There was joy in Springfield, not so much in Columbia.
The Missouri State Bears are seeded as one of the top teams in the country heading into the NCAA Division I Championships. The Missouri Tigers just missed out on a berth in the field of 64 when it was announced Monday.
Missouri State (45-10) is the No. 8 national seed and will host a regional beginning Friday at Hammons Field. The Bears will open against the Canisius Golden Griffins in the opening round at 6 p.m.
Canisius (34-28) is the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament champion, winning five straight elimination games in the process.
The first game of the double-elimination event will pit the second-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes (39-16) against the third-seeded Oregon Ducks (37-23) at 1 p.m.
As a national seed, if it were to win its regional, Missouri State would then host the winner of the Oklahoma State regional in a super regional for the right to advance to the College World Series.
Missouri State is back in championships for the first time since 2012, when the Bears finished 1-2 in a regional at Coral Gables, Fla.
The Bears, 14-17 all-time in the championships, are one of three Missouri Valley Conference teams selected for the championships.
Dallas Baptist (43-13), the regular-season runner-up to Missouri State, will also host a regional. Bradley (35-19), the runner-up to Missouri State in the MVC Tournament, is the No. 2 seed in the Louisville Regional.
III
Oregon was one of the final at-large teams selected to the tournament, a spot Missouri was hoping to fill.
At the conclusion of the selection show Monday on ESPU, the Tigers were among the teams listed as the first four out.
Missouri (30-28 overall, 15-15 Southeastern Conference) finished with an RPI of 54 and was seventh in the conference standings.
The Tigers were ranked as high as No. 14 in one national poll during the season. But Missouri stumbled to close the season, losing 12 of its last 15 games heading into the SEC Tournament.
Missouri opened with a win against South Carolina to start the tournament, but then lost in extra innings to Vanderbilt, then fell to Alabama in an elimination game that likely sealed its NCAA fate.
Seven SEC teams were selected to the championships, including nationally seeded LSU and Florida. Texas A&M and Vanderbilt will also host regionals. Arkansas and Mississippi are No 2 seeds in their regionals, while Auburn is seeded third in its region. Auburn was selected to the championships despite finishing ninth in the conference, probably because of its No. 22 RPI.