The view of this weekend from ESPN College Baseball
http://espn.go.com/ncaa/notebook/_/page/2012seasonweek4/2012-college-baseball
5. The Nike College Showcase
PK Park, Eugene, Ore., and Goss Stadium, Corvallis, Ore.
No. 10 Oregon (10-1); Oregon State (8-4); No. 18 Oklahoma (9-3); Connecticut (4-6); Illinois (4-5); West Virginia (6-6)
One of the best jamborees of the early-season slate, the northern BCS conference teams (UConn, Illinois and West Virginia) need to win here more than the other teams, as each has suffered some numbing one-run losses, and all are looking for RPI points. But it's the Ducks who come into this one as a bit of a surprise as the heavy favorite. George Horton's 2012 edition has shown a penchant for winning the close ones, going 6-0 in one-or-two run games, including all three versus Long Beach State last weekend. If Oregon leadoff hitter J.J. Altobelli starts to heat up again (he's hitting just .264 now), the Big Green won't have so many close calls. They'll take on Oklahoma and UConn on Saturday and Sunday for their toughest assignments. This is also Oregon State's best chance at getting back into the rankings discussion before Pac-12 play kicks in next week.
Key matchup: UConn's RPI matchups.
The Huskies have come up snake-eyes in games with Mississippi State, Purdue and College of Charleston so far. This could be their last chance at earning some top-quality nonconference wins to impress the NCAA selection committee. In other words, wins here versus Oklahoma, Oregon State and Oregon could be the difference between an at-large bid or needing to win the Big East tournament.