d 1 and d2 programs???

You need to read some previous threads that have thoroughly covered varied opinions from some
very informed members of this forum.

My personal rankings.


1) Notre Dame...all alone at the top....by a mile!
2) SIU, by a nose over
3) Evansville, by a nose over
4) ISU, by a nose over
5) UIC
6) Indiana State
7) Purdue
8) Illinois
9) NIU
10)St. Joseph (D2)
11)Indiana
12)Western
13)Eastern
14)Valpo
15)Butler
16)Chicago State.


Btw, there are some JC's that have great programs in Ill/Ind.

Soxnole, I agree with alot of your listings. Notre Dame at the top, and I really think Evansville is on the rise. A very good baseball program in a very talented Missouri Valley Conference. Good Post!

so st. joe is the best d2 in the area??

thanks for your help

big tymer,

Yes, St. Josheph's College and University of Wisconsin Whitewater Parkside are both DII's that have very strong programs in this area. Both are members of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, a wood bat league.

EDIT:
Wisconsin Parkside is the DII, not Whitewater.... Thanks for setting me straight Bret25....

I think Dallas is closer to Carbondale than Carbondale is to the greater Chicagoland area.

Wisconsin-Whitewater won the D III National Championship this past year(2005)
Wisconson Parkside in Kenosha is a member of The Great Lakes Conference along with St Joe's and Lewis

Just asking is Chicago State worth going to? Does it look like there are going to shape up or flop like most of the years. just asking for some input also anybody have anything to say about North central college.

baseball...New coach. Easier schedule might help.

Nowhere to go but up.

Saw them play a few times in the past couple of years. It was brutal. Had a couple of true "players" and little or no pitching.

Scheduled some big time programs and got smoked.

Not sure how much emphasis on baseball at CSU.

They need pitching, pitching and more pitching. Did I say pitching?

While no one talks about it, I would guess that the racial makeup of the student body has something to do with some kids not going there.

ACT of 18 and old SAT of 890 gets you in.

North Central has had some success over the years. Well regarded academically and as good of a facility as you will find in d111.
Beautiful location also - you'll need grades and/or a chunk of cash. Know some graduates and all had positive experience.

have a couple of friends on the time and one of their fathers said they are going to be very bad, had a lot of kids in the fall basically if you showed up you made it. Thats what I heard also they play in a tough confrence.

I would have to put Quincy University up their too. They play in the same confrence as parkside and St.Joes. They get a couple of players drafted yearly too. Very solid team!

I don't see anyone mentioning Northwestern or Bradley as DI programs, both in solid conferences. Also, UW-Milwaukee is a DI program in the Horizon League with UIC. Finally, if you are looking at DIII, Illinois Wesleyan was nationally ranked last year. Carthage College in Kenosha also has a good program with a very good coach. We are fortunate here in the Chicagoland area to have so many nice choices at all levels of competition.

Can't believe I forgot about the Braves...with Porter and Brewer they will be solid.

Put them ahead of Purdue on my list.

soxnole, why don't you like Northwestern? And yes, don't forget about the Braves, or whatever name they will be called in the future.

Just out of curiousity, when was the last time a Big 10 school was in the NCAA final week? I haven't seen one in years and I can't remember that far back. I don't have stats but, I would venture to say it's been a while. Just nosing around......

I would guess that it was Ohio State with that outstanding pitcher, Steve Arlin, about 400 years ago.

I like Northwestern.

Great coach and unreal academics.

However, it's tough to play on the frozen tundra.

Bottom line is the MVC baseball is better than Big 10 baseball.

Soxnole, you have a private message. Thanks.

Sweaty:

I believe it was Michigan that last qualified for the CWS. That was in 1984 and they went two and out.

just a question when was the last team for the mvc in the CWS.... witchita or creighton?? when??

Soxnole, I agree with your assessments... I think the MVC is tougher than the Big Ten and SIU, ISU, Bradley, UIC are very solid programs attracting some unreal talent... I'm unfamiliar with the baseball programs of Evansville and Indiana State... Can you summarize these programs? Thanks!

