I'm guessing at least 30% of my readership is ready for some more baseball. As such, I'm here to provide links to all the places of relevance I've been able to track down.
TALLAHASSEE REGIONAL
Florida State is offering up a preview of the Tallahassee Regional. It's complete with plenty of additional links and some video.
Florida State's official site.
Georgia's official site.
Ohio State's official site.
Marist College's official site.
The Buckeye Nine (An OSU baseball blog)
Section B (Florida State's baseball fans)
LOUISVILLE REGIONAL
Louisville's official site. (It's actually their regional site. Seems the other one isn't working.)
Vanderbilt's official site.
Middle Tennessee State's official site.
Indiana's official site.
Behind The Plate (An Indiana baseball blog)
The Inside Pitch (IU student newspaper blog covering Hoosiers baseball)
BATON ROUGE REGIONAL
Louisiana State's official site.
Minnesota's official site.
Baylor's official site.
Southern's official site.
Kendall Rogers previews the Baton Rouge Regional.
The College Baseball Blog's Baton Rouge preview.
The Daily Gopher (SB Nation blog covering all things Minnesota)
Baylor Fans.com Baseball
Line Drives (LSU baseball blog from The Advocate)
The Big Ten issued their official press release prior to the tournament. It's a .pdf file.
A somewhat interactive (and kind of cool) tournament bracket courtesy of the NCAA.
College Baseball 360's tournament page.
Baseball America's staff will be hard at work this weekend. I'm guessing Aaron Fitt's blog will feature the breaking news.
The boys at BA have also produced their Top 100 MLB prospects heading into the draft. Check out the future pros in your regional.
And, of course, you know that Eric Sorenson's going to be all over the tournament. (By the way, thanks for including me on the selection committee, E.)
Showing posts with label Baseball America. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baseball America. Show all posts
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Monday, April 06, 2009
Standings, Scores, Polls And Other Things
As I was Internet-free for a large part of the weekend, there is much to catch-up on. First, here are the standings:
By now, I'm presuming you are all caught up on the scores. However, for those that may have been without Internet access, here's what transpired since Friday:
Indiana 14 Illinois 4
Indiana 2 Illinois 1 (10 innings)
Illinois 5 Indiana 4
Iowa 15 Purdue 7
Purdue 5 Iowa 3
Purdue 10 Iowa 9
PSU 6 Michigan 4
Michigan 9 PSU 5
PSU 16 Michigan 5
MSU 2 Northwestern 0
MSU 9 Northwestern 4
MSU 6 Northwestern 5
Minnesota 7 (28) Ohio State 5
(28) Ohio State 3 Minnesota 2
Minnesota 16 (28) Ohio State 3
Now, courtesy of Boyd's World, let's take a quick look at some other numbers of note. There are the ever-popular pseudo-RPI figures. Minnesota has the best mark in the Big Ten at number twenty. They are followed by Ohio State (24) and Penn State (75). The next wave begins with Illinois (89) then continues with Indiana (132) and Michigan (153). The last four programs all top 200. Purdue is in at 206, Michigan State at 212, Iowa at 215 and Northwestern's at 250.
Continuing with ISR numbers, Ohio State is at 29 while Minnesota is one back at 30. Penn State (90) and Illinois (94) really take a tumble versus their RPI figures. Michigan is next at 122, then Indiana at 153. Purdue moves up to 172 in ISR. Iowa (208), Michigan State (209) and Northwestern (245) round out the conference.
On to the polls where Baseball America inexplicably dumps Minnesota out of their Top 25. (Sorry, John and Aaron, I haven't listened to your podcast for explanation as of yet.) The Gophers take two-of-three from Ohio State, a team inside of everyone's top 30 in RPI, yet fall out of the BA poll. I don't get it.
To rub salt in the wound, the BA guys rank Hawai'i and TCU, programs that Minnesota has dispatched earlier in the year.
These same Gophers have climbed into Collegiate Baseball's top 30. CB was loving OSU and Illinois, but their series defeats have jettisoned them from the rankings.
