ACC baseball taking shape

In the light of Boston College baseball’s (approximately) 187th rain out so far this season, we’re going to take another look at how the conference is shaping up so far. You know the story: BC is 10-15 (4-7) and by all accounts are not having a good season, which isn’t unexpected. All is not lost, however.

Of course, there are 12 teams in the ACC, but in baseball, about five good ones. These are the cross-division conference standings as they stand right now:

Virginia 11-1 (T-1st Coastal)
Georgia Tech 11-1 (T-1st Coastal)
North Carolina 10-2 (3rd Coastal)
Miami 8-3 (4th Coastal)
Florida State 8-4 (1st Atlantic)
NC State 5-7 (2nd Atlantic)
Boston College 4-7 (3rd Atlantic)
Clemson 4-8 (T-4th Atlantic)
Wake Forest 4-8 (T-4th Atlantic)
Duke 3-9 (5th Coastal)
Maryland 2-10 (6th Atlantic)
Virginia Tech 1-11 (6th Coastal)

Not only is this conference top-heavy, but it’s Coastal-heavy. The four best teams in the ACC are all in the same division, and luckily, it’s not Boston College’s.

May I take a moment to remind you that in order to qualify for the ACC Baseball Tournament, you must be in the top eight of the conference. (For those of you without the ability to make logical connections, this means that unlike ACC basketball, the bottom four teams are left out.) The top two teams in each division are automatically selected into the field, regardless of record, and then the field is filled out by the next-best four teams in the ACC, regardless of division. Division champions are given the top two seeds, and everyone else is seeded by record 3 through 8. If the season ended today, it would be as follows (without doing any looking into on tiebreakers):

1. UVA/GT
2. Florida State
3. UVA/GT
4. North Carolina
5. Miami
6. NC State
7. Boston College
8. Clemson/WF
—————–
9. Clemson/WF
10. Duke
11. Maryland
12. Virginia Tech

Not only is Boston College hanging in there right now, but they’re only a half-game behind the automatic bid that would come with being second in the ACC Atlantic. There is very little doubt in my mind that a sub-.500 team will finish in second in BC’s division, so why not BC? Well, we know why (if you’ve seen BC play this year), so don’t get your hopes up, but the Eagles are closing in on being half-way done with their season and are in the mix for making the ACC Tournament for the third-straight year. This team is not going to be relevant in 2011, so making the ACC Tournament might be the only thrill we get. Right now, it would appear that three bids will go to sub-.500 teams, and BC has just as good a chance of getting one as anyone else.

It is worth noting, however, that the Eagles have recently just lost one of their top starters, Mike Dennhardt, to Tommy John surgery, which means we’re not going to be seeing him for a long, long time. He hadn’t pitched lately, anyway, but him not being around down the stretch could mean the difference between BC going to Durham in late May or another season of blah from Eagles baseball.