We?ve been to Omaha 11 times. How would you rank the teams?
1971, 1979, 1981, 1985, 1990, 1997, 1998, 2007, 2013, 2018, 2019
Bonus - Out of the 11 which team should have won it all?
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We?ve been to Omaha 11 times. How would you rank the teams?
1971, 1979, 1981, 1985, 1990, 1997, 1998, 2007, 2013, 2018, 2019
Bonus - Out of the 11 which team should have won it all?
1985
2013
and
2016
Were all the best teams in the country but couldn't finish the deal.
Had that 2016 team made it through Arizona, I think they were home free. Had the 2013 team had a healthy Woodruff, they were home free & had 85 not had the pitcher's ankle hit by a line drive, they were home free.
2013
1985
2018
2019
1997
1998
1990
1979
1981
1971
2007
13 lacked pitching. Graveman may be my all time favorite pitcher at state but he wasn’t elite at that time. Our best arms were pen guys. I know looking at the major leaguers would lead you to the belief you have but to me they were an example of a team that got hot at the rite time...you may could argue they finally put it together. But again the pitching prevents me from saying they were THE best team in the country. I agree with your thoughts on the 16 team. The homerun rigby surrendered was the obvious killer but that one swing prevented us from making that run. Zero doubt in my mind we shove it in game three.
Was the 2013 team perfect? No but they had BY FAR the most future Major Leaguers of any team in the country that year.
I get your point about the starting pitching and that's why I said "if Woodruff was healthy they were home free"
They were the best team though. A healthy Woodruff combined with a Graveman and a Major League bullpen, would've made them almost unbeatable from an analytical point of view.
Good chance the 2016 team ends up having 4 Major Leaguers in the every day lineup.
Did the 89 team have that many?
Not disagreeing with you, but I think what many of us run into in these debates is that some of these teams we were around during our growth years & thus their players were are heros, while other teams may technically be better but you didn't emotionally connect with at the same level
Question: do you have to be complete and near perfect team to win it all? It sure feels that way from our perspective
2013 UCLA was a weak hitting team and only one semi-consequential MLB, two overall
2016 Costal Carolina would not have survived our regional (zero major leaguers)
2015 Virginia- one major leaguer
2008 Fresno State - 3 journeymen into MLB
2012 Arizona- 5 brief MLB debuts and flame outs
You don't have to be perfect but you do have to be tough, have an "it" factor, & have to be blazing hot at exactly the right time.
You've got to have a team that makes pitchers work in that ballpark. You've got to grind out ABs. I think lately we've had a few too many strikeout guys in our lineup.
For whatever reason, we've never played out best baseball in Omaha.
Outside of luck, all you can do is put together the best roster that you can & give it a go.
As far as our rosters, I think we've consistently had what we need on the high end of the roster. We don't really need more top end type players (Although they'd obviously help)
I've always felt we've had a few too many high strikeout guys at the bottom of the lineup & not enough depth to the pitching staff & uniqueness out of the bullpen.
That 1989 team was really good. My friend Jody Hurst was the CF on that team. I was at every game of that regional and still remember how disappointing an end to that season it was. Had already made my plans to be in Omaha and thought we had a dang good chance to win it all and then UNC burst that bubble. Was a long ride home that Sunday night. We won 50 games that year and didn't get to Omaha
1b - Raffo (another great year in 90, minors)
2b - Masters (grandslam in 90, might become Pope)
SS - Hildreth (minors)
3b - Young (MLB as pitcher)
OF - Grayum (AAA/AA minors)
OF - Hurst (high level minors with Tigers)
OF - Cohen (better season in 90, minors)
OF - Echols (minors)
C - Winford (minors)
These guys had great backups that got us to Omaha in 90 like Scott Mitchell, David Mitchell, Jim Robinson, and Jon Shave.
We just needed somebody to get super hot down the stretch and it did not happen, at least that's what I remember. I was just one of the 8 year-olds that chased foul balls like they were worth $1M dollars. My primary hunting ground was the right-field line metal bleachers.
85
19
13
I realize I'm older than you guys posting about the "best teams". 89 was the most talented and balanced team IMO. But the 71 team gets no love, LOL. Back in the day the west coast teams dominated college baseball, they played 60 to 70 games a year. The Sec in those days only played 32 games. Also those early 70's teams got robbed by the "Ncaa" by declaring a few of our Juco guys ineligible, it was a terrible rule. Also there were very few teams playing in regional playoffs, like 16 I think.
Oh, no one cared about baseball in the Sec, but I do remember Msu caring I saw crowds in the 9K range a few times which would be like having record numbers in the nation for attendance.
Oh that 71 team was loaded with talent, they would have competing with any team mentioned above. Ok so I'm ole but proud to have been at dear Ole State starting the tradition of the "Leftfield Lounge" Class of 73!
Thanks for posting that! My memory ain't what it used to be. I went and pulled out my program from that 89 regional and relived some memories. That team was really loaded and I just knew we were going to omaha with a shot to win it all. The thing I remember most was when we faced UNC the first time, in the game that put us in the loser bracket. They threw some junk baller at us and we just kept flailing away at breaking ball and changeups. He didn't throw hard and rarely threw us fastballs but we couldn't square him up for nothing.