The Remaining Schedule

There are only three weekends left of conference play. With that in mind, I pondered what the schedules looked like for each team coming down the stretch. Here's what I found (non-conference games are not listed).

MICHIGAN
Illinois
Penn State
@ Iowa

MINNESOTA
Northwestern
Ohio State
@ Indiana

PENN STATE
Purdue
@ Michigan
Ohio State

OHIO STATE
Michigan State
@ Minnesota
@ Penn State

IOWA
Indiana
@ Purdue
Michigan

ILLINOIS
@ Michigan
Indiana
Michigan State

PURDUE
@ Penn State
Iowa
@ Northwestern

MICHIGAN STATE
@ Ohio State
Northwestern
@ Illinois

INDIANA
@ Iowa
@ Illinois
Minnesota

NORTHWESTERN
@ Minnesota
@ Michigan State
Purdue

On paper, it appears Minnesota has the easiest schedule amongst the conference leaders. Ohio State and Penn State would be the two programs with the most difficult slates left. The two teams are currently tied for third place in the Big Ten and conclude the season against each other at State College. Of the top six teams in the conference, only OSU finishes the season with two road series. Thus, I would give the nod to the Buckeyes as having the most difficult stretch run.

The Big Ten leaders, Michigan, don't have anything close to a cakewalk to repeating as regular season champions, either. All three of their remaining opponents would be in the conference tournament today.

The bottom four programs get no help for the schedule makers. All four -- Purdue, Michigan State, Indiana and Northwestern -- play two of their remaining three conference series in enemy territory.

I don't believe I'm breaking any news to suggest that Michigan and Minnesota are the only two programs with a chance of landing an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Oh, I suppose OSU or PSU could win out and cause an eyebrow to be raised by the tournament committee, but I think everyone outside the Wolverines and Gophers are going to have to win the Big Ten tourney to go dancing.

Spartans Release Schedule

Michigan State has released it's 2007 baseball schedule. In non-conference action, MSU faces some good opposition from South Florida, Central Florida, Stetson, Auburn and a three game set in Norman versus Oklahoma. The season begins for Coach Grewe's nine in Florida at the Coca-Cola Classic on February 23 versus South Alabama.

The Spartans open up Big Ten action on the road at Indiana. MSU will also travel to Minnesota, Ohio State, Michigan (in their home and home series vs. the Wolverines) and close the regular season in Champaign against Illinois.

In East Lansing, the Wolverines will make their half of the annual home and home visit, while Purdue, Penn State and Northwestern all come calling in 2007. Both games against Michigan and three of the four versus NU will be at Oldsmobile Park. The Spartans home date of their two game encounter with Central Michigan will also take place at the home of the Class A Lansing Lugnuts.

With Michigan State's announcement of their 2007 slate, every school in the Big Ten has now made their schedules available.

Michigan Joins The Schedule Parade

The University of Michigan has released its 2007 schedule. Highlighting their non-conference competition are games against Mississippi State, Oklahoma and their annual tilt versus Notre Dame. The defending Big Ten Champions also have dates against Bethune-Cookman (3), Central Florida, Troy (2), San Diego, San Diego State, Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, Toledo and East Carolina(3).

Rich Maloney's team opens the home portion of their season with a three game series against Oakland followed by a single game against another Mid-Con foe, IUPFW.

Their Big Ten slate features home series versus Minnesota, Purdue, Illinois and Penn State. Michigan will travel to Northwestern, Ohio State and Iowa. Of course, the annual home and home and home series versus Michigan State remains as well. The Spartans will host the Saturday doubleheader in '07.

Penn State's 2007 Schedule

Penn State's baseball schedule for 2007 is available. However, it's not exactly readily available. First, you go here. Then scroll down to the future schedules and past results section. Change the 2006 entries to 2007 and you'll get a look at the Nittany Lions opposition for next year.

We already knew about the games against national runner-up North Carolina, but PSU also has a series against a Wichita State squad that will most likely be ranked highly and is harboring dreams of Omaha. PSU's pre-conference slate also features multiple match-ups with Kansas State and Centenary, single contests against Oral Roberts, Pittsburgh and OU. (At my house, OU is Oakland University. Nationally, OU is Oklahoma. However, I don't think the Sooners are visiting State College in March and I don't recall the Lions appearing on the Golden Grizzlies slate, either. So, which OU they are referring to is a mystery.)

A three game home series versus Central Connecticut State rounds out PSU's pre-conference schedule.

In the Big Ten, Coach Wine's squad will open at home against Minnesota. The rest of the home conference opposition consists of Northwestern, Purdue and Ohio State. Trips to Iowa, Michigan State, Indiana and Michigan comprise the road portion of the schedule.

Penn State recently revamped its website a bit and I like the changes. They just have to make the 2007 schedule easier to find.

