USCe at Vandy Series

[Ralph]

Would be nice to see Vandy take this series for a SOS boost.

[Ralph]

4-1 Vandy in 4th

[Bucky Dog]

5-1 and I turned it off because that fv%k up is whistling non stop!!!

[Coach34]

6-1 in the 7th

Georgia up 7-6 on Bammer in the 7th...Bammer RF'er just hosed a runner at the plate- perfect throw. Do not run on that guy.

[Coach34]

7-7

[Ralph]

Vandy wins 6-3

[bulldogcountry1]

Oregon lost to Notre Dame.

[Todd4State]

Oregon lost to Notre Dame.

F***

[Ralph]

Bama wins 10-7 in 13 innings.

[bulldogcountry1]

F***

Oregon will end up with an RPI over 200.

[MetEdDawg]

Unfortunately the participants in our round robin in California aren't helping either. USC has an RPI of 79 and a losing record, UCLA is 28th and only 12-10, and Oklahoma is at 142. Oregon is also at 124.

So our loss isn't really killing us, but we are getting zero help from USC, Oklahoma, or Oregon right now. SEC play will help but we are getting nothing from our OOC wins or ties except for USM right now.

[Ralph]

Unfortunately the participants in our round robin in California aren't helping either. USC has an RPI of 79 and a losing record, UCLA is 28th and only 12-10, and Oklahoma is at 142. Oregon is also at 124.

So our loss isn't really killing us, but we are getting zero help from USC, Oklahoma, or Oregon right now. SEC play will help but we are getting nothing from our OOC wins or ties except for USM right now.

Yep. South Alabama is helping a little bit too but that's it OOC. Hopefully Vandy can take the series this weekend.

[Taog Redloh]

While all ya'll are bitching about the PAC-12 schools, I will direct you to Florida Atlantic, who is 18-4, #22 in the D1 poll, and #56 in RPI. Nearly took down Florida too last week.

[Ralph]

While all ya'll are bitching about the PAC-12 schools, I will direct you to Florida Atlantic, who is 18-4, #22 in the D1 poll, and #56 in RPI. Nearly took down Florida too last week.

FAU is actually hurting our record vs RPI teams in the top 51-100. Our record there is 3-3 with 2 of the L's being FAU. BUT, only #1 RPI Florida matches our record and win % vs RPI top 1-25 teams at 4-1. We'll add 3 more games to that stat this weekend with OM being #8 RPI. Take 2/3 and be 6-2 vs top 25 RPI teams after this weekend and Ill like where we are for FLA series next weekend.

[bulldogcountry1]

It would help to cancel one of the UT-Martin games this coming weeks. That would leave us with two games to make up (including the Memphis rainout).

It seems like a no-brainier to schedule a road trip to UAB and/or Samford every year. It's the nearest solid OOC opponents, and they are both in Birmingham. And why not play a mid-week game against Bama since they are so close?

[MetEdDawg]

I think the solution is we just have to go out and find solid teams to play during our weekend series OOC and not be afraid to lose to them. We did that with Oregon and with the thing in California. However they finish is irrelevant. Those are big name teams.

But South Dakota State (RPI 260), UMASS Lowell (RPI 179), and Nicholls State (RPI 255), should not be teams we play 2 games against in a 4 game weekend. That's 6 weekend games against teams that are doing nothing for us. I mean I get having one of them down, but 3? No. Play Nicholls one mid week during conference play and find some better teams for the weekend. I would rather go 4-2 against 3 teams in the Top 100 RPI than go 6-0 against 3 teams whose current average RPI is 231.

[Taog Redloh]

I think the solution is we just have to go out and find solid teams to play during our weekend series OOC and not be afraid to lose to them. We did that with Oregon and with the thing in California. However they finish is irrelevant. Those are big name teams.

But South Dakota State (RPI 260), UMASS Lowell (RPI 179), and Nicholls State (RPI 255), should not be teams we play 2 games against in a 4 game weekend. That's 6 weekend games against teams that are doing nothing for us. I mean I get having one of them down, but 3? No. Play Nicholls one mid week during conference play and find some better teams for the weekend. I would rather go 4-2 against 3 teams in the Top 100 RPI than go 6-0 against 3 teams whose current average RPI is 231.

If you win, all the RPI stuff takes care of itself. I think you're talking about a zero sum game with what I bolded right there. Obviously your example is extreme. We messed up by losing to EKU, nothing more. It's not some RPI conspiracy.

[Taog Redloh]

It would help to cancel one of the UT-Martin games this coming weeks. That would leave us with two games to make up (including the Memphis rainout).

It seems like a no-brainier to schedule a road trip to UAB and/or Samford every year. It's the nearest solid OOC opponents, and they are both in Birmingham. And why not play a mid-week game against Bama since they are so close?

