I Iove it also (not particularly in this case of Vandy winning) but too many programs have players that are hurt and Vandy is one of them.
JMO
@TPM congrats to the Gators!
@PTWood posted:@TPM congrats to the Gators!
@TPM Heading to Hoover as the #1 seed in the SEC tourney. Congrats!! I Think that was @PitchingFan's honor last season.
I got to watch my son at Hoover in 2017, Arkansas was a 4 seed and lost to LSU in the championship game. I hated LSU that season, they just seemed to have the Razorbacks number (Their fans travel in mass).
The last push toward the CWS journey, good luck to all still playing!
@PTWood posted:@TPM congrats to the Gators!
Thank you!
Gators share regular season Co-Champions with the Razorbacks and #1 seed in Hoover due to total wins.
We are so grateful Dave was given the opportunity to be a Gator coach. Great staff, great group of kids that work very hard and manage to stay healthy. I know lots of folks blame coaches when things go south, but players have just as much responsibility when shaping their destiny.
Wyatt Langford, as mentioned several times, is the best example. Four games as a freshman, possibly #1 on draft day? He had a freak accident and required immediate surgery (reminder to your boys, wear a cup). He was back at it 2 weeks later and now full speed ahead!
Lots of freshman/RSfreshman and sophmores made significant contributions. They weren't promised anything but their hardwork obviously paid off. And when someone went down they stepped up. Thankfully pitchers stayed healthy, a few offensive guys had weird stuff happen but everyone is healthy.
Thank you to all who have sent pms.
BTW, for the comments made about Jac Caglianone. He IS a bona fide 2 way player. Remember that!
Go Gators!
Gators played against UT for the championship last season.
Next is regionals, then super regionals. Pretty sure UF will be a super sight.
The Road to Omaha is a tough gig! I have tons of respect to the smaller programs who have less resources that make it to Omaha.
Sure the SEC is the "belle of the ball" (is there no one prettier?!), but there are other conferences out there. I've been doing a periodic check, and this season has some surprises. A quick glance:
- It looks like Clemson & Virginia are peaking about now. 12 and 9 straight wins respectively. Looking forward to the ACC tourney
- West Virginia, Texas and Ok State are all tied and sitting at the top of the Big 12 for the regular season
- Maryland has got a slim lead in the Big 10 for the regular season
- Stanford has sizeable lead in PAC-12
- UNCW and ECU has it going on. ECU is always going to the post season it seems.
- Dallas Baptist running away with Conf USA
- Wright State and Kent State have sizeable leads in the Horizon and Mid-American conferences respectively
- Indiana State running away with Missouri Valley conference
- Coastal Carolina has a slim lead in the regular season, and a 7 game winning streak in the 14-team Sun Belt
- Penn (6 game winning streak) won the Ivy regular season, and is positioned well to win the conference tourney against Harvard for a regional bid
I could go on about lots of teams that are doing well and lots of teams not doing well and why.
But that wasn't my reason for posting.
All of the teams you mentioned are successful and where they are because of the hard work and not placing blame on losses. You never blame the other team. You just work hard at being better!
Remember, ex ACC and CUSA parent here and still and always be a fan.
@fenwaysouth posted:Sure the SEC is the "belle of the ball" (is there no one prettier?!), but there are other conferences out there. I've been doing a periodic check, and this season has some surprises. A quick glance:
- Indiana State running away with Missouri Valley conference
DI baseball is the only poll that doesn't have us ranked I believe. Looking ahead to our series with Missouri State they seemed to think they were going to give us problems. 11-4/9-5/14-4 with the last game played mostly by backups. The only game that was close was the second one. Our right fielder had to go up over the fence to rob a grand slam that would have made it an 8-9 game them. And this was with our center fielder (one of our best hitters and defenders) out with a hand injury. At this point I believe the only reason it matters if we win our tournament is to make a case to host a regional.
Shameless plug. This one went over the sign in left and out of the stadium.
@fenwaysouth posted:
- Penn (6 game winning streak) won the Ivy regular season, and is positioned well to win the conference tourney against Harvard for a regional bid
Harvard vs Princeton in the elimination game starting in about 10 minutes. Winner plays undefeated Penn for championship tomorrow.
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@MidAtlanticDad thanks for the picture. The new artificial turf field looks significantly better than the old grass field used to. I assume it is still hard to find the field off the unmarked, meandering Philly roads between the water treatment plant (not where you want to be on a hot day) and the train tracks down the short left field line.
I saw the 16-3 score in Penn's favor. https://ivyleague.com/scoreboard/ Not a viewing game worthy of a championship, but I'm sure the Quakers will take it and run with it to the NCAA regionals. 4 of those Penn runs were BB RBIs, so Princeton had absolutely no pitching left.. It was 16-0 in the 5th before Princeton scored a run. Yikes.