2007 Schedule Out For Ohio State

The Ohio State University has issued its 2007 baseball schedule. As mentioned here before, the Buckeyes will begin the year hosting their own tournament in Tampa, Florida. James Madison, Kansas State (doubleheader) and Seton Hall will all take on Bob Todd's squad February 23-25. The remainder of the pre-conference action is void of a national powerhouse.

In Big Ten play, the Buckeyes open at Bill Davis Stadium against Iowa. Other conference foes visiting Columbus next year are Michigan, Indiana and Michigan State. OSU's Big Ten road series are against Illinois, Purdue, Minnesota and Penn State (to close out the season).

Iowa, Northwestern Release 2007 Schedules

Both the University of Iowa and Northwestern University released their 2007 baseball schedules. Amongst the Hawkeyes' interesting pre-conference action you'll find, a three game series in the Stetson tournament. Including a game against the host, the Hawkeyes will face powers Notre Dame and Nebraska. The Cornhuskers will also play host to Iowa later in the season.

From Deland, Texas, Jack Dahm's squad travels west to Fresno, California. Iowa will face Fresno State in a two game series prior to playing in the annual Johnny Quick Classic where the Hawkeyes will have two more contests versus the Bulldogs. Dallas Baptist will be the other Johnny Quick opponent.

Iowa will begin conference play at Columbus against Ohio State. Minnesota, Northwestern and Purdue will be the Hawkeyes road competition in the Big Ten. At home, the Hawkeyes get Penn State, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.

Northwestern will begin the season in Texas. Texas Tech is first on the slate followed by a three game series with Notre Dame. NU has a three game visit to Beaumont, TX (Lamar, Arkansas State and Creighton) before moving to Arlington to take on UT-Arlington for three more prior to the Florida swing. Unfortunately, the Bradenton, Florida road trip remains a bit of a mystery as the opposition is TBA. However, we do know what Big Ten play will look like for Coach Paul Stevens' side.

Michigan will open the Big Ten season for NU at Evanston. The Wildcats also get Illinois, Iowa and Purdue at home in '07. The in-conference road series feature Indiana, Penn State, Minnesota and Michigan State.

Purdue's '07 Schedule

Purdue is the latest Big Ten program to release its 2007 baseball schedule. We already knew the Boilers were going to take on some tough competition in the pre-conference portion of their slate, as when Georgia and Auburn announced their '07 schedules each had dates with Coach Schreiber's team. Western Kentucky, UAB, Samford, Western Illinois and Ball State round out Purdue's pre-conference opposition.

The baseball Boilermakers have home dates in the Big Ten against Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State and Iowa. On the road, Purdue will face conference foes Michigan State, Michigan, Penn State and Northwestern.

There is the usual assortment of local and MAC competition on Purdue's midweek, in-conference schedule highlighted by a game with Notre Dame in South Bend. Check out the full details on the Boilers 2007 schedule by clicking on the link above.

Gophers Release 2007 Schedule

The University of Minnesota released its 2007 schedule today. In addition to hosting the annual Dairy Queen Classic (Arkansas, The Citadel and Mississippi visit the Metrodome), the Gophers pre-conference slate features a trip to California. Once out west, John Anderson's squad will play two games against UC Santa Barbara and three games at Pepperdine.

In conference action, Minnesota will open the season at Penn State in the Nittany Lions brand new yard, Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. The road trips include Michigan, Illinois and Indiana. Home dates in the Big Ten will be against Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern and Ohio State.

Oakland University Releases Schedule

Why on Earth would I mention Oakland University's baseball schedule? OU is in the Mid-Continent Conference for crying out loud. Why bother with them? Well, in the interest of full disclosure, your local blogger attended the Rochester, Michigan university. (What? I can't watch more than ten schools at once?)

Besides, there is a Big Ten connection. OU will make what is becoming an annual trek to Ann Arbor to face Rich Maloney's defending Big Ten championship team. It will also mark the latest meeting between Michigan pitcher Zach Putnam and his brother Dylan, who is Oakland's head coach.

There is also a tie between the two programs as Michigan firstbaseman Nate Recknagel transferred to U of M from Oakland. See, there's plenty of viable Big Ten related information to be had by sharing Oakland's 2007 schedule.

I am a bit surprised that OU isn't taking on Ohio State in '07. Seems like the two schools have run into each other in the past, but the Golden Grizzlies don't have OSU, or Michigan State, for that matter, on this year's docket.

The Golden Grizzlies also have a few interesting non-Big Ten games. I kid you not. OU will be in Lexington to face the defending regular season SEC champ, Kentucky on February 27. On April 3rd, Dylan Putnam's side will be in South Bend to take on Notre Dame. Finally, Oral Roberts, who is probably the conference's baseball power, will make the voyage to Rochester to visit OU in May.

EMU's Long And Winding Road Trip

In surfing for college baseball information, I came across the 2007 schedule for Eastern Michigan University. The Eagles not only have a daunting pre-MAC schedule, but I'm hoping they have frequent flyer miles. EMU faces, in successive three game weekend sets, Tennessee, Texas Tech, South Carolina, Arizona and Coastal Carolina.