Proving the coaches are as in-the-dark as everyone else when it comes to rankings, we have the USA Today poll. Ohio State fell out of the rankings after losing two at Minny. Yet, the Gophers, who I must repeat are in nearly everyone's top 25 in RPI, aren't getting as many poll votes as the Buckeyes. Minnesota received nine votes to OSU's 32. I'm happy the Bucks are getting votes, but how can anyone justify giving them more votes than the Gophers? (I should point out that Illinois did receive four votes from the coaches.)
Ping! has the Gophers ranked 29th in the land. No word yet from the NCBWA poll.
That's enough to review for now. I'll be back with a look at the midweek action.
Team W L T Pct W L T Pct
Illinois............ 4 2 0 .667 18 7 0 .720
Minnesota........... 3 2 0 .600 16 9 0 .640
Purdue.............. 3 2 0 .600 13 12 0 .520
Indiana............. 3 2 0 .600 12 16 0 .429
Ohio State.......... 3 3 0 .500 22 7 0 .759
Michigan............ 3 3 0 .500 18 10 0 .643
Penn State.......... 3 3 0 .500 17 12 0 .586
Michigan State...... 3 3 0 .500 11 17 0 .393
Iowa................ 2 4 0 .333 11 15 0 .423
Northwestern........ 1 4 0 .200 5 20 0 .200
By now, I'm presuming you are all caught up on the scores. However, for those that may have been without Internet access, here's what transpired since Friday:
Indiana 14 Illinois 4
Indiana 2 Illinois 1 (10 innings)
Illinois 5 Indiana 4
Iowa 15 Purdue 7
Purdue 5 Iowa 3
Purdue 10 Iowa 9
PSU 6 Michigan 4
Michigan 9 PSU 5
PSU 16 Michigan 5
MSU 2 Northwestern 0
MSU 9 Northwestern 4
MSU 6 Northwestern 5
Minnesota 7 (28) Ohio State 5
(28) Ohio State 3 Minnesota 2
Minnesota 16 (28) Ohio State 3
Now, courtesy of Boyd's World, let's take a quick look at some other numbers of note. There are the ever-popular pseudo-RPI figures. Minnesota has the best mark in the Big Ten at number twenty. They are followed by Ohio State (24) and Penn State (75). The next wave begins with Illinois (89) then continues with Indiana (132) and Michigan (153). The last four programs all top 200. Purdue is in at 206, Michigan State at 212, Iowa at 215 and Northwestern's at 250.
Continuing with ISR numbers, Ohio State is at 29 while Minnesota is one back at 30. Penn State (90) and Illinois (94) really take a tumble versus their RPI figures. Michigan is next at 122, then Indiana at 153. Purdue moves up to 172 in ISR. Iowa (208), Michigan State (209) and Northwestern (245) round out the conference.
On to the polls where Baseball America inexplicably dumps Minnesota out of their Top 25. (Sorry, John and Aaron, I haven't listened to your podcast for explanation as of yet.) The Gophers take two-of-three from Ohio State, a team inside of everyone's top 30 in RPI, yet fall out of the BA poll. I don't get it.
To rub salt in the wound, the BA guys rank Hawai'i and TCU, programs that Minnesota has dispatched earlier in the year.
These same Gophers have climbed into Collegiate Baseball's top 30. CB was loving OSU and Illinois, but their series defeats have jettisoned them from the rankings.
Proving the coaches are as in-the-dark as everyone else when it comes to rankings, we have the USA Today poll. Ohio State fell out of the rankings after losing two at Minny. Yet, the Gophers, who I must repeat are in nearly everyone's top 25 in RPI, aren't getting as many poll votes as the Buckeyes. Minnesota received nine votes to OSU's 32. I'm happy the Bucks are getting votes, but how can anyone justify giving them more votes than the Gophers? (I should point out that Illinois did receive four votes from the coaches.)
Ping! has the Gophers ranked 29th in the land. No word yet from the NCBWA poll.
That's enough to review for now. I'll be back with a look at the midweek action.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
I Love This Game
There are all kinds of unique joys following college baseball. One is the polls. Let's take a peek at what the most astute minds in college baseball think of the top teams. Collegiate Baseball has Illinois ranked as the nineteenth best team in the land. Ohio State isn't far behind at number twenty-two. Pretty cool, right? Yes, but that's just one man's (or publication's) opinion. What does everyone else think?
