Do we have the NIL to compete?

[phatdog]

If we don't I don't we're shit out of luck regardless who we get.

[maroonmania]

Give the baseball folks someone to believe in and I don't think NIL will be an issue. Heck, we have enough former and current MLB players to have a big NIL pot if just some of them contribute.

[Coach34]

Compete? Yes

To win it all? No

[WinningIsRelentless]

We have to manage our money wisely.

That means evaluating coaching hires wisely and not overpaying to keep up with everyone.

The more we pay for coaches the less we have for players.

People need to remember state law only allows the university to pay a small amount of the coaches salaries. The rest comes from us the supporters of the programs which also provide the NIL funds.

[maroonmania]

Compete? Yes

To win it all? No

If we are competing with the upper SEC teams and making post-season every year then that is really what we need to accomplish. Winning it all is mostly a crapshoot anyway. Just depends on who gets hot when.

[EdwardDrayton]

If we are competing with the upper SEC teams and making post-season every year then that is really what we need to accomplish. Winning it all is mostly a crapshoot anyway. Just depends on who gets hot when.

This

[Coach34]

Winning it all is mostly a crapshoot anyway. Just depends on who gets hot when.

Not since NIL got rolling.

2023 saw 2 of the best teams 5 teams in the country battle for the title. LSU bought the top pitcher in the portal to go with an already talented team to win it all over a Fla team that was loaded
2024 saw a dominant Tenn team roll to the title becoming the first overall seed to win it all in 25 years. Omaha had 4 SEC teams and 4 ACC teams there.
2025 is going to be more of the same just as the NCAA basketball tourney was with all 4 #1 seeds in the FF.

NIL is taking the crapshoot out of it almost completely.

[bulldogcountry1]

Absolutely. In college baseball, you just have to make it to the postseason and get hot. Looks at UM's natty.

[bulldogcountry1]

Not since NIL got rolling.

2023 saw 2 of the best teams 5 teams in the country battle for the title. LSU bought the top pitcher in the portal to go with an already talented team to win it all over a Fla team that was loaded
2024 saw a dominant Tenn team roll to the title becoming the first overall seed to win it all in 25 years. Omaha had 4 SEC teams and 4 ACC teams there.
2025 is going to be more of the same just as the NCAA basketball tourney was with all 4 #1 seeds in the FF.

NIL is taking the crapshoot out of it almost completely.



Huge sample size.**

[KOdawg1]

Adkerson and a few other will make sure we have enough to compete.

Problem is other schools have dozens of Adkerson's, Miskelly's, etc.

[StarkVegasSteve]

We have the NIL to get players to put us in the national seed conversation. Coach mentioned those 3 years but look a little closer:


2023: It takes a damn near Herculean effort for LSU to get past Wake Forest in the CWS semis. If Tre Morgan, a player they recruited, doesn't make one of the best defensive plays in CWS history then they lose that game to a Wake team that was basically all recruited. Also, our crappy team took 2 of 3 from them IN BATON ROUGE. LSU was the best team, but had to have luck to push them over the finish line.

2024: Agree or not, Tennessee should've been beaten by FSU in game 1. They were screwed. Then there is the championship series where A&M is up 1 game to 0 and has, I believe, a lead headed to the 7th in game 2. Tennessee, again far and away the best team, had to catch some incredible breaks to take the title home.

2025: We will see what ends up happening, but if you gave me the top 5 teams in the D1 Baseball poll or the field right now, I'd place a large amount on the field.


It truly is who gets hot and who catches the breaks at the end of the day. Go back to 2021, think about all that happened for us to win it and we were in the top 10 or top 5 the entire year and it still took Will Bednar turning into prime Roger Clemens for two weeks and Landon Sims stepping his play up to even another level. And then we still had to catch breaks. Think about that. We had two first round picks, a national player of the year candidate, dozens of players who wound up getting drafted, AND WE STILL almost didn't win it all.

[Cooterpoot]

We're top 10 nationally in baseball NIL. It's well ahead of all the other sports.

[Coach34]

Huge sample size.**

A) That was before NIL got rolling- it was Year 1

B) That Mississippi team was very talented and had 7 draft picks that July. They had underachieved the 1st half of the season. They werent a bad team that got hot. They were a good team that hadnt come together yet. They went 9-6 the 2nd half of the SEC

[Coach34]

Bottom line that cant be disputed:

Since NIL became lead part of every program in 2023- the top teams and title winners are the programs spending the most money.

[Cooterpoot]

Bottom line that cant be disputed:

Since NIL became lead part of every program in 2023- the top teams and title winners are the programs spending the most money.

Here's the problem there, Lemonis and crew pissed off as many recruits as they signed. He was also a lazy ass who didn't do what he needed to do with recruiting. He Dan Mullened things in recruiting but wasn't the coach Mullen was. NIL isn't a problem at all.