A quick preview of the Eagles' road trip looks like this:

Ypsilanti, Michigan to Knoxville, Tennessee (433 miles)
Knoxville, Tennessee to Lubbock, Texas (1,030 miles)
Lubbock, Texas to Columbia, South Carolina (1,194 miles)
Columbia, South Carolina to Tucson, Arizona (1,729 miles)
Tucson, Arizona to Conway, South Carolina (1,844 miles)

If my math is correct, and that's always questionable, the Eagles will travel 6,230 miles to play in these five series. 6, 230! This supposes, of course, that EMU doesn't head home between each series or add dates to their 2007 schedule. The latter seems most likely as this is college baseball and schedules are not always worth the paper they are written on. Regardless, EMU will have a ton of mileage under their belts before taking on a single MAC opponent.

EMU also has three Big Ten opponents on it's schedule for next year. The Eagles will travel to Columbus to visit Coach Todd and Ohio State. David Grewe will bring his MSU Spartans into Oestrike Stadium in May. The Eagles will also have two games against the defending Big Ten Champion, Michigan. The Wolverines (in April) and Eagles (in May) will each host one game.

OSU, PSU Schedule Notes

While neither Ohio State or Penn State have released their schedules for 2007, I can pass along a bit of information about some of their opposition next year. The first nugget comes from Ohio State. The Buckeyes are hosting their own tournament at the New York Yankees complex in Tampa, Florida (the tournament announcement comes amidst a review of the OSU freshman class). The dates are February 23-25 and, in addition to the Bucks, the field is comprised of James Madison, Kansas State and Seton Hall.

JMU posted a 38-21 mark last year and can boast of 2006 co-National Player of the Year, Kellen Kulbacki. Kansas State was 31-20 a year ago and Seton Hall went 21-34.

Thanks to a tip from my friend at the College Baseball Blog, I've learned about one road trip for Penn State in '07. The Nittany Lions are going to travel to Chapel Hill to take on the University of North Carolina. While the Heels have suffered some losses to the professional ranks, UNC can still field a challenging lineup featuring All-America SS Josh Horton and 1B/3B Chad Flack.

Illinois' 2007 Schedule

It's got plenty of "TBA" spots, but the University of Illinois has posted it's 2007 baseball schedule. Even with an incomplete list of non-conference foes in front of us, it's safe to say that the Illini tackle some better than average competition outside the Big Ten. Louisiana-Lafayette and Texas-Arlington certainly aren't cupcakes. If the remainder of their pre-conference slate maintains that level, Illinois should be plenty tough come Big Ten action.

In conference, Dan Hartleb's squad will visit Purdue, Northwestern, Iowa and Michigan. Ohio State, Minnesota, Indiana and Michigan State all travel to Champaign in '07. Midweek contests against Illinois State, Western Michigan, Bradley, Eastern Illinois, Southern Illinois and Missouri round out the "conference" portion of Illinois schedule.

Obviously, there is going to be more news on this as we learn who will comprise the remaining pre-conference schedule, but for now it's good to get a look at a second schedule from a Big Ten program.

Visting The Big Boys

While only IU has released it's 2007 schedule, in reviewing the slates of non-conference schools, we can see that a few Big Ten institutions are taking on some of college baseball's big names next year.

Purdue leads the charge with a tour of The Peach State. The Boilermakers will visit the Georgia Bulldogs from February 23 - February 25. Little over a week later, Purdue continues it's tour of the SEC with a stop in Alabama to take on Auburn, March 9 - 11.

Coach Schreiber and the Purdue Atheltic Department deserve some extra credit. Their non-conference schedule has been rather impressive in recent years. The Boilers administration isn't afraid to visit anyone. In the position the Big Ten schools find themselves in, especially in terms of RPI, it's very important for the conference's schools to schedule quality non-conference opposition and Purdue has done that as well as anyone in the Big Ten.

Illinois isn't ducking the elite schools, either. The Illini are loading up the bus (or plane) and heading to Knoxville to play Tennessee from March 2 - 4.

Finally, last year's conference Cinderella, Northwestern, is going to the Lone Star State to play Texas Tech, February 9 - 11.

Now, if we can just get some of the traditional big boys to dig out their jackets and travel north.

(Hat tip: College Baseball Blog.)

The DQ Lineup

It appears the 2007 Dairy Queen Classic field has been set. According to the University of Arkansas' official site, The DQC will feature the Razorbacks, The Citadel, Mississippi and, of course, Minnesota. The Gophers host The DQ, one of the country's top tournaments, at the Metrodome from March 2 - March 4.

Indiana's 2007 Schedule

Here is Indiana's 2007 baseball schedule. The Hoosiers pre-conference slate isn't completely filled in, but that three game visit to Florida State seems daunting enough.

Kudos to the IU's sports information department for being the first university in the Big Ten to publish their '07 slate.