Baseball Schedule- what I would like to see

[Todd4State]

I'm just going to do OOC since the SEC controls the SEC schedule and it is going to be what it is for 30 games. We play 56 regular season games, so the math majors can double check behind me in case I screwed up.

I do think that the first three weekends should be in Starkville if at all possible. I do like the three team mini-tournaments that we do because it means we can play four games on a weekend and by playing two different teams it gives some variety and potentially some possibly higher RPI teams in some cases.

Weekend one- Northwestern State (RPI 117/SOS 149)/UALR (RPI 155/SOS 96) two games apiece. Both coached by MSU grads/former coaches. Both programs are also rebuilding/on the rise so their numbers I would think would get better.

Tuesday- Mississippi Valley State (RPI 300/SOS 209) I'm going to try to get all of the in state schools on the schedule.


Weekend two- Samford (RPI 74/SOS 95)/Liberty (RPI 39/SOS 118) Two games apiece. Amping it up a little bit with two solid teams after an "easy" start. We typically seem to have hiccups in week two, but losing to any of these guys wouldn't kill us likely and winning helps.

Tuesday- Alcorn State (RPI 292/SOS 265) Batting practice after hiccup week.

Weekend three- Nebraska (RPI 32/SOS 66)/Army (RPI 149/SOS 266) Two games apiece. This is Northern School weekend. Nebraska has a nice RPI and they're in the Big 10. Lots of points in the committee's eyes just by showing up to the park. Army has bad numbers, but they are a Northern school that despite their numbers are a powerhouse in the Patriot Conference that typically make a regional. The committee will probably overlook their numbers because of that.

Tuesday- Jackson State (RPI 250/SOS 296) We get our equipment back since it was "the wrong color".

Weekend four- USCw (RPI 60/SOS 36)/Miami (RPI 17/SOS 26)/Texas (RPI 3/SOS 2) In the MSU Tournament in Starkville. One representative from the power five in a round robin tournament right before SEC play.

The rest of the schedule:

Southeastern Louisiana (RPI 65/SOS 110) in Biloxi
At South Alabama (RPI 156/SOS 73)- I think those numbers are atypical for them.
Alabama (RPI 24/SOS 11) in Jackson (Pearl)
LSU (RPI 11/SOS 32) in Biloxi
USM (RPI 69/SOS 85) in Jackson (Pearl)
At Memphis (RPI 115/SOS 86) at Autozone Park of course
Ole Miss (RPI 4/SOS 5) in Jackson (Pearl) Governor's Cup
At Tulane (RPI 148/SOS 57) They're rebuilding, but should be good in a couple of years.


That should come out to 26 if my math is correct. That's a pretty strong schedule, but it's manageable and it includes every in state team and it has a lot of fun midweek games mostly at neutral sites.

[messageboardsuperhero]

That would be a damn strong schedule. I'd like to see it, but Cohen seems to like his cupcakes early in the season to do his experimentation. That schedule would give us a huge boost in SOS and probably in RPI if we did well- which is pretty much by far the most important thing for hosting.

[Todd4State]

There are a couple of good things about that. Cohen probably knows that he experiments to a fault early too- and he doesn't want to cost us too much in doing so. Experimenting gives us an opportunity to figure out what our best lineup is. They won't allow colleges to play exhibition games to figure that out. It also allows the players to say that they had a fair opportunity to show what they can do. If they don't perform- they don't play. Unless there is no other option.

And as far as RPI- how you finish is more important than how you start in the eyes of the committee. A loss to UALR on the front end doesn't hurt quite as bad as a loss to UALR in May. Being in the SEC, our RPI and SOS is always going to be OK. Unless we do like Arkansas a couple of years ago and schedule a bunch of SWAC teams and lose most every meaningful other OOC game.

We had some things go wrong for us last year too- losing Preston Brown probably cost us a chance at hosting and the SEC West title in baseball last year. And absolutely losing to St. Joseph's or whoever it was and Arizona hurt us coming out of the gate. Our team learned some lessons last year about being the hunted, and I expect them to apply those lessons this year. It's our turn to get a little pay back now.

[MsStateBaseball]

I also think Cohen likes to play teams he has never played before and bring them to Dudy.

We are still slated for the Dodger Classic next year and Oregon is supposed to come here. We are going to Oregon or meet them somewhere in 2017.