Not a surprise since Kent made the CWS and won a game but you never know if a MAC team will still get screwed in the final rankings..not this time as Kent finished #8 in the country.

Rk. Team W-L NCAA tourney Prev.
1. Arizona 48-17 10-0 13
2. South Carolina 49-20 9-3 7
3. Florida 47-20 5-2 1
4. Florida State 50-17 7-2 5
5. UCLA 48-16 6-2 9
6. Arkansas 46-22 7-3 NR
7. Stony Brook 52-15 6-4 25
8. Kent State 47-20 6-3 NR
9. Louisiana State 47-18 4-2 3
10. Baylor 49-17 5-3 4
11. Oregon 46-19 4-2 10
12. North Carolina State 43-20 4-3 18
13. Stanford 41-18 3-2 19
14. Oklahoma 42-25 4-3 NR
15. St. John's 40-23 3-2 NR
16. Texas Christian 40-22 4-3 NR
17. North Carolina 46-16 2-2 6
18. Rice 41-19 1-2 8
19. Texas A&M 43-18 1-2 9
20. Kentucky 45-18 2-2 11
21. Cal State Fullerton 36-21 1-2 12
22. Mississippi State 40-24 1-2 14
23. Purdue 45-14 1-2 15
24. Oregon State 40-20 2-2 16
25. Virginia 39-19 1-2 17
Dropped out: Central Florida (20), Arizona State (21), Vanderbilt (22), Miami (23), Pepperdine (24).

P.S. Kent should've been ranked ahead of Stony Brook as they got creamed in both CWS games whereas Kent beat Florida.

We might fix that ranking next year. The Flashes have a nice core of talent returning, including the coaching staff, with some fantastic experience.

(06-27-2012 09:04 AM)exCincy Kid Wrote:  P.S. Kent should've been ranked ahead of Stony Brook as they got creamed in both CWS games whereas Kent beat Florida.

^this

it seems they gave too much credit for their overall record and the fact that they punched their ticket to Omaha before Kent St.

Congrats Kent! Good year for the MAC!

College Baseball News has KSU #6.

I've said repeatedly that Kent is a sleeping giant. If any conference was looking to expand, Kent would be the most sensible choice.

(06-28-2012 04:37 PM)DrTorch Wrote:  I've said repeatedly that Kent is a sleeping giant. If any conference was looking to expand, Kent would be the most sensible choice.

Yeah, i don't know why some conferences don't think about buying low, so to speak. Get a Kent State and then the fact that they'd be playing in bigger conference would probably eventually draw more fans, lead to huge alumni funding, etc. If you can have a Vanderbilt in the SEC basically non-competitive 90% of the time in football, you can have a school with potential have a rough period of adjustment while they build up into something. Hypothetically speaking, let's say the Big XII picked up NIU. First people would be like WTF? But then monies would roll in, stadium expand, Chicagoland would then really get excited about it, big TV market exploited.... Just a fantasy, I suppose. But I think with Kent, you have a large school, a large fan base, some sustained success in different sports except football...

Do note that I don't want to move anywhere but...

The big reason Kent would never get an invite is the albatross of KSU football. While we can produce talent (we do create some quality players) we can never get a full team going for an entire year. It is literally the only mens program that we can't get up to a high quality. Nobody seems to notice we have 4 titles in a row for being the best Mens program in the MAC mostly because of a mediocre to bad football team.

Fan interest is the second big blow though I think that is much less an issue than our football history. However you could make the case that the lack of fans putting pressure on ADs over the years may have allowed our football teams to be so bad for so long.

Money could be an issue as well since we are frugal. Some people would say this is bad but considering what we have done with it I am not going to complain. I don't think any sort of realistic MAC or non-AQ type money would change the football program on its own so IMO money is mostly a red herring. I do think we need to do a better job with coaches (jury is still out on the current as early year was bad late was good)for football. Think if Saban came back to his Alma Mater!

(06-29-2012 07:09 AM)Sultan of Euphonistan Wrote:  Do note that I don't want to move anywhere but...

The big reason Kent would never get an invite is the albatross of KSU football. While we can produce talent (we do create some quality players) we can never get a full team going for an entire year. It is literally the only mens program that we can't get up to a high quality. Nobody seems to notice we have 4 titles in a row for being the best Mens program in the MAC mostly because of a mediocre to bad football team.

Fan interest is the second big blow though I think that is much less an issue than our football history. However you could make the case that the lack of fans putting pressure on ADs over the years may have allowed our football teams to be so bad for so long.

Money could be an issue as well since we are frugal. Some people would say this is bad but considering what we have done with it I am not going to complain. I don't think any sort of realistic MAC or non-AQ type money would change the football program on its own so IMO money is mostly a red herring. I do think we need to do a better job with coaches (jury is still out on the current as early year was bad late was good)for football. Think if Saban came back to his Alma Mater!

I’m pretty confident that KSU’s leaders don’t spend a lot of time thinking about jumping conferences.

I may be more confident about football turning the corner than you are, Sultan. Fair to say jury is out on Hazell, but he’s a pretty good coach who has his team on board.

Agree with you on another thing. I’d argue we produce more results per dollar spent on athletics than any other team in the MAC. That’s both a point of pride and a challenge.

(06-29-2012 05:40 PM)FlashFan Wrote:  

(06-29-2012 07:09 AM)Sultan of Euphonistan Wrote:  Do note that I don't want to move anywhere but...

The big reason Kent would never get an invite is the albatross of KSU football. While we can produce talent (we do create some quality players) we can never get a full team going for an entire year. It is literally the only mens program that we can't get up to a high quality. Nobody seems to notice we have 4 titles in a row for being the best Mens program in the MAC mostly because of a mediocre to bad football team.

Fan interest is the second big blow though I think that is much less an issue than our football history. However you could make the case that the lack of fans putting pressure on ADs over the years may have allowed our football teams to be so bad for so long.

Money could be an issue as well since we are frugal. Some people would say this is bad but considering what we have done with it I am not going to complain. I don't think any sort of realistic MAC or non-AQ type money would change the football program on its own so IMO money is mostly a red herring. I do think we need to do a better job with coaches (jury is still out on the current as early year was bad late was good)for football. Think if Saban came back to his Alma Mater!

I’m pretty confident that KSU’s leaders don’t spend a lot of time thinking about jumping conferences.

Kent State has a lot of room to grow WITHIN the MAC before they should start looking over their shoulder at other conferences.

I don't think Kent State could attract the interest of a southern based conference because of location like Ohio could potentially do and it doesn't have the budget or facilities to attract the Big East.

Maybe Kent State could make sense in the ACC if they lost a enough teams to the B12 as a rival for Pitt/Syracuse.....I'm skeptical though.