All that separated Baylor and Oklahoma State in the Big 12's final regular-season standings was .025 of a percentage point and a rain out that prevented the teams from playing the finale of their three-game series.

As it turned out Monday, Baylor and Oklahoma State were considered equals and good enough to keep playing.

The NCAA announced its 64-team bracket for the 2009 baseball championship and the Big 12 placed a record eight teams in the field. The inclusion of Baylor (29-24) and Oklahoma State (32-22) over the exclusion of teams from smaller conferences produced criticism of the selection process.

"If you look at our conference top-to-bottom, and realize that eight teams have been ranked in the Top 25 throughout the course of the season, it’s an amazing league," Kansas coach Ritch Price said. "Every weekend you go out and play somebody that’s ranked in the Top 25, and face players who are going to be drafted in the first round pitching against you. I think the committee recognized the depth of this league and rewarded those teams.”

All that matters for the Big 12 is that eight of its 10 teams will start regional play Friday. Regular-season and tournament champion Texas was made the overall No. 1 seed while Oklahoma is a No. 7 seed. Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri and Texas A&M also made the bracket.

The at-large invitation for Kansas State was the first in school history.

"It’s a great day for Kansas State baseball," said coach Brad Hill, the 2009 Big 12 Coach of the Year. “It’s also a great day for (former) coach Mike Clark. All the hard work that he did put us into this position. This is also for the players ? all the past players and all the players in the program right now.”

Wichita State, which will face Oklahoma Friday, also made the field - the first time all three Division I baseball teams from the Sunflower State made the bracket.

“It’s also a great day for the state of Kansas," Hill said. "It’s amazing that all three teams were able to get in. There were a lot of firsts today and a lot of great things taking place. I’m just glad we were able to be a part of that.”

Texas and Oklahoma will host first-round regionals. The Atlantic Coast Conference will host four.

"I’m disappointed,” said Missouri coach Tim Jamieson, whose team lost to Texas in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship. "I knew it would be a stretch for us (to earn a host site), because of our RPI (30). But I knew the conference’s RPI is pretty darn strong, and I think that carries a lot of weight. And I hoped the geography would help us.

"But I thought the conference, whether it be us or Kansas State or somebody else, had earned a third site.”

For the Longhorns, it's the first time hosting at new-and-improved UFCU Disch-Falk Field. In 2007, UT hosted a regional but the games were held at Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas, as construction took place at Disch-Falk.

UT coach Augie Garrido's team, with the top team ERA in Division I, should have an edge on its home field.

"The FieldTurf compromises the metal bats and the deeper fences compromises the metal bats," he said. "Being in our environment will give us a lot more confidence."

The Norman Regional features two teams - Wichita State and Arkansas - which figure to bring plenty of fans to L. Dale Mitchell Park on the OU campus. The Sooners have faced all three of its regional foes this season (Washington State completes the foursome).

“It’s hard to put yourself in position to host a regional,” OU coach Sunny Golloway said Sunday afternoon. “This really is a tremendous achievement for this team and our program.”

“Our field here in Norman will be extremely competitive and feature three teams we have played in the regular season. The atmosphere will be outstanding. History has proven that Sooner fans can provide us with a home-field advantage so we are excited to get this tournament started on Friday.”

Texas A&M gets to stay in the Lone Star state as the Aggies will open play in Fort Worth in a regional hosted by TCU, a long-time foe from Southwest Conference days.

“It’s exciting to be playing in the state of Texas,” said A&M coach Rob Childress, whose team will face Oregon State at 2 p.m. Friday. “We’re going to travel well and we’ll have a lot of maroon in the stands when we do play, and that’s a good feeling. I don’t think any of us were surprised when we saw where we were going today.

"We open against a perennial national power in Oregon State and are very familiar with the other two teams. It ought to be a great tournament.”

Baylor lost 10 consecutive Big 12 games and 12 of its last 16. Oklahoma State had to wait, watch and continue practicing last week as the Big 12 tournament took place in Oklahoma City.

"We weren’t sure what was going to happen with the committee," Oklahoma State coach Frank Anderson said Sunday night. "When you put it in the hands of somebody else to make those decisions, you’re always anxious about what would happen.

"We had a good schedule with a good NCAA RPI strength and so we knew we had a chance. I think our RPI, conference-wise is as good as it’s ever been so I think that’s the biggest reason (why Oklahoma State received a bid).”

The Big 12 has seven teams in the top 33 of the current RPI. Throughout the season, conference coaches talked about the strength of the teams. A familiar refrain was that none of the coaches believe another league can match the Big 12 in depth and quality of pitching.

With eight teams in the bracket, the Big 12 can now prove its worthiness by winning postseason games.

"Now we've got to go win, regardless of where we're sent," said Jameison, whose team will open against Western Kentucky in the Oxford Regional hosted by Ole Miss. "It's hard to imagine a conference with better pitching. Maybe things will slow down ... look at the radar guns for the pitchers (in the Big 12 tournament). ... Have you seen more 94, 95, 95? We were facing major-league quality pitching staffs."

The 16 regionals each have four teams that will battle in a double-elimination format. The 16 teams that survive the regionals will advance to eight super regional sites. The hosts for the eight super regionals will be announced after the field is trimmed to 16 teams. The eight winners of the super regionals advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., starting June 13.