UConn baseball’s final weekend will be open to public with Big East Tournament seeding on the line

UConn baseball’s final weekend series against Seton Hall will be open to the public. Tickets are free and the first game will be 6 p.m. on Thursday followed by two games Friday afternoon, at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m., and then the season finale on Saturday at 1 p.m.

It’s been a trying season for the UConn baseball program. In addition to dealing with the pandemic and its various effects, the Huskies found themselves in a new league with the move to the Big East.

In the AAC, most games were against schools in the RPI top-100 with multiple series against highly-ranked squads. In the Big East, UConn is the only team in the league with an RPI in the top-50, while only two others (Creighton and Villanova) are in the back end of the top 100.

As the Huskies struggled on the road against Virginia and Texas Tech to start the season, they did not have much to fall back on in terms of statement wins.

Then, UConn faced COVID-19 troubles. The team’s series with Georgetown was cut short after back-to-back shutouts due to a positive test coming back on the UConn side. The Huskies then lost five top-100 road games over the ensuing 15-day program shutdown, including a midweek game at Bryant and their series against Creighton.

The Huskies lost their final top-50 opportunity when Northeastern was required to travel to Hofstra to make up games in the Colonial Athletic Association, thus canceling the non-conference matchup between the schools.

This leaves UConn with a 26-16 record, 9-4 in Big East play, and 2-8 against top-50 opponents. They’re ranked 36th in RPI. This puts them on the fringes of the at-large conversation of the NCAA Tournament; they will likely need to secure the Big East’s automatic bid by winning the conference tournament, which will take place May 27-30 at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio.

The tournament is a four-team, double-elimination format. The field is virtually set as Creighton, Seton Hall, UConn, and Xavier will compete for the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament if all games this weekend are played. However, the Big East requires teams to play at least 14 games to quality, so the Huskies must play at least one more conference game.

If UConn’s entire series were to be wiped out, the winner of the three-game series between Villanova and St. John’s this weekend would replace the Huskies as the No. 4 seed.

The Huskies still have a slim chance at the regular-season title and the tournament’s No. 1 seed. These are all the scenarios for where UConn could be seeded in the Big East Tournament, assuming all games are completed as scheduled.

UConn finishes first if:

UConn finishes 4-0 against Seton Hall AND Xavier wins at least one game against Creighton (Game 1 against Seton Hall if Xavier finishes 3-1 or 4-0, Game 1 against Xavier if Xavier finishes 2-2 or 1-3)

OR

UConn finishes 3-1 against Seton Hall AND Xavier wins at least three games against Creighton (Game 1 against Creighton if Xavier finishes 4-0, Game 1 against Xavier if Xavier finishes 3-1)

UConn finishes second if:

UConn finishes 4-0 against Seton Hall AND Creighton finishes 4-0 against Xavier (Game 1 against Xavier)

OR

UConn finishes 3-1 against Seton Hall AND Creighton wins at least two games against Xavier (Game 1 against Xavier)

UConn finishes third if:

UConn finishes 2-2 against Seton Hall (Game 1 against Xavier if Xavier finishes 4-0, Game 1 against Creighton if Xavier finishes 3-1, Game 1 against Seton Hall if Xavier finishes 2-2; 1-3 or 0-4)

OR

UConn finishes 1-3 against Seton Hall AND Creighton wins at least two games against Xavier (Game 1 against Creighton)

OR

UConn finishes 0-4 against Seton Hall AND Creighton finishes 4-0 against Xavier (Game 1 against Seton Hall)

UConn finishes fourth if:

UConn finishes 1-3 against Seton Hall AND Xavier wins at least three games against Creighton (Game 1 against Seton Hall)

OR

UConn finishes 0-4 against Seton Hall AND Xavier wins at least one game against Creighton (Game 1 against Seton Hall if Xavier finishes 2-2, 3-1 or 4-0, Game 1 against Creighton if Xavier finishes 1-3)

You can find all the possible combinations in the final standings here.