With last night's loss to Houston, The Eagles regular season is coming to a close.  With the loss, USM fell to 38-17 on the season, so that the chance for a 40-win regular season campaign was sealed off.

Still tracking the Eagles' RPI since near the end of the Louisville series: 24, 28, 29, 32, 33, 30, 36, 33, 32, 31, 33, 32, 27, 25, 33, 32, 34 (this morning).  The Eagles have played the 58th most difficult schedule in the nation this season (warrennolan.com).  Other notables, with their strength-of-schedule ranking and records for this year, are: 1. Auburn (32-22) 2. Baylor (36-18) 3. Arizona State (30-21) 4. Georgia (29-24) 5. Clemson (36-19)  6. Ole Miss (36-18)  10. LSU (37-17) 19. East Carolina (33-21) 21. Alabama (35-19) 32. Mississippi State (35-19) 43. Tulane (46-9) 45. Rice (35-17) 58. USM (38-17) 62. TCU (37-17) ....

In other news, Lu Harris-Champer's Lady Dawgs (Georgia) beat Tennessee Tech last night, 7-3, in the first round of the NCAA Regionals (hosted by UGa).  The win upped their record to 52-13 on the year.  Harris-Champer's Lady Dawgs will face Georgia Tech later this morning.  Meanwhile, USM's Gay McNutt and the Lady Eagles ended their 2005 season at 29-32 several days ago.