The final weekend of April is upon us this week and that means it is the last weekend of the regular season for our NCAA D2 and NAIA schools. Can you believe we’ve already had 3 full month of baseball by the end of Sunday?

The next step in the 2024 season will be the postseason and that starts with the conference tournaments. Unfortunately, some of our teams in the Sooner State will not be moving on past this weekend. Fortunately, we have some teams that are already locked into their conference tournament while others have some work to do.

We do have some teams that look to be in good shape to make their respective national tournaments (UCO in D2; MACU & OCU in NAIA), but others have some work to do to impress the various committees (NWOSU in D2; OKWU & USAO in NAIA), and the rest have to win their conference tournament to move on.

Here is a breakdown on the scenarios for each team going into the last weekend conference series to make their conference tournament. All conferences below take the top 8 teams in the final regular season standings into the postseason tournament.

*Any views spewed on here about national tournaments are of my own amateur opinion.

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NCAA D2

Great American Conference

• In: NWOSU
• Out: SNU, SEOSU, ECU
• Still Alive: OBU, SWOSU

NWOSU Rangers

• Currently 7th
• This weekend: at SWOSU

The Rangers can finish as high as 4th and as low as 8th. NWOSU owns the tiebreaker with Ouachita Baptist, but both Southern Arkansas and Henderson State own the tiebreaker over NWOSU so the Rangers would have to finish 1 game ahead of the Muleriders and Reddies.

Ouachita and Henderson play each other this weekend so if Henderson wins that series, that puts NWOSU’s best finish at 5th.

All of this is basically if NWOSU sweeps SWOSU on the road. If NWOSU wins one game at Weatherford, the Rangers can finish no worse than 7th.

OBU Bison

• Currently 8th
• This weekend: home vs SNU

The Bison can finish as high as 6th and as low as not making the tournament.

In order to finish 6th, the Bison would need to sweep SNU and both SAU and NWOSU would need to be swept (OBU holds the tiebreaker over SAU and would finish 1 game ahead of NWOSU).

If OBU wins one game vs SNU or SWOSU loses one game vs NWOSU, then the Bison are locked in the conference tournament.

SWOSU Bulldogs

• Currently 9th
• This weekend: home vs NWOSU

The Bulldogs can finish no higher than 8th. However, the scenario is simple: they have to sweep the Rangers and SNU has to sweep OBU (OBU holds the tiebreaker over SWOSU).

Lone Star Conference

Both Cameron and Oklahoma Christian are eliminated from conference tournament contention.

MidAmerica Intercollegiate Athletic Association

• In: UCO
• Still Alive: Rogers State, Northeastern State

UCO Bronchos

• Currently 3rd
• This weekend: vs NW Missouri St

The Bronchos can finish as high as 3rd an as low as 5th. If UCO wins 1 game this weekend, then they are locked no lower than 4th. They’ll need to finish at least a game ahead of Pittsburg State to finish 3rd because the Gorillas have the tiebreaker over UCO.

Rogers State Hillcats

• Currently 6th
• This weekend: at Missouri Western

The Hillcats can’t finish higher than 6th, but they can technically miss the tournament if a “nuclear” scenario happens where they get swept and several other teams win series against teams that are in the upper half of the league.

The good thing is RSU is in pretty good position with 12 wins. The teams behind them are Fort Hays State, NW Missouri, and NSU with 11 wins; Missouri Western with 10 wins, and Emporia State and Newman with 9 wins. Here are the scenarios that would lock the Hillcats into the tournament:

• A win vs Missouri Western would eliminate them, Emporia St, and Newman from being a factor vs RSU
• A combination of 2 wins vs Missouri Western OR a loss by NW Missouri and/or Fort Hays State would clinch a spot for RSU
• A combination of 2 wins OR 2 losses by NSU would clinch a spot for RSU

Northeastern State Riverhawks

• Currently tied for 7th with Fort Hays State and NW Missouri
• This weekend: home vs Washburn

Northeastern can’t finish higher than 6th, but they can miss out on the postseason tournament. The Riverhawks are in a precarious position as while they are currently tied for 7th, they are on the outside looking in if it were to finish that way. The two teams they are tied with, Fort Hays State and NW Missouri, both hold tiebreakers over NSU. Also, the team that is one game behind them, Missouri Western holds the tiebreaker as well.

• A win would eliminate Emporia State and Newman for NSU
• NSU must finish with at least one more win this weekend than 2 of the following teams to lock in a spot: Fort Hays State, NW Missouri, Missouri Western

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NAIA

Sooner Athletic Conference

• In: MACU, OCU, USAO, SW Christian
• Still alive: OK Panhandle St

MACU Evangels

• Currently 1st
• This weekend: at Southwestern Christian

The Evangels are in the driver’s seat in 1st place. Their magic number is 1 which means any combination of a win or an OCU loss clinches first place for MACU. If they were to get swept by SCU, the Stars would have to sweep Wayland Baptist to finish one game ahead of MACU who has the tiebreaker over OCU. (MACU holds the tiebreaker over USAO as well who is 3 games back).

OCU Stars

• Currently 2nd
• This weekend: home vs Wayland Baptist

The scenarios for OCU are pretty simple:

• Must sweep WBU and SCU must sweep MACU for the Stars to claim 1st
• Two wins by OCU or 2 losses by USAO guarantees 2nd place for the Stars
• A win by OCU and a loss by USAO guarantees 3rd for the Stars
• Can’t finish below 4th as they hold the tiebreaker over TX Wesleyan

USAO Drovers

• Currently 3rd
• This weekend: at home vs SAGU

The Drovers can finish anywhere between 2nd and 5th depending on what happens this weekend. Here are the scenarios:

• If USAO gets swept by SAGU, then the Drovers finish 5th
• One win vs SAGU guarantees no worse than 4th
• Two wins vs SAGU guarantees no worse than 3rd
• If the Drovers win 2 more games than OCU does this weekend, the Drovers finish 2nd

Southwestern Christian Eagles

• Currently 7th
• This weekend: at home vs MACU

Southwestern Christian is locked in at no worse than 7th. They will have to have some help to move up.

• If SCU sweeps MACU and SAGU is swept, then the Eagles are guaranteed no worse than 7th.
• If SCU sweeps MACU and WBU wins 1 game or is swept by OCU, then the Eagles are guaranteed no worse than 7th.
• If both scenarios above happen, then SCU finishes 6th.

OK Panhandle State Aggies

• Currently 8th
• This weekend: at Central Christian

The scenario is simple for the Aggies this weekend. Since they are 1 game ahead of the Tigers, OPSU must win 2 games this weekend to make the SAC postseason tournament.

Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference

In: OK Wesleyan

OK Wesleyan Eagles

• Currently 3rd
• This weekend: at Ottawa

The Eagles are locked in no worse than 3rd place. They do have a chance to get 2nd if they sweep Ottawa and Tabor loses 2 or more vs Evangel.

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