The Coogs had a monster schedule this season. They got beat up early and spent the last part of the season trying to make up for it. Should we have to play such a tough schedule when we are in a conference with USM, Tulane, ECU and we have five game series with Rice. I do not mind playing one or two tough teams but the schedule this year was murder. Next year dumb the schedule down a bit( like ECU) and maybe we will even be able to host a regional.
uhmump95 Wrote:Should we have to play such a tough schedule when we are in a conference with USM, Tulane, ECU and we have five game series with Rice.
In a couple years after everyone's in C-USA together, if there were any fairness in college sports, we'd all be able to coast on our tough-as-hell conference schedule and play a bunch of OOC creampuffs like the $EC does (in EVERY DAMN THING ELSE in addition to baseball). But I'm not holding my breath waiting for fairness in college sports. Not while the good-ol'-boys are running the selection committee.
:rolleyes:
Coogs got ripped off. If only we could've beaten TCU *once* the other day... what a lousy Saturday that was.
Next year will be better. Maybe Coach Noble will ease up a bit (not holding my breath on that one either, though).
I just think that if a few of those one point losses we had at the beginning of the season had been victories that we would have been a no brainer especially with our conference run. Besides getting some early victories boost the players confidence too.
Houston is known for running the gauntlet in OOC baseball. Southern Miss' slogan of "Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime" could really apply to Cougar baseball - especially if you changed it to "UH can beat Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime".
With the RPI of C-USA about to improve so dramatically - dropping so much of our dead weight and adding programs like Rice and UCF - I can see slacking off some on the OOC, but I hope you never go cupcake city.
A story before I go:
Some of my mom's best friends are diehard LSU fans - to the level of SEC obnoxiousness. Needless to say, in their eyes C-USA is far, far beneath them.
We happened to be spending a lot of time at their house one weekend a few years ago. Because of prior obligations that had them at home, they were forced to listen to their beloved Tigers on the radio instead of heading to Baton Rouge to see them in person. They (and I) got to hear Houston sweep LSU in Baton Rouge.
After listening to their grumbling for a little while - which eventually led to comments about how good Houston must be to be able to pull off such a mind-boggling feat as sweeping LSU at home - I calmly mentioned that they were one of the teams that might have a shot at the C-USA title that year, since they seemed to be doing OK. Oh, and they would be playing Southern Miss in a conference series in a couple of weeks.
The looks on their faces - jaws hanging open - as I walked out of the room is one I'll never forget! Their impression of C-USA baseball has been much improved since then, and I've been a fan of Houston baseball ever since!
:D
Southern Miss Alum Wrote:The looks on their faces - jaws hanging open - as I walked out of the room is one I'll never forget! Their impression of C-USA baseball has been much improved since then, and I've been a fan of Houston baseball ever since!
:D
Thank you for that mental picture. :D
As for "Cupcake City"... well, don't go buying any Hostess stock on Coach Noble's account. :laugh:
I might ease up a bit...but if we get a few more of those 1 run losses and turn them into wins, and everyone stays healthy, then we would be in no problem. Next recruiting class looks TREMENDOUS, so my opinion: keep it hard, but have some matchups early on that are guarenteed wins in an effort to maximize team confidence.
As far as our schedule goes, don't expect many changes. Noble want's his teams playing the best in the country.
Of course, there are changes to the roster each year also, either by the draft or being released from the team.
uhmump95 Wrote:The Coogs had a monster schedule this season. They got beat up early and spent the last part of the season trying to make up for it. Should we have to play such a tough schedule when we are in a conference with USM, Tulane, ECU and we have five game series with Rice. I do not mind playing one or two tough teams but the schedule this year was murder. Next year dumb the schedule down a bit( like ECU) and maybe we will even be able to host a regional.
I disagree with you. In spite of the difficult regular season you guys had, you definitely had a shot at winning the C-USA tournament. I think you should continue scheduling tough OOC games the way you did this season. I believe you'll get more respect from the committee the next time around if you keep scheduling difficult opponents AND if you again are in serious contention for a C-USA title.