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The NCAA’s Division I baseball committee sent a letter to all college coaches discouraging teams from canceling regular seasons to boost their RPI (Rating Percentage Index) metrics ahead of the NCAA Tournament.
The letter, dated May 6 and obtained by Front Office Sports, was publicized Monday by Cal State Bakersfield head coach Jordon Banfield. It warns that canceling games for RPI reasons could negatively impact the subcommittee’s evaluation of a team.
“It is not the intent or spirit of the game to adjust scheduled games in an attempt to strategically impact selection data or metrics,” the letter says. “The subcommittee has kept, and will continue to keep, a watchful eye on team schedules and any known reasons for any cancellation.”
In the past two weeks, several schools canceled games against lower-ranked programs. And while some teams cited inclement weather, like No. 36 RPI Michigan did—it replaced a game against a No. 291 team with one ranked at No. 55—other programs gave different reasoning or none at all.
Some of those cancellations include:
- No. 20 Oregon canceled a May 5 and 6 series against No. 211 Grand Canyon
- No. 42 NC State canceled a May 5 contest against No. 279 N.C. AT&T
- No. 39 Virginia Tech canceled a May 12 game against No. 175 Marshall,
- No. 30 Kentucky canceled a May 12 game against No. 276 Northern Kentucky, citing “extended delays,” extensive travel and difficult recovery periods after a weekend series at Florida
- No. 34 Miami (FL) canceled a May 5 home contest against No. 219 because of “unplayable” field condition
- No. 28 Boston College canceled a May 12 game against No. 229 UMass Lowell to meet the 56-game regular season limit mandated by the NCAA
A Boston College spokesperson told Front Office Sports the Eagles’ cancellation was a result of the team pre-emptively scheduling 59 games to account for inclement weather. However, the team only faced two prior weather-related cancellations prior to removing its contest against Lowell.
Oregon declined to comment on the matter, while NC State, Virginia Tech, Kentucky and Miami didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Meanwhile, after No. 12 Mississippi State played its May 5 contest against No. 141 Nicholls, Bulldogs coach Brian O’Connor criticized canceling games to benefit RPI.
“I don’t believe in it,” O’Connor said of the practice. “I believe in karma and I’m not judging anybody that does. We control our own program and the right thing to do is play the games. Because it’s an opportunity to get better.”
A source familiar with the situation tells FOS that cancellations are a result of coaches misunderstanding how RPI is calculated and considered during NCAA tournament selection. The source says that formal action hasn’t yet been taken against teams who cancelled games—with the NCAA tournament selection show taking place on May 25.
RPI is 25% based on a team’s winning percentage, 50% based on opponent win percentage, and 25% based on opponents’ opponents’ winning percentage. The NCAA considers RPI alongside other factors such as strength of schedule, results versus common opponents, and head-to-head competitions, and says that RPI should “never be considered anything but an additional evaluation tool.”
A similar incident played out in 2024, when a letter identical to the one sent this year was mailed to all NCAA coaches ahead of the tournament. RPI-driven cancellations are more common in college baseball than many other major sports, as teams often schedule mid-week games against lower-ranked opponents even well into conference play. These mid-week games are common in softball as well.
Most NCAA conference tournaments are set to begin next week. The NCAA tournament begins May 29, while the Men’s College World Series kicks off June 12.