Well, Baesball America's Top 25 includes one Big Ten team, as well. However, it's neither the Illini or Buckeyes, it's Minnesota who holds the twenty-fifth slot in their poll. Wait. It gets better.
Ohio State returns to the poll at number thirty according to the NCBWA. The writers do list the "others receiving votes" addendum which includes Illinois, Minnesota and, yes, Michigan.
How about our friends at Rivals? Where does Kendall Rogers believe the Big Ten teams rank? Not in the Top 25, unfortunately. Although, those Gophers did merit some consideration.
Finally, the ever-reliable coaches poll courtesy of USA Today. The skippers didn't include a Big Ten team in their Top 25, either. In fairness, Illinois missed by only a single vote. The Illini finished first in the "others receiving votes" category, effectively making them #26.
Ohio State (36th), Michigan (42) and Minnesota (43) did all garner love from some of the coaches, but not enough to claim inclusion in the Top 25.
What does all this mean? I have no idea. And neither do our lovable poll voters. How Minnesota can get ranked by the lads at Baseball America and get consideration from Rivals (essentialy putting them in their top 30), but trail three other Big Ten programs in the Coaches' Poll is confusing and beautiful in a way. It's beautiful because the polls don't mean much. This is baseball. There's a championship tournament. A pretty stinkin' good one, at that.
Onto another unique matter in college baseball. Today, in fact, right now, Michigan is playing Eastern Michigan. Why is it unique for two programs only miles apart to play today? Because it isn't on the schedule. Let me try that again. It isn't on the schedule for tonight.
See, the coaches took one look at the weather forecast -- temperatures in the high 60s and sunny, after several days of similar conditions -- and realized it's March. The weather may not get any better than today for weeks. So instead of playing later this month, the two schools agreed to play tonight.
Can you imagine Michigan deciding to move a football game from Saturday to Friday because the weather was going to be so much better the day before the event was scheduled? How about a week earlier? It can't happen. It's just not logistically possible.
However, this kind of revised scheduling is all a part of playing college baseball, especially here in the north. It's funny, frustrating and somehow strangely appealing. No, the sport doesn't have 100,000 fans per game. No, it doesn't generate huge profits, if it generates profits, at all. Yet, there's a charm that comes when coaches preempt schedules for a healthy dose of sunshine and common sense.
Well, Baesball America's Top 25 includes one Big Ten team, as well. However, it's neither the Illini or Buckeyes, it's Minnesota who holds the twenty-fifth slot in their poll. Wait. It gets better.
Ohio State returns to the poll at number thirty according to the NCBWA. The writers do list the "others receiving votes" addendum which includes Illinois, Minnesota and, yes, Michigan.
How about our friends at Rivals? Where does Kendall Rogers believe the Big Ten teams rank? Not in the Top 25, unfortunately. Although, those Gophers did merit some consideration.
Finally, the ever-reliable coaches poll courtesy of USA Today. The skippers didn't include a Big Ten team in their Top 25, either. In fairness, Illinois missed by only a single vote. The Illini finished first in the "others receiving votes" category, effectively making them #26.
Ohio State (36th), Michigan (42) and Minnesota (43) did all garner love from some of the coaches, but not enough to claim inclusion in the Top 25.
What does all this mean? I have no idea. And neither do our lovable poll voters. How Minnesota can get ranked by the lads at Baseball America and get consideration from Rivals (essentialy putting them in their top 30), but trail three other Big Ten programs in the Coaches' Poll is confusing and beautiful in a way. It's beautiful because the polls don't mean much. This is baseball. There's a championship tournament. A pretty stinkin' good one, at that.
Onto another unique matter in college baseball. Today, in fact, right now, Michigan is playing Eastern Michigan. Why is it unique for two programs only miles apart to play today? Because it isn't on the schedule. Let me try that again. It isn't on the schedule for tonight.
See, the coaches took one look at the weather forecast -- temperatures in the high 60s and sunny, after several days of similar conditions -- and realized it's March. The weather may not get any better than today for weeks. So instead of playing later this month, the two schools agreed to play tonight.
