USC baseball would be in NCAA Tournament if season ended today

USC baseball doesn't get a medal for moving inside the NCAA Tournament cut line a few weeks before the end of the regular season. What matters is to have the team's name show up in the bracket when the selections are made for the postseason field. Nevertheless, it is progress for the Trojans to be where they are. A few weeks ago, they were going through a rough losing skid. They managed to shake it off and win six in a row to move to 29-14 overall, 14-7 in the Big Ten.

USC ended play on Sunday with an RPI of 37. That should be more than good enough to make the NCAA Tournament ... if it holds up in the remaining weeks of the season. As long as USC can keep winning series and avoiding a three- or four-game losing streak, the Men of Troy should be fine in their pursuit of a spot in an NCAA regional. The Trojans are close to the finish line, but have to run the entirety of the race. No one should be thinking this is a done deal.

What adds to the pressure of the moment -- and an appropriate sense of urgency -- for coach Andy Stankiewicz and his Trojans is that USC was unfairly snubbed in the baseball selection process for the 2023 NCAA Tournament. USC clearly had a better resume than some of the final teams which were allowed into the field. The Trojans have to make sure to leave no doubt this time around and not slip on the banana peel so close to their main goal.

If USC makes the NCAA Tournament this year, the Trojans can begin to dream of a bigger, fuller restoration of college baseball's most successful and accomplished program. USC's 12 national championships are five more than any other school (LSU, 7). USC can't think about national greatness until it returns to the national tournament. The Trojans are almost there, but they have to finish the job as the month of April gives way to May.

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC baseball enters home stretch in NCAA Tournament push