CardsRChamps
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This will be the lineup starting in 2006. Who are the powers in Big East baseball? Is the Big East a good baseball conference?
Louisville
Cincinnati
South Florida
Notre Dame
St. John's
Rutgers
Pittsburgh
Connecticut
Villanova
Georgetown
West Virginia
Seton Hall
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05-08-2005 09:08 PM |
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CollegeCard
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Not really sure who is any good other than I know Notre Dame is pretty good, at least through last year (not sure this year).
Overall though, off the top of my head, this is probably the 1 and only sport for UofL where the competition level decreases compared to CUSA. I expect we'll be pretty successful in the BE in baseball since we have improved to being decent and able to take a game here and there from top teams over the last several years.
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05-08-2005 09:33 PM |
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zelinleaf
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St. John's is also very good. I believe they are/were ranked a one point this season.
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05-08-2005 10:06 PM |
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Jackson1011
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Rutgers is also usually pretty good....WVU is usally good as well but is struggling this yr
Jackson
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05-08-2005 10:12 PM |
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bearcatfan
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Notre Dame and St. John's were on ESPN2 Saturday night. Both pf those are at the top of the league.
I think UC and Louisville both should be able to do better in the Big East. CUSA has very good baseball and as CollegeCard said, UofL has competed well and UC has improved a lot this year.
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05-09-2005 06:32 AM |
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Jackson1011
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Another problem with BE baseball is the conference tourney....I think only the top 4 schools qualify which is very small compred to the other conference tourneys around the country
Jackson
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05-09-2005 07:06 AM |
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Bearcat T
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UC and UL are committed to Baseball. UC is enjoying its first full season in the beautiful new stadium completed late last season for
11 million dollars. This stadium has indoor batting cages, pitching mounds, clubhouse, player lounge, mud rooms, laundry facilities, scouting private box, umpire rooms, beautiful press box,
field turf, and will soon have the football stadiums replay board in addition to the scoreboard, two concessions, ticket office etc.
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05-09-2005 08:10 AM |
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USFMike
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our baseball facilities as of now are pretty sad and we're currently in the process of renovating them, but we had some very good years in cusa and we are in florida, if we can just improve our facilities we may be a player in baseball. we just got a committment from wade boggs' son, who knows maybe his dad will join the staff, he lives in tampa and he's a big bulls fan, he's a nice guy too i got a chance to meet him when he gave a talk at one of my classes.
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05-09-2005 12:16 PM |
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army56mike
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Imagine, though, how good the conference would be with Tulane, S. Miss, and ECU, all top flight baseball programs?
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05-09-2005 05:03 PM |
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CollegeCard
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Army56Mike Wrote:Imagine, though, how good the conference would be with Tulane, S. Miss, and ECU, all top flight baseball programs?
No offense Mike but that's the same as adding a school based on their water polo team or women's cross country. No matter what others on a certain board would lead people to believe, it is not a major sport.
I like it personally more than women's basketball but its less "major" than women's basketball even. No one is going to be added based on a non-revenue sport.
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05-09-2005 06:01 PM |
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army56mike
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I'm not offended. I agree with you. Baseball is not a major sport. But if you had those power baseball teams in The Big East it would be more attractive and competitive baseball conference.
However, I have suppported these other universities based on their merits athletically department wide, and in a couple of cases academically, and for rivalry reasons, and for some nice travel destinations in a couple cases.
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05-09-2005 06:30 PM |
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CollegeCard
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Army56Mike Wrote:I'm not offended. I agree with you. Baseball is not a major sport. But if you had those power baseball teams in The Big East it would be more attractive and competitive baseball conference.
However, I have suppported these other universities based on their merits athletically department wide, and in a couple of cases academically, and for rivalry reasons, and for some nice travel destinations in a couple cases.
They certainly have some nice things to them. Tulane is real nice academically. They have pretty solid olympic sports also. New Orleans is a great destination. Unfortunately their basketball is horrid and has been for nearly a decade (or so it seems going off memory since Honeycutt left). Football had the 12-0 in '98 but other than that has been nothing special with most years seeing a losing record.
