With the NCAA basketball tournament in full swing, I thought it might be fun to see which of the schools involved would win if we only looked at the major league players each produced.
Now, we’re going to have to get creative in what we mean by “win.” Obviously, we’re not going to play real games. Heck, most of the schools in the tournament haven’t produced enough major league players to field a full team, so we can’t even simulate actual baseball games.
What I think is fair, and will give even some smaller schools a fighting chance, is if we take the WAR total of the best major league player the school produced, compare it to their opponent in the actual bracket, and whichever school had the higher score, they win. In the next round, it’s the second-best player, then third, and so forth.
That’s going to be our week here, so buckle up.
Today we start with the East Regional.
EAST - Round 1
1 UConn vs. 16 Stetson: George Springer has the most WAR (36.3) among players who went to UConn. Not bad. Unfortunately for the good people in Storrs, Stetson is the alma mater of Jacob DeGrom and his 44.8 career WAR. We have a massive upset right out of the gate. Stetson moves on.
8 Florida Atlantic vs. 9 Northwestern: The best FAU could produce was poor Austin Gomber and his 2.9 WAR. He’s no match for 21.1 WAR of Northwestern’s J.A. Happ. It’s a blowout. Northwestern will face Stetson in the second round.
5 San Diego State vs. 12 UAB: The great Tony Gwynn and his 69.2 WAR absolutely obliterates Chris Hammond (11.6) of UAB.
4 Auburn vs. 13 Yale: Hall of Famer Frank Thomas is easily the best player to come out of Auburn, but Yale’s Orator Jim O’Rourke, a fellow Hall of Famer, put up a helluva fight before finally falling 73.8 to 52.3. War Eagle!
6 BYU vs. 11 Duquesne: World Series hero Donn Clendendon represents the Dukes with his 20.0 WAR. He’s no match for 2-time MVP Dale Murphy (46.5) of BYU.
3 Illinois vs. 14 Morehead State: The Illini sent Hall of Famer Lou Boudreau to square off against the Eagles’ Steve Hamilton. It’s a bloodbath, with Boudreau winning in a rout, 63.1 to 11.1.
7 Washington State vs. 10 Drake: This one was also no contest. John Olerud represented the Cougars and had no problems with the Bulldog’s Lee Stange, winning 58.2 to 9.2.
2 Iowa State vs. 15 South Dakota State: The folks in Brookings have only sent five players to the big leagues, but one of them was Vean Gregg (whose full name is, gloriously, Sylveanus Agusturs Gregg) and his 23.1 WAR. Surprisingly, that’s enough, because the much deeper Cyclones don’t have anyone who could match that. The best they could do was pitcher Buster Brown and his 12.4 WAR. The Jackrabbits are moving on and the top two seeds in the East are going home.
EAST - Round 2
9 Northwestern vs. 16 Stetson: It’s not the matchup any of us expected, but here we are with the Hatters’ Corey Kluber squaring off against the overmatched Mark Loretta for the Wildcats. The 2-time Cy Young winner comes out on top, 34.0 to 19.4, and Stetson is improbably off to the Sweet 16.
5 San Diego State vs. 4 Auburn: Folks, you’d have thought that having someone like Tim Hudson and his 57.9 WAR representing your school in the second round would be a pretty safe bet. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they ran into the juggernaut that is the Aztecs’ Graig Nettles and his 67.9 WAR. Sand Diego State moves on.
6 BYU vs. 3 Illinois: Not many team have a Hall of Famer to send out for Round 2, but BYU does. Jack Morris is their next man up, and Illinois’ Tom Haller is no match for him. The Cougars move on, 43.5 to 29.3.
7 Washington State vs. 15 South Dakota State: There’s very little drop off for Wazzu in Round 2, as Ron Cey and his 53.7 WAR prove to be way, way too much for Drake’s Blake Treinen (11.0). We’re going to have an all-Cougar showdown in the Sweet 16.
EAST - Sweet Sixteen
5 San Diego State vs 16 Stetson: Logan Gilbert definitely has a promising future in front of him. In a few years, this matchup may turn out differently. But for now his 7.1 career WAR isn’t ready for San Diego State’s Mark Grace (46.4). The Aztecs are heading to the Elite Eight, and they officially may problem for everyone else.
6 BYU vs 7 Washington State: In our all-Cougar matchup, the cats from Provo are simply too much for the cats from Pullman. Wally Joyner leads BYU to a 35.8 to 20.1 victory over Wazzu’s Aaron Sele.
EAST - Regional Final
5 San Diego State vs. 6 BYU: Rick Aguilera was a really good pitcher. He made three All-Star teams, saved over 300 big league games, and has two World Series rings. His 21.8 WAR makes him the BYU alum with the fourth-most career WAR and puts the Cougars in the very strong position.
But it’s just not enough, because he ran straight a former number one overall pick, San Diego State’s Stephen Strasburg. Sure, his career ended prematurely, but not before he racked up 113 wins, three All-Star appearances, a World Series title (of which he was MVP), and 32.3 career WAR.
Our first Final Four piece is in place, and the Aztecs appear to have the makings of a juggernaut.
Tomorrow, we move out West.
Outstandingly entertaining! 🙏
Now highly disappointed that my favorite team, LSU, didn't make the tournament. LSU has not huge star, but is deep with quality MLBers (Alvin Dark, Bregman, Aaron Nola, Joe Adcock, Kevin Gausman). Would they have gotten a good enough draw to go deep? Or would they have drawn a team like San Diego St. or Texas who would have beat them in the 1st round with a big star? Alas, not a MENS basketball school.