint in previous years.

“It doesn’t feel like everybody’s playing the same teams,” Peterson said. “And that’s a positive. … You can nitpick about this team or that team, but as a whole, I think it was very well done.”

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