USM has ever solid and sometimes better than that football. Their baseball is also up there. However, the location for teams coming in can't get much more remote in the Eastern half the country. Also, basketball looks like it will improve with Eustachy but has been very very bad for a while now. They have only been the in the NCAA once or twice ever. Also, their olympic sports are below average as a whole and they don't offer a lot of men's sports that are pretty standard at most schools.
ECU, right now, has little that is real nice to talk about. Baseball is their solid sport which is usually pretty good. They have very respectable football if we cut off our memories in 2000 and ignore this decade. If they can get football back to the prior time version they will be much more marketable. Basketball has never been anywhere near the "major" level despite being in CUSA for 4 years now (I believe). They occasionally sprung an upset but their CUSA road record is probably around 1-31 or 2-30 since joining that league. Also, this year the talent gap in the gym when we played them was worse than against ANY other team UofL faced with the exception of Morehead St. It was worse than Lafayette even who I believe does not give scholarships. Not that any respectable coach would play the starters the whole game in a game like that, but had we it would have been an 80 point margin.
If in a few years football is back to their old level and basketball is to the level (with the new hire) that it could at least compete, they would be a school that would at least get a long look. If they entered the BE in the next year or two it would be the end of any chance at basketball respectability b/c they would immediately get beaten down. To be quite honest I have a sinking feeling USF will experience just that same deal starting this November.
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05-09-2005 07:54 PM |
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bearcatfan
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USFMike Wrote:our baseball facilities as of now are pretty sad and we're currently in the process of renovating them, but we had some very good years in cusa and we are in florida, if we can just improve our facilities we may be a player in baseball. we just got a committment from wade boggs' son, who knows maybe his dad will join the staff, he lives in tampa and he's a big bulls fan, he's a nice guy too i got a chance to meet him when he gave a talk at one of my classes.
USFMike,
I did not mean to slight USF - you will definitely be a force in BE baseball.
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05-10-2005 06:02 AM |
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NJ Rutgers
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Yes were pretty good in baseball, and with the new ESPNU and ESPN trying harder to televise games, this maybe the major sport where RU gets it done, if one day college baseball becomes a bigger deal and causes kids to go to college rather than straight into the pros.
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05-10-2005 12:40 PM |
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brista21
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NJ Rutgers Wrote:Yes were pretty good in baseball, and with the new ESPNU and ESPN trying harder to televise games, this maybe the major sport where RU gets it done, if one day college baseball becomes a bigger deal and causes kids to go to college rather than straight into the pros.
I agree it probably is our best shot.
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05-10-2005 01:34 PM |
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Jackson1011
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the major problem I have with college baseball is alumunium bats....it just causes to much scoring and dilutes the fundamentals of baseball....give me a 1-0 "national league style" baseball game over a 18-12 slugfest anyday.....pitchers are at such a disadvantage when the hitter can swing a 25 oz bat...
Jackson
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05-10-2005 03:31 PM |
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USFMike
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bearcatfan Wrote:I did not mean to slight USF - you will definitely be a force in BE baseball.
no offense taken, but i must admit i'm jealous, a 11mill on campus baseball stadium w/ a video scoreboard for instant replays, good lord. how was your attendance this year? if i was a student i'd be at every game i could go to with those facilities.
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05-10-2005 04:00 PM |
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zelinleaf
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it's nothing to brag about, as UC is averaging about 350 per game so far this season. But considering that the team didn't even have a real home game the 2 years prior, this is already a vast improvement. As coach Cleary is able to sign better classes and the team continue its improvement, I think more people will warm up to the idea of attending the games.
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05-10-2005 11:45 PM |
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IKE
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I believe BE baseball also may have suffer (albeit slightly) because of the Northeast locations...an aluminum bt stings at 35-40 degrees and breezy for the early half of the year..
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05-13-2005 04:00 PM |
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army56mike
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What a great reason to add some southern teams. You can play conference series in the south early and then move up north after the thaw.
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05-14-2005 06:35 PM |
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