Can you imagine Michigan deciding to move a football game from Saturday to Friday because the weather was going to be so much better the day before the event was scheduled? How about a week earlier? It can't happen. It's just not logistically possible.
However, this kind of revised scheduling is all a part of playing college baseball, especially here in the north. It's funny, frustrating and somehow strangely appealing. No, the sport doesn't have 100,000 fans per game. No, it doesn't generate huge profits, if it generates profits, at all. Yet, there's a charm that comes when coaches preempt schedules for a healthy dose of sunshine and common sense.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
BA Previews The Challenge, Nation
Jesse Burkhart and Brian Chmielewski of Baseball America preview this weekend's Big East/Big Ten Challenge series. In addition to offering up a preview of the teams, they look at some of the individual performers.
BA's Aaron Fitt previews the big stories around the nation heading into the first weekend of play.
BA's Aaron Fitt previews the big stories around the nation heading into the first weekend of play.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Fitt Projects NCAA Field
In a daring move, Aaron Fitt of Baseball America takes an educated guess at this year's NCAA Tournament field. Yep, he predicts all 64 teams and regional sites almost a month before the first pitch of the season.
Here's the question I presume you are pondering "Who makes the field from the Big Ten?". Well, I'm happy to report that Mr. Fitt predicts two teams from the conference making The Dance. Indiana, who is tabbed as the automatic berth from the Big Ten, and Michigan, as an at-large team, are in.
If the Big Ten can land two teams into this year's tournament, it will be a banner season. I'm leery about the RPI-quality of Indiana's schedule and Michigan has plenty of holes to fill. Nonetheless, I think we should all embrace Mr. Fitt's optimism.
Here's the question I presume you are pondering "Who makes the field from the Big Ten?". Well, I'm happy to report that Mr. Fitt predicts two teams from the conference making The Dance. Indiana, who is tabbed as the automatic berth from the Big Ten, and Michigan, as an at-large team, are in.
If the Big Ten can land two teams into this year's tournament, it will be a banner season. I'm leery about the RPI-quality of Indiana's schedule and Michigan has plenty of holes to fill. Nonetheless, I think we should all embrace Mr. Fitt's optimism.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
BA Previews Ann Arbor Regional
Aaron Fitt of Baseball America provides a preview of the Ann Arbor Regional.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
IU/Fresno St. Aftermath
Aaron Fitt at Baseball America reports that Fresno State skipper Mike Batesole has been suspended by the WAC for two games after an on-field altercation between FSU and Indiana. I'll avoid any plagiarism charges and encourage you to click on the link and let Mr. Fitt recount the story.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
ESPNU Coverage
We learn, courtesy of Baseball America's Aaron Fitt, what ESPN's college baseball broadcast schedule is going to look like. Here it is:
Tuesday, April 1 (7 p.m.): Rice at Texas
Sunday, April 6 (2 p.m.): North Carolina A&T at Bethune-Cookman
Friday, April 18 (7 p.m.): Oklahoma State at Texas
Sunday, April 20 (3 p.m.): UNC Asheville at Coastal Carolina
Saturday, April 26 (3:30 p.m.): St. John’s at Notre Dame
Friday, May 9 (6 p.m.): Portland at Pepperdine
First, let me say something positive about this lineup of games. The network did a nice job of covering almost every region of the country. That's it. On to the less positive stuff.
Six whole games? Wow, that's quite a commitment. How can ESPN afford to give up that much valuable airtime? Oh, that's right. They are all on ESPNU -- a network nobody has.
How many people actually have ESPNU? I'm not sure exactly how many households have access, but I do know it's a small stinkin' number. (Not as small as the number of homes with the Big Ten Network, of course, but still pretty tiny.) This unprecedented coverage will no doubt elevate college baseball to a level it would have had if none of the games were broadcast.
Look, I'm a college baseball guy. I'm happy six more games get some level of television coverage. Really. I am. Yet, I'm disappointment and confused as to why ESPNU couldn't commit to more than a half dozen games. I can understand ESPN, the original, not putting up more than six regular season games, but The U?