@fenwaysouth posted:@MidAtlanticDad thanks for the picture. The new artificial turf field looks significantly better than the old grass field used to. I assume it is still hard to find the field off the unmarked, meandering Philly roads between the water treatment plant (not where you want to be on a hot day) and the train tracks down the short left field line.
I saw the 16-3 score in Penn's favor. https://ivyleague.com/scoreboard/ Not a viewing game worthy of a championship, but I'm sure the Quakers will take it and run with it to the NCAA regionals. 4 of those Penn runs were BB RBIs, so Princeton had absolutely no pitching left.. It was 16-0 in the 5th before Princeton scored a run. Yikes.
Yup. No pitching left. A really fun weekend and season, though.
Tigers improved by 17 wins this year - most in D1.
As you know, improving by 17 games is not unheard of in the Ivy. Princeton had a good run. There are many last place one year to first place the following year stories since I've been following Ivy baseball. Its not the first time doing that for Princeton. The Ivys are so reliant on refreshing their recruiting blood with freshmen every year....the Ivy freshmen recruiting class matters a lot.
Looking forward to the NCAA regionals, and I'll find myself (reluctantly 
) rooting for Penn. They gave South Carolina a run for their money back in late February which was their first series. Typically, in the NCAA regionals an Ivy team's lack of depth is exposed in their batting lineup (ie 7-9 hitters) and starting pitchers. Let's see if Penn and the Ivy League can get over the regional "hump".
@fenwaysouth posted:As you know, improving by 17 games is not unheard of in the Ivy. Princeton had a good run. There are many last place one year to first place the following year stories since I've been following Ivy baseball. Its not the first time doing that for Princeton. The Ivys are so reliant on refreshing their recruiting blood with freshmen every year....the Ivy freshmen recruiting class matters a lot.
Looking forward to the NCAA regionals, and I'll find myself (reluctantly
I'll bite my tongue and do the same. Penn's a very good club with unusual pitching depth for the conference.
What has happened to LSU? Weren't they the school that NILed its way to supposed success?
@anotherparent posted:What has happened to LSU? Weren't they the school that NILed its way to supposed success?
SEC has looked pretty darn tough. I’ve watched nearly all of the tourney. I don’t think LSU was too concerned about winning. I think they were trying to get action for some pitchers to shore things up for regionals. Don’t even think they went to their ace(s) when they could have. I’m not an LSU fan. They still looked really good.
@anotherparent posted:What has happened to LSU? Weren't they the school that NILed its way to supposed success?
I’m also not an LSU fan. But their pitching staff has dealt with a lot of injuries. Of the guys that stayed healthy only Paul Skenes has pitched to his potential. And @TexasLefty is correct that they weren’t really playing for anything in the SEC tournament. I wouldn’t want to run into them in a Regional.
I don’t get not going to ace. Their ace got beat. And their #2 guy. They played all their studs and got beat twice. I don’t think anyone goes to Hoover and not give it their all.
And we are a regional host.
@SomeBaseballDad posted:And we are a regional host.
Heads up to anybody here affiliated with Wright State, North Carolina, or Iowa. If you plan on coming do not hesitate to get a hotel room and tickets to the games. Unless you wouldn't mind staying in a crappy hotel room and sitting in the stadium parking lot watching the games on your phone.
There should be a reasonable amount of decent hotels and seating to be allowed to host. Several of the teams that are hosting this year fit into the category you mentioned.
@PitchingFan posted:There should be a reasonable amount of decent hotels and seating to be allowed to host. Several of the teams that are hosting this year fit into the category you mentioned.
Thinking about it, it comes down to a couple of things. Mostly how many casual fans the three other teams bring with them. If it's mostly parents/close relatives things will be fine. Now if they bring a sizable fan base that's another story. As for the stadium, the field and facilities are fine, but it is on the small side. That said during the season the area along the left field line is reserved for alumni. If they kick them out and install temporary seating there, bring in a food truck or two and portable restrooms, then I don't think there should be too many issues.
I understand that is one of the main reasons they decided not to send several of the larger fan bases there.
@PitchingFan posted:I understand that is one of the main reasons they decided not to send several of the larger fan bases there.
Yeah doesn't it just suck when a small school has a good team.
That’s questionable. RPI saved them. Lost to every P5 they played except a midweek to Vandy. I say you should get no credit for losing rather at home or on the road. No way you win by losing. Don’t think I’m saying UT should be there because we played too up and down this year. I just don’t see how ISU, coastal, Kentucky, Auburn or USC and probably a couple others. RPI gives you points for losing That is everyone gets a trophy mentality.
@PitchingFan posted:That’s questionable. RPI saved them. Lost to every P5 they played except a midweek to Vandy. I say you should get no credit for losing rather at home or on the road. No way you win by losing. Don’t think I’m saying UT should be there because we played too up and down this year. I just don’t see how ISU, coastal, Kentucky, Auburn or USC and probably a couple others. RPI gives you points for losing That is everyone gets a trophy mentality.
