Questions about DI travel squads, etc.

At Arizona State, the entire roster traveled for most non-conference games. In the Pac 12, I believe the travel limit is 27. And, a part that is not generally known, the home team in Pac 12 games can designate only 27 players who are actually eligible to play, even though the entire roster is dressed and in the dugout. For NCAA tournament games, I think the limit is also 27.

It all depends on the conference.  27 can travel in the ACC.  I'm pretty sure it's 27 in the SEC as well.  

This is an SEC school so I will go with 27 unless someone knows otherwise. Thanks for the info.

jemaz - Through 2 sons...something I've always wondered but not sure.  If 2 rival teams are playing each other (e.g. Stanford/Cal...or ASU/Arizona), can they both use/travel their whole roster?

I think they might...or feel like I've seen that in the past.  But I don't know?

My understanding is this: If it is a conference game, they cannot. If it is a non-conference game (and ASU and Arizona play two of those each year) they can indeed use the entire roster.

I think I've seen Stanford go very deep in their roster on a weekend Pac12 series game...which is what made me wonder.  But I just don't know.

The PAC-12 Handbook says in AR 3-8:
Home and travel squads for intra-Conference games or contests shall be limited to the numbers specified in the following table, except there shall be no limit for the traditional rival games or contests played at the site of one of the rivals.

Baseball is listed as 27, and it includes any injured players that travel with the team.

compliance.pac-12.org/thetools/1213hbv1.pdf

Assuming the number for the SEC is 27 as well, how many pitchers are normally included in the 27?  i realize this would be different for each team...just looking for an educated guess.  Thanks. 

This is a much tougher questions and depends on the team. As important is how many catchers. In the Pac 12, a bullpen catcher who is not on the active roster (and thus not count against the 27) can travel for conference games. I also do not want to infer that I know more than I do. I was told this by and ASU coach a year or two ago. I could be misremembering or things could have changed, but I am pretty sure I am correct.

I think it is fair to say that on a 35 man roster there are an average of 13-15 pitchers. On a 27 man travel team....for a 3 game series.... I'd say 10-12. Judgment call here. Eager to hear other opinions.

If a team travels for a 3-game series, can the 27 man roster be changed in the middle of the series? If a team runs thru the pen in game one, can they send position players home and bring up pitchers for the next 2 games?

Do you really think colleges have the money and resources to do something like that?

Sure.

UCLA-Stanford. Alabama-Ole Miss. Georgia-Florida. NC State-Duke. Need I go on?

Question remains, does anyone know if this is allowed?

Not in the PAC-12.  I already posted the link, so you can read it for yourself if you like.

So it sounds like my guess was right?  Is that what you're saying?

Yep, I think that's what the PAC-12 handbook says--the whole team can play if the contest is between rivals and held at one of the two schools.

You learn something new every day. I did not know this.

What/who determines rivals in this instance?

My understanding is the travel roster is set with no changes including injury.  Son's college coach brought up your example (at a team kickoff party) as something that can't be done when their conference travel roster limit changed from 22 to 25 last year. League plays 2 games Saturday and 2 games Sunday.   If they are playing beyond 4 games (ie Spring Break, Easter Break) they are allowed to add more players to the travel roster dependent on the total number of games (there is a formula).  The fact remains the home team has a huge advantage despite the bump in numbers across conferences.

Thanks to Fenway and 3FG. I get it now that the roster limits apply per-series, not per-game.

Getting back to the original question, I think 10 is too few and 13 is too many pitchers to carry for a 3 game series

Working backward, this is what i would guess for a "normal" travel squad....

2 catchers

4 outfielders

4 infielders (not counting 1st base)

2 first baseman/DH

12 Total non-pitchers.  To be conservative, add another 2 non-pitchers and you have 14 of the 27.

This leads me to believe the typical travel squad will have between 12 and 15 pitchers.  

Does that sound correct?

Just happened to check some random 2013 rosters. Here are pitcher totals:

UCLA--14

Oregon--15

Stanford--17!!!

For travel squad, I'm in the 12 range...........although I don't know what Stanford would do.

From the PAC-12 Handbook:

Member institutions shall be aligned into a North Division (consisting of California, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, Washington, and Washington State) and a South Division (consisting of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, UCLA, USC, and Utah). Traditional rivals shall be defined as Arizona-Arizona State, California-Stanford, Colorado-Utah, Oregon-Oregon State, UCLA-USC, and Washington-Washington State). (10/10, 6/12)

When my older son played at Stanford and I believe the travel squad then was 25, they traveled 10 pitchers.

WIth a 27 travel squad, I'm gonna guess they now travel 11 or 12.

3 Finger, I was looking this up myself the other day before I realized the question had been asked & answered. The quote you have above is under the specific rules for football. Several other sports, which are not played by a majority of the schools list their traditional rivals based on the subset of teams playing the sport. Baseball doesn't have a list specific to baseball.

Since baseball isn't played in Colorado, does Utah not have a natural rival in baseball? Is this a disadvantage? Probably not. Most teams aren't likely to need someone outside their top 27. It's just a bonus all players get to  experience the rivalry in uniform, with the possibility of playing.

The football list is the only list of traditional rivals which I can find in the Handbook, and it is also the obvious one, with the shortest distance between rivals.  Football has a stronger need to pay attention to these rivalries, since they make money from the gate and television revenue.  The primary issue with baseball is the details of how to handle rescheduling, and geographic distance is significant for that.  I doubt that the squad size looms large for the coaches.