There can be only one excuse -- a rights issue. Maybe, just as Big Ten games are the property of good ol' BTN, the ACC, SEC and Pac 10, in particular, have television contracts with other regional networks. That would cut into the amount of games available. Especially, some of the marquee match-ups. However, even if that's the case, televising six games hardly constitutes coverage on a network dedicated to providing exclusively collegiate athletics.
Tuesday, April 1 (7 p.m.): Rice at Texas
Sunday, April 6 (2 p.m.): North Carolina A&T at Bethune-Cookman
Friday, April 18 (7 p.m.): Oklahoma State at Texas
Sunday, April 20 (3 p.m.): UNC Asheville at Coastal Carolina
Saturday, April 26 (3:30 p.m.): St. John’s at Notre Dame
Friday, May 9 (6 p.m.): Portland at Pepperdine
First, let me say something positive about this lineup of games. The network did a nice job of covering almost every region of the country. That's it. On to the less positive stuff.
Six whole games? Wow, that's quite a commitment. How can ESPN afford to give up that much valuable airtime? Oh, that's right. They are all on ESPNU -- a network nobody has.
How many people actually have ESPNU? I'm not sure exactly how many households have access, but I do know it's a small stinkin' number. (Not as small as the number of homes with the Big Ten Network, of course, but still pretty tiny.) This unprecedented coverage will no doubt elevate college baseball to a level it would have had if none of the games were broadcast.
Look, I'm a college baseball guy. I'm happy six more games get some level of television coverage. Really. I am. Yet, I'm disappointment and confused as to why ESPNU couldn't commit to more than a half dozen games. I can understand ESPN, the original, not putting up more than six regular season games, but The U?
There can be only one excuse -- a rights issue. Maybe, just as Big Ten games are the property of good ol' BTN, the ACC, SEC and Pac 10, in particular, have television contracts with other regional networks. That would cut into the amount of games available. Especially, some of the marquee match-ups. However, even if that's the case, televising six games hardly constitutes coverage on a network dedicated to providing exclusively collegiate athletics.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Michigan At # 8 In BA Poll
Baseball America is the latest to release a pre-season poll. In their edition, the University of Michigan comes in at number eight. No other Big Ten program made their Top 25. (BA did not include others receiving votes outside the top 25.)
The top spot in the BA poll belongs to UCLA. The Bruins are followed by Pac-10 foe Arizona. Vanderbilt, Mississippi and North Carolina round out the top five.
The top spot in the BA poll belongs to UCLA. The Bruins are followed by Pac-10 foe Arizona. Vanderbilt, Mississippi and North Carolina round out the top five.
Friday, January 04, 2008
Baseball America Conference Rankings
The staff at Baseball America, Aaron Fitt and John Manuel to be exact, have handed out grades to programs from eight conferences (.pdf file). They used the six BCS conferences plus noted baseball conferences Conference USA and the Big West. The boys at BA ranked the programs on the basis of seven categories: National Impact, Competitiveness, Fans & Facilities and Academics. Using this criteria, BA also gave an overall baseball GPA to each conference.
The good news for the Big Ten? The conference was the only one of the eight that got an "A" in Academics. OK, The Big East did land an "A-". Is this cool? Absolutely. Unfortunately, though, this was a "baseball" GPA.
I'll let you read the report card yourself for the specifics, but overall the Big Ten didn't fare well. The conference's GPA? An underwhelming 1.82. Individually, no Big Ten program received better than a C grade. Worse, four got F's.
My initial reaction to such negative press is to defend the conference. However, it's simply impossible to argue with the conference's overall performance. On-the-field, Minnesota and Ohio State have been left to carry the load for the entire conference for much of the last twenty years. Yes, Michigan has re-joined the elite in recent years, but their return to success as been short-lived.
Off-the-field, the Buckeyes have gone it alone. OSU's commitment to facilities ran unrivaled in the conference until Penn State's new ballpark opened last season. Yes, there is a wave of new or renovated buildings on the docket, but they will all arrive over a decade after the folks in C-bus made the move.
While the future of Big Ten baseball looks bright, Baseball America's rankings were based on recent history, which isn't quite as attractive. Hopefully, if BA revisits this in five years, the Big Ten's renewed commitment to baseball will yield a much higher grade.