[R2Dawg]

If we are competing with the upper SEC teams and making post-season every year then that is really what we need to accomplish. Winning it all is mostly a crapshoot anyway. Just depends on who gets hot when.

Yep, if we compete we will have a chance every time. OM in 22 proves that. A bad State team took series from them at home and they won it all.

We can win and win it all again.

[R2Dawg]

A) That was before NIL got rolling- it was Year 1

B) That Mississippi team was very talented and had 7 draft picks that July. They had underachieved the 1st half of the season. They werent a bad team that got hot. They were a good team that hadnt come together yet. They went 9-6 the 2nd half of the SEC

Maybe. They were last team in. Didn't play a national seed in Omaha. Weakest Omaha field ever. We played 7 games against national seeds when we won. Winner in Omaha is going to have players drafted, regardless.

[R2Dawg]

We have the NIL to get players to put us in the national seed conversation. Coach mentioned those 3 years but look a little closer:


2023: It takes a damn near Herculean effort for LSU to get past Wake Forest in the CWS semis. If Tre Morgan, a player they recruited, doesn't make one of the best defensive plays in CWS history then they lose that game to a Wake team that was basically all recruited. Also, our crappy team took 2 of 3 from them IN BATON ROUGE. LSU was the best team, but had to have luck to push them over the finish line.

2024: Agree or not, Tennessee should've been beaten by FSU in game 1. They were screwed. Then there is the championship series where A&M is up 1 game to 0 and has, I believe, a lead headed to the 7th in game 2. Tennessee, again far and away the best team, had to catch some incredible breaks to take the title home.

2025: We will see what ends up happening, but if you gave me the top 5 teams in the D1 Baseball poll or the field right now, I'd place a large amount on the field.


It truly is who gets hot and who catches the breaks at the end of the day. Go back to 2021, think about all that happened for us to win it and we were in the top 10 or top 5 the entire year and it still took Will Bednar turning into prime Roger Clemens for two weeks and Landon Sims stepping his play up to even another level. And then we still had to catch breaks. Think about that. We had two first round picks, a national player of the year candidate, dozens of players who wound up getting drafted, AND WE STILL almost didn't win it all.

FSU did get screwed in that game. Get it right and UT likely don't win it.

[KOdawg1]

We're going to be a top half of the league spender in baseball.

Probably top 5-6.

Will we be #1 or #2?? No.

But we're going to invest in it, and the 5th team in the league is good enough to win the whole thing if they get hot.

[R2Dawg]

Not since NIL got rolling.

2023 saw 2 of the best teams 5 teams in the country battle for the title. LSU bought the top pitcher in the portal to go with an already talented team to win it all over a Fla team that was loaded
2024 saw a dominant Tenn team roll to the title becoming the first overall seed to win it all in 25 years. Omaha had 4 SEC teams and 4 ACC teams there.
2025 is going to be more of the same just as the NCAA basketball tourney was with all 4 #1 seeds in the FF.

NIL is taking the crapshoot out of it almost completely.

I think TBD as sample size is to small and it is a dynamic situation but it does appear to have made a negative impact to competition in every sport.

[R2Dawg]

We're going to be a top half of the league spender in baseball.

Probably top 5-6.

Will we be #1 or #2?? No.

But we're going to invest in it, and the 5th team in the league is good enough to win the whole thing if they get hot.

No doubt.

[Coach34]

We're going to be a top half of the league spender in baseball.

Probably top 5-6.

Will we be #1 or #2?? No.

But we're going to invest in it, and the 5th team in the league is good enough to win the whole thing if they get hot.

I think we could be a Top 10 but we wont be Top 5. Tenn, A&M, Texas, Candy, Fla, UPig, LSU- will outspend us. Georgia is starting to raise their NIL in baseball as well- and it will continue to grow as they see a return in it. Plus, we wont be outspending your Auburns/Mississippis/OU's/and Kentucky's by much

[EdwardDrayton]

We have enough to compete and win it all. You don't have to spend the most money to win.

[bulldogcountry1]

I bet 90% of SEC caliber players had parents who spent tens of thousands of dollars hauling them all over the country to camps, tournaments, and showcases so they get noticed by MLB scouts and college coaches.

I seriously doubt they flip a switch and are all about the paycheck when they choose a college. Playing for the right coach in the right environment matters. If we get a coach that players want to play for and that can improve draft stock, we can compete with anyone.

[Pancho]

the right HC in fact does attract ball players.

[Todd4State]

I bet 90% of SEC caliber players had parents who spent tens of thousands of dollars hauling them all over the country to camps, tournaments, and showcases so they get noticed by MLB scouts and college coaches.

I seriously doubt they flip a switch and are all about the paycheck when they choose a college. Playing for the right coach in the right environment matters. If we get a coach that players want to play for and that can improve draft stock, we can compete with anyone.

Most baseball players have their eye on making millions in MLB. Not in NIL.

Our draft results are probably a big reason why we continue to recruit well despite having a coach that isn't great at winning games.