Separating the D1 Conferences

Is the above a fair representation/slicing of the D1 conferences into the Major Leagues, Triple A, Double A and Single A?

I might slice it a little differently, but I see what you're trying to do.  The one thing I'd say is you're taking a one year snapshot (not sure what year that is, but if it's 2020, then it's pretty irrelevant) and only considering one year might not be the best approach.  A three or five year average look might be a little better.  Like all sports, one year a conference might be up or down, I'd try to smooth that out a little.

I think it's a flawed analogy, no matter how you slice it.

How many SWAC players get promoted to play in IVY, then Big West, then SEC?  They don't. With some exceptions, each is a destination, not a step along the way.

A >> AA >>  AAA >>  MLB is a funnel. The better analogy is  Rec Ball >>  HS >> Travel >> College.

@JCG posted:

I think it's a flawed analogy, no matter how you slice it.

How many SWAC players get promoted to play in IVY, then Big West, then SEC?  They don't. With some exceptions, each is a destination, not a step along the way.

A >> AA >>  AAA >>  MLB is a funnel. The better analogy is  Rec Ball >>  HS >> Travel >> College.

Yeah, I didn't mean to imply that it's a ladder. More so, it was a reference that there's distinct levels of play within D1 and that the difference between some conferences is very significant.

I agree with JCG - it is a flawed analogy. Maybe you could take a 5 year average of SOS, (or a national ranking) of teams and look at that Parrado for break points. For example you have power house programs like Cal State Fullerton (just one example) ranked fairly low who would compete in any league/team. That might not work either  due to the nature of (or lack of) athletic scholarships you have players in "lower" level programs who could play on a P5 team. 

@Francis7 posted:

Yeah, I didn't mean to imply that it's a ladder. More so, it was a reference that there's distinct levels of play within D1 and that the difference between some conferences is very significant.

That's true of course, and my point is that the analogy doesn't make that more clear than just looking at some inter-conference box scores or warrennolan.com would.   BTW just to be a total d!ck while I'm at it, it's not a ladder; it's a funnel. Most people make it to the top when they go up a ladder.

Fullerton, Long Beach, Dallas Baptist could generally compete in any conference most years.  That's what makes it hard to compare conferences. 

@d-mac posted:

Fullerton, Long Beach, Dallas Baptist could generally compete in any conference most years.  That's what makes it hard to compare conferences.

The major factor that separates conferences (especially D1) is depth. The SEC is the deepest baseball conference and IMO belongs in a category all by itself. The worst SEC team would win many conferences.  After that the groupings are debatable but as you go down the list you see fewer and fewer good teams at the top of the conference and more and more not good teams below them.

Can't wait to see this for D3 conferences.  

@smokeminside posted:

Can't wait to see this for D3 conferences.  

Everyone knows that the SCIAC is the SEC of D3, Smoke!

jk....!

kinda....!

I agree with adbono's post above.  A lot of conferences have a good or even very good team (maybe even a couple) sitting at the top of their conference.  Most often though, most conferences lack real depth.  The lower you go on the list Francis posted, the less conference depth.  That's the difference in the SEC, there will be some easier weekends than others, but there are no bad teams and no weak programs.

Francis, Asker of Questions

@Go44dad posted:

Francis, Asker of Questions

If that's the worst thing anyone calls him, he's doing a lot better than me.

@Go44dad posted:

Francis, Asker of Questions

It's a great way to start a conversation.

@JCG posted:

If that's the worst thing anyone calls him, he's doing a lot better than me.

Franny gets the HSBBW ice breaker award. This is way more entertaining than the threads tainted with pandemic, politics, gender and race arguments. 

@Go44dad posted:

Francis, Asker of Questions

When I see the thread titles I can usually tell a Francis thread.

https://youtu.be/MHWhwNN7Gyw

Here is how I think of D1 baseball

Good conferences - multiple good teams, competitive "dweller" teams

Average conferences - a solid team or two at the top and an obvious one/two at the bottom the rest of the conference is decent and while not studs, not pushovers either

Below avg conferences - generally a weak conference overall with a program or two that have their years but generally have records supplemented by poor conference SOS

Bad conferences - poor conference overall, baseball that rarely resembles D1 baseball, auto bid is the only reason this conf has a team representing in the tournament

I wish I could argue with JCG but kind of hard to do so.  SCIAC has 2 D3 national champions and a runner up in last ten WS years (in italics below) and murderous in-conference schedules with most teams hitting the crap out of the ball.  

The SCAC could claim the SEC of the D3s as well. A CWS winner and runner up in the last five years (bolded in black below):