Thing is no one pays attention to us mid-majors. Like when we have a very productive player go down and miss the first three weeks of the season, when we played all those P5 teams. Also, we were trying to figure out pitching. That said I guess we'll see. What is the saying, "the rubber meets the road".
@PitchingFan posted:I just don’t see how ISU, coastal, Kentucky, Auburn or USC and probably a couple others. RPI gives you points for losing That is everyone gets a trophy mentality.
Convinced USC missed because they played us opening weekend and it brought their RPI down. I'm also 100% ok with this because their fans were....less than cordial. Yes all fan bases are tough.
@SomeBaseballDad posted:Yeah doesn't it just suck when a small school has a good team.
I actually love it when a small school has a good team.
@SomeBaseballDad posted:Thing is no one pays attention to us mid-majors.
I think a lot of people were paying attention to the Sycamores' success.
A mid D1, does not have to meet the same criteria to make the 64 team field, as a P5 does.
ISU had an outstanding season this year and won their conference championship!
Enjoy the moment and have fun!
I'm all for the smaller teams getting a shot, BUT they should have to play by the same rules. You can't look at ISU or Coastal's record and who they beat and lost to and tell me that if they were an SEC team they would get to host. The system is flawed and I believe it is intentional to push the agenda of making sure there are a couple of mid-majors in Omaha. The Cinderella story. But when you change the system for that to happen, something is wrong. We live in a culture where certain agendas are pushed and when that happens the rules are changed. The RPI is greatly flawed. A win is a win and a loss is a loss. If you lose on the road, you should not get credit higher than a win at home. A lot of P5 schools schedule smaller state schools to give them money for their program and that is a good thing. Don't punish them when they do it. If they lose, light them up. But if a mid-major loses to a P5 on the road they should not be rewarded. There are several schools that played the game this year and were rewarded even with bad losses. They played up on the road and lost and still got rewarded. If that is not "everybody gets a trophy" then something is wrong. But it also applied to P5's like Kentucky. They were a trainwreck at the end and still got rewarded for going on the road and losing. Now they get rewarded by giving them a host when they cannot even put the other three teams up in hotels. They are making them stay in dorms, and not the good dorms. The NCAA selection committee has become a joke. Auburn got to host because their man is the chairman.
BTW, the USC was South Carolina. I forgot not everyone is from this area. Southern Cal is the Other USC and rarely referred to in baseball. Just like UT is Tennessee not Texas.
Here UT is Texas. It always confuses me when Tennessee is referred to as UT🤣.
I hate Texas but they aren’t a small name. And to me USC is California. All depends on where you live.
MSU is Michigan State.
Bob
@baseballhs posted:Here UT is Texas. It always confuses me when Tennessee is referred to as UT🤣.
I hate Texas but they aren’t a small name. And to me USC is California. All depends on where you live.
Must not be an SEC guy. I will also say that school in Ohio never starts with the word The.
@baseballhs posted:Here UT is Texas. It always confuses me when Tennessee is referred to as UT🤣.
I hate Texas but they aren’t a small name. And to me USC is California. All depends on where you live.
This is 100% correct. And I am an SEC guy. I hate the University of Texas as much as anyone but you can’t deny their relevance in college baseball. Over the history of their program they have far exceeded what Tennessee has done. It’s not even close. The exact same argument can be made for the University of Southern California over South Carolina, who has only been a prominent program for the past 15 years or so. There is no doubt that the SEC is king of the mountain today, and has been for at least the past decade plus. But it hasn’t always been that way.
And in 2 years, the SEC will have 2 UTs. Both with fans who think they own it….
I'm actually a UGA football fan and we always referred to UT as Tennessee and Texas was just Texas. Southern Cal is very rarely spoken of anyway and South Carolina is normally usc with no capitalization. I still use it when referring to it with my Carolina friends just to mess with them. I'm sure in 2 years there will be 2 schools saying we are the real UT in the SEC.
@baseballhs posted:And it 2 years, the SEC will have 2 UTs. Both with fans who think they own it….
Yeah, that’s something to look forward to
UT is Texas
USC is Southern Cal
OSU is Ohio State
MSU is Michigan State
In the big picture these schools have has a bigger histories in college sports. Plus, while this is a baseball board most people think in terms of football and basketball in terms of these acronyms.
UConn had the best solution. No one confuses them with other universities beginning with C.
College Baseball Mulls RPI Reform In Wake Of NCAA Tournament Selections
@TPM posted:Enjoy the moment and have fun!
I have as this kids' dad been very thankful for ISU taking my kid in and giving him a chance to play these last few years. The kid got caught up in the facilities at Nebraska and we his parents got caught up in the scholarship offer. If I had only had a crystal ball. That said this is it. He has received some indy ball offers. On the other hand he has this really down to earth girlfriend, so my advice has been it's time to start a life. So, some trepidation going into the weekend.