Not if we win, it won't. People look too far into that stuff. What I really hate about RPI is the home/away/neutral site crap. Take UAB for instance, we are penalized by playing them at Regions Field instead of their stadium a half-mile away, even though fans and players would much rather play at Regions.

I do think we should take advantage of it though and play the SWAC schools at Trustmark or Biloxi.

[MetEdDawg]

If you win, all the RPI stuff takes care of itself. I think you're talking about a zero sum game with what I bolded right there. Obviously your example is extreme. We messed up by losing to EKU, nothing more. It's not some RPI conspiracy.

If you're looking to host it definitely matters. It's more opportunities to improve your resume and we all know that is something that is looked at. We won't host because of those 6 wins I mentioned. But could an additional 3 or 4 wins against a Top 50 or Top 100 RPI help us host. Absolutely.

Can't argue about the midweek losses. That's a killer. But we've got to do a better job at bringing in better teams. We ask the basketball team to do that but we don't require that of baseball. Yes I get win and it takes care of itself. But we all know that no one wins all their games. So how do you mitigate the losses?? You play good teams in EVERY sport because in the end who you lost to plays a factor just as much as who you beat.. We want to be better in the big three, then we need to put our nuts on the line and find good teams to play more consistently. Not mid week during conference play in baseball, but certainly weekends and mid week during OOC play.

[Taog Redloh]

If you're looking to host it definitely matters. It's more opportunities to improve your resume and we all know that is something that is looked at. We won't host because of those 6 wins I mentioned. But could an additional 3 or 4 wins against a Top 50 or Top 100 RPI help us host. Absolutely.

Can't argue about the midweek losses. That's a killer. But we've got to do a better job at bringing in better teams. We ask the basketball team to do that but we don't require that of baseball. Yes I get win and it takes care of itself. But we all know that no one wins all their games. So how do you mitigate the losses?? You play good teams in EVERY sport because in the end who you lost to plays a factor just as much as who you beat.. We want to be better in the big three, then we need to put our nuts on the line and find good teams to play more consistently. Not mid week during conference play in baseball, but certainly weekends and mid week during OOC play.

Can't really argue, in all honesty.

To me though, I want to schedule for a completely different reason. I want to be fan-friendly. MSU's biggest advantage is our fans, not our RPI, at least over the long term. I love the 4 game series in early OOC, we usually do 3 of those. Our fans get a chance to see a DH which brings out the crowds, but I don't think it's easy to fill those slots with all good RPI teams. However, we do get a chance to develop our players. Then, by the fourth weekend, we usually go on the road or play somebody decent in a weekend 3 game series.

Again, talking about the fans, this is another reason why I would love to see more mid-week games at Pearl and Biloxi (where mid-week crowds are sure to be bigger), especially against SWAC teams. The problem with those is the amount of class missed, I mean we already play 2 games at Trustmark every year against USM and Ole Miss. I guess maybe we could do it for spring break and/or do that last OOC weekend series there but that takes away a chance to play a good road series too.

[MetEdDawg]

Can't really argue, in all honesty.

To me though, I want to schedule for a completely different reason. I want to be fan-friendly. MSU's biggest advantage is our fans, not our RPI, at least over the long term. I love the 4 game series in early OOC, we usually do 3 of those. Our fans get a chance to see a DH which brings out the crowds, but I don't think it's easy to fill those slots with all good RPI teams. However, we do get a chance to develop our players. Then, by the fourth weekend, we usually go on the road or play somebody decent in a weekend 3 game series.

Again, talking about the fans, this is another reason why I would love to see more mid-week games at Pearl and Biloxi (where mid-week crowds are sure to be bigger), especially against SWAC teams. The problem with those is the amount of class missed, I mean we already play 2 games at Trustmark every year against USM and Ole Miss. I guess maybe we could do it for spring break and/or do that last OOC weekend series there but that takes away a chance to play a good road series too.

On a slightly related note, I know that missing class time due to number of games during the week has become a big focus over here in Alabama. So they've changed the rules for next year. At the high school level 9th grade and JV baseball will only be permitted to play 24 GAMES during the season. Unlimited Spring Break is added on top, but only 24 games during the season. If you go by dates, those teams would normally play around 40 games with a mid season tournament. Now that's being reduced drastically. Varsity is being reduced to 32 games plus unlimited Spring Break. Going to severely cut their numbers as well. All because of getting out for school early to travel and being able to check in late for late arrivals back home.

Point is, I know over here there has been a lot of backlash over classes missed and long nights for games in baseball, so I would imagine that same thing is occurring in college. Smaller schools have to travel, which means they miss two days of school for travel at the college level, maybe even 3 if they have to travel for Tuesday and Wednesday games in a week. Plus they get out of afternoon or night classes on Friday for a game. So I would imagine missing class has become an issue at the college level too.