Arizona is headed to its 38th NCAA postseason of the last 39 that were held. The Wildcats will have to fight it out on the road if they hope to make it to their 26th Women\u2019s College World Series.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
History is on the Wildcats\u2019 side. They have only lost in regionals four times in 37 attempts, although one of those came just last year at home. They are 107-14 in the regional round.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Super regionals were introduced in 2005. If Arizona can pull off the upset in Durham, it will get to supers for the 18th time in 20 attempts. It would play Arkansas in Fayetteville, where it has advanced from regionals or super regionals twice in the past five years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
To do that, the Wildcats must get past the overall 12th-seeded Duke Blue Devils, the Marshall Thundering Herd, and the Howard Bison. What does each team bring to the table?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Understanding the seeding<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nThe seeding will take some getting used to this season. The NCAA Selection Committee first broke down the top 32 seeds. The top 16 would be hosts through the regionals (top 16) and super regionals (top 8). Seeds No. 17-32 would be in \u201cbuckets\u201d where they would be assigned based on competitiveness and geography.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nThe bucket of 17-20 seeds would be distributed to seeds 13-16 with an eye to geography and competitive balance. Next comes seeds 21-24, which were distributed to teams in the 9-12 range. Seeds ranked 25-28 went to face the 5-8 seeds. The top four seeds were assigned teams from the 29-32 \u201cbucket.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nBy the set of national seeds, Duke is the No. 12 overall seed and will host only through regionals. It was assigned a team from the 21-24 \u201cbucket.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nAfter that, there are two other sets of \u201cseeds\u201d to look at. The 32 seeds are broken into quadrants similar to the NCAA basketball tournaments. There are four No. 1 seeds, No. 2 seeds, No. 3 seeds, No. 4 seeds, all the way to the No. 8 seeds. In this seeding, Duke is a No. 3 seed and Arizona is a No. 6 seed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nEach regional also has seeding. The host is the No. 1 seed in the regional. The team from the 17-32 seeds that was assigned to that site is the No. 2 seed. The No. 4 seed in the regional faces the No. 1 while the No. 3 seed goes up against the No. 2.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nDuke Blue Devils (39-14, 20-4 ACC)<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nSeeding:<\/strong> Duke is the No. 12 national seed, a No. 3 seed in the quadrant system, and the No. 1 seed in the regional.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nRankings\/ratings:<\/strong> Duke ended with the No. 12 RPI. It is No. 14 in both KPI and DSR.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nPitching:<\/strong> Duke has a staff ERA of 4.52 and a WHIP of 1.64. No one on the staff has an ERA below the 4.32 of KK Mathis<\/strong>, but she doesn\u2019t have qualifying innings for NCAA purposes. The best ERA of a pitcher with qualifying innings is the 4.37 of Cassidy Curd<\/strong>. Curd\u2019s 1.54 WHIP is also the best of a pitcher who has met the IP mark of the NCAA.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nHitting:<\/strong> The Blue Devils have hit 96 home runs this year. Tyrina Jones<\/strong> leads the way with 20, but they have three more in double figures. They have three players hitting .424 or better with the .465 of Jessica Oakland<\/strong> in front. Oakland is one of two who has 13 home runs. The team also has speed with 50 stolen bases in 53 attempts this season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The seeding will take some getting used to this season. The NCAA Selection Committee first broke down the top 32 seeds. The top 16 would be hosts through the regionals (top 16) and super regionals (top 8). Seeds No. 17-32 would be in \u201cbuckets\u201d where they would be assigned based on competitiveness and geography.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The bucket of 17-20 seeds would be distributed to seeds 13-16 with an eye to geography and competitive balance. Next comes seeds 21-24, which were distributed to teams in the 9-12 range. Seeds ranked 25-28 went to face the 5-8 seeds. The top four seeds were assigned teams from the 29-32 \u201cbucket.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
By the set of national seeds, Duke is the No. 12 overall seed and will host only through regionals. It was assigned a team from the 21-24 \u201cbucket.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
After that, there are two other sets of \u201cseeds\u201d to look at. The 32 seeds are broken into quadrants similar to the NCAA basketball tournaments. There are four No. 1 seeds, No. 2 seeds, No. 3 seeds, No. 4 seeds, all the way to the No. 8 seeds. In this seeding, Duke is a No. 3 seed and Arizona is a No. 6 seed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Each regional also has seeding. The host is the No. 1 seed in the regional. The team from the 17-32 seeds that was assigned to that site is the No. 2 seed. The No. 4 seed in the regional faces the No. 1 while the No. 3 seed goes up against the No. 2.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Duke Blue Devils (39-14, 20-4 ACC)<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nSeeding:<\/strong> Duke is the No. 12 national seed, a No. 3 seed in the quadrant system, and the No. 1 seed in the regional.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nRankings\/ratings:<\/strong> Duke ended with the No. 12 RPI. It is No. 14 in both KPI and DSR.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nPitching:<\/strong> Duke has a staff ERA of 4.52 and a WHIP of 1.64. No one on the staff has an ERA below the 4.32 of KK Mathis<\/strong>, but she doesn\u2019t have qualifying innings for NCAA purposes. The best ERA of a pitcher with qualifying innings is the 4.37 of Cassidy Curd<\/strong>. Curd\u2019s 1.54 WHIP is also the best of a pitcher who has met the IP mark of the NCAA.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nHitting:<\/strong> The Blue Devils have hit 96 home runs this year. Tyrina Jones<\/strong> leads the way with 20, but they have three more in double figures. They have three players hitting .424 or better with the .465 of Jessica Oakland<\/strong> in front. Oakland is one of two who has 13 home runs. The team also has speed with 50 stolen bases in 53 attempts this season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Seeding:<\/strong> Duke is the No. 12 national seed, a No. 3 seed in the quadrant system, and the No. 1 seed in the regional.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Rankings\/ratings:<\/strong> Duke ended with the No. 12 RPI. It is No. 14 in both KPI and DSR.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Pitching:<\/strong> Duke has a staff ERA of 4.52 and a WHIP of 1.64. No one on the staff has an ERA below the 4.32 of KK Mathis<\/strong>, but she doesn\u2019t have qualifying innings for NCAA purposes. The best ERA of a pitcher with qualifying innings is the 4.37 of Cassidy Curd<\/strong>. Curd\u2019s 1.54 WHIP is also the best of a pitcher who has met the IP mark of the NCAA.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Hitting:<\/strong> The Blue Devils have hit 96 home runs this year. Tyrina Jones<\/strong> leads the way with 20, but they have three more in double figures. They have three players hitting .424 or better with the .465 of Jessica Oakland<\/strong> in front. Oakland is one of two who has 13 home runs. The team also has speed with 50 stolen bases in 53 attempts this season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n