The Illinois State Redbirds have been getting some better than before talent. Did they change the Head Coach? If not, how's he getting the talent he's getting now? Didn't he have a kid Fischer who went there? I heard he is not returning because he did not like the Head Coach.

Coach Brownlee has been there since 2002. I know that they are making an effort to recruit the whole state. Assistant Coach and Son Tim, has made recent contact with me regarding talent in this area. I'm sure I'm not the only one he has contacted in this area. I can't speak for any conflicts with any players. Heck, I think I even coached a player once that didn't like me.

Don't know the story on why Fischer left ISU but I do know that he's at South Suburban JC this year. He's a very nice player and it will be interesting to see where he ends up next year.

yea fischer is pretty good. I hear there are alot of conflicts with the coach at isu but they have a good program. Watch out for kit kopac with a rocket arm topping out at 95. mvc is better than the big ten.

Styles,

SW Missouri State (now Missouri State) was the last Valley team to participate in the College World Series. This was in 2003.

Illinois State is a program on the rise in the Valley. They have brought in many super recruits including:
OBrien
Kopach
Bolt
Sorce
Anetsberger
Dubler
DeMarco
Sajewich
I. Berger
Copeland, Weston (2006)

ALSO: They Valley is establishing itself as quite a basketball conference as well with non conference wins against indiana, iowa, depaul, providence, and purdue. GO VALLEY!!!

Parity has certainly arrived in basketball. Fanatic, I used to cover the Valley basketball scene and have always liked the conference. Their still mid-major though, the Indiana & Iowa wins were impressive but the Depaul/Purdue wins mean little. MVC still needs a couple of teams to advance year after year in NCAA to move up in the conference rankings. Porter Moser at ISU may be gaining on SIU.

Stevens is a great head coach at Northwestern. Always gets alot of talent from a team that thinks grades first and baseball second. Not like teams and programs on the West coast.

Irish, there are lots of very good academic schools on left coast with great programs that care about academics also. Agree on Stevens, big focus on academics and not just interested in getting a kid "in" or keeping him eligible, really interested in student's ability to succeed at NU.

irish and dennis...

Interested in your responses.

Don't know anything about the program but I wonder why the head coach has been there for ***x years and has a losing record?

Not sure on that Been but over the years I've followed NU sports coaches have had a long,long leash. I'm sure administration would like to win but probably not a huge priority - more focus on academics/research/endowment. Even in football/hoops I think more of their coaches have left on their own than have been fired.

Stevens will be coaching at N'Western for as long as he wants to. A very good coach that gets alot out of the talent that he has on the field.

Just saw this bit of info on 06 non-conf. strength of schedule. 52. Northwestern, 60. ISU, 83. UofI, 138. Evansville, 140. NIU, 158. UIC, 188. Western, 208. SIU, 212. Valpo, 231. Indiana State, 241. Creighton, 245. Eastern Il, 246. Chi.State, 259. Indiana, 281. Bradley.
Interesting throughout the country seeing how schools from various conferences handle their schedules and the balance of gettings wins/vs. playing better competition.

where did you find this?

Dennis, please correct me if I am wrong……

This link to this article was posted in the “General Items” – 2006 Non-Conference Schedule Strenght by Bullwinkle. Good read…

http://www.sebaseball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=488639

Try Boyd’s World. This is a great site with a wealth of information on College baseball.

http://www.boydsworld.com/

“I ain’t ever had a job, I just always played Baseball.” ~ Satchel Paige

Good job Smokey.

Can't post these important sites too often.

My personal favorite is [ncaa-baseball.com].

It has several excellent links including Boyds World.

Most importantly its the VERY FIRST place to go when you want to review ANY and EVERY D1,D2 and D3 school. On the front page lower left you'll find links to all schools by division.

AN absolutely fantastic place for a player and his family to begin the process.

Has anyone heard of that Midwest Baseball site? It lists all the top prospects. I'm not sure of the exact website address. I think it was run by someone in Indiana. I'm not completely sure. I think it was from Illinois St. or Indiana St.