The good news for the Big Ten? The conference was the only one of the eight that got an "A" in Academics. OK, The Big East did land an "A-". Is this cool? Absolutely. Unfortunately, though, this was a "baseball" GPA.
I'll let you read the report card yourself for the specifics, but overall the Big Ten didn't fare well. The conference's GPA? An underwhelming 1.82. Individually, no Big Ten program received better than a C grade. Worse, four got F's.
My initial reaction to such negative press is to defend the conference. However, it's simply impossible to argue with the conference's overall performance. On-the-field, Minnesota and Ohio State have been left to carry the load for the entire conference for much of the last twenty years. Yes, Michigan has re-joined the elite in recent years, but their return to success as been short-lived.
Off-the-field, the Buckeyes have gone it alone. OSU's commitment to facilities ran unrivaled in the conference until Penn State's new ballpark opened last season. Yes, there is a wave of new or renovated buildings on the docket, but they will all arrive over a decade after the folks in C-bus made the move.
While the future of Big Ten baseball looks bright, Baseball America's rankings were based on recent history, which isn't quite as attractive. Hopefully, if BA revisits this in five years, the Big Ten's renewed commitment to baseball will yield a much higher grade.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Michigan Is Fitt For Omaha
Baseball America's Aaron Fitt takes his guess at the 2008 College World Series field. Fitt suggests that Michigan will be in Omaha next June. We've got Aaron's vote for the Wolverines and Sorenson's vote for the Buckeyes as 2008 CWS participants. Amazing, amazing stuff. Two national writers predicting different Big Ten teams in Omaha? Oh, how things have changed in 365 days.
I'll be interested to see if any of this end-of-the-year euphoria about northern baseball translates into the pre-season polls (and predictions). Regardless, I'm more excited than normal for next season. The big questions now is "Where in Omaha am I going to stay?"
Hat tip to BTH reader Chuck for pointing me towards Fitt's predictions.
I'll be interested to see if any of this end-of-the-year euphoria about northern baseball translates into the pre-season polls (and predictions). Regardless, I'm more excited than normal for next season. The big questions now is "Where in Omaha am I going to stay?"
Hat tip to BTH reader Chuck for pointing me towards Fitt's predictions.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Post-Regional Links
Michael Spath, of The Wolverine.com, reviews the regional championship game.
CSTV's Eric Sorenson passes out grades to all 64 teams.
Kendall Rogers, Rivals.com, gets a look at a stunned Vanderbilt side.
Baseball America's Aaron Fitt talks regionals and super-regionals.
Michigan's triumph has them back in BA's Top 25.
Detroit Free Press writer Mark Snyder recaps Michigan's win.
Bryan Mullen, ESPNU, files this report on the Nashville Regional.
The Michigan Daily's Courtney Ratkowiak thinks the Big Ten proved it's worth this past weekend.
CSTV's Eric Sorenson passes out grades to all 64 teams.
Kendall Rogers, Rivals.com, gets a look at a stunned Vanderbilt side.
Baseball America's Aaron Fitt talks regionals and super-regionals.
Michigan's triumph has them back in BA's Top 25.
Detroit Free Press writer Mark Snyder recaps Michigan's win.
Bryan Mullen, ESPNU, files this report on the Nashville Regional.
The Michigan Daily's Courtney Ratkowiak thinks the Big Ten proved it's worth this past weekend.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Gophers Get Some Notice
Baseball America's Aaron Fitt had some nice things to say about Minnesota Golden Gophers. Fitt mentions the Gophers strong season and gives special attention to Mike Mee and Josh Oslin, to name just two.
The Big Ten has been getting lots of love the last several days. If the national media keeps this up, perhaps, I can head into an early retirement from college baseball blogging.
The Big Ten has been getting lots of love the last several days. If the national media keeps this up, perhaps, I can head into an early retirement from college baseball blogging.
Friday, March 11, 2005
National Weekend Preview
Will Kimmey of Baseball America previews this weekend's action around the nation including the big, big series between defending national champion Cal State Fullerton and Tulane. The Titans are currently ranked third in BA's poll, while the Wave are #1 according to the publication.
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