Well, here goes...


Perfect Game http://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/View...ticle=9668
Drop from 10 to 13

Baseball America http://www.baseballamerica.com/college/c...-march-31/
Drop from 10 to 12

That's not enough of a drop. It just isn't.

But again, baseball polls don't mean much. PG has ACC teams at 1 and 2, which is an absolute joke.

BTW, that "great" NC State team that we lost to has gone off a cliff. Makes that SR loss sting just that much more.

(03-31-2014 12:16 PM)Wiessman Wrote:  That's not enough of a drop. It just isn't.

But again, baseball polls don't mean much. PG has ACC teams at 1 and 2, which is an absolute joke.

BTW, that "great" NC State team that we lost to has gone off a cliff. Makes that SR loss sting just that much more.

or it means that maybe we shouldn't have given that close series as much importance in saying that we should be much improved this year.

(03-31-2014 01:03 PM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  

(03-31-2014 12:16 PM)Wiessman Wrote:  That's not enough of a drop. It just isn't.

But again, baseball polls don't mean much. PG has ACC teams at 1 and 2, which is an absolute joke.

BTW, that "great" NC State team that we lost to has gone off a cliff. Makes that SR loss sting just that much more.

or it means that maybe we shouldn't have given that close series as much importance in saying that we should be much improved this year.

Or maybe it just means some of their key players aren't playing well this year?

Isn't Rodon doing pretty poor given how well he has pitched in the past? Sometimes players, especially college ones, have crappy years. We shouldn't be trying to make any connections between that SR and our play this year.

We lost one crappy series to MTSU. If we didn't have the record we did and the SOS/RPI, I would be getting worried. But until we show a consistent TREND of losing bad games, I'm going to hold off on worrying too much.

#14 in Coaches poll http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/c...nuhs4p98xh

(03-31-2014 01:26 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(03-31-2014 01:03 PM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  

(03-31-2014 12:16 PM)Wiessman Wrote:  That's not enough of a drop. It just isn't.

But again, baseball polls don't mean much. PG has ACC teams at 1 and 2, which is an absolute joke.

BTW, that "great" NC State team that we lost to has gone off a cliff. Makes that SR loss sting just that much more.

or it means that maybe we shouldn't have given that close series as much importance in saying that we should be much improved this year.

Or maybe it just means some of their key players aren't playing well this year?

Isn't Rodon doing pretty poor given how well he has pitched in the past? Sometimes players, especially college ones, have crappy years. We shouldn't be trying to make any connections between that SR and our play this year.

We lost one crappy series to MTSU. If we didn't have the record we did and the SOS/RPI, I would be getting worried. But until we show a consistent TREND of losing bad games, I'm going to hold off on worrying too much.

Y'know, there's not much to be read into one loss to MTSU, I agree. However, if we're going to have polls, they should at least reflect current performance levels. Any way you slice it, the loss to MTSU was bad. Numerous other teams with good records played much better last week than we did.

Re: NC State: Good players play well consistently and generally get better over time. If the NC State players that beat us last year aren't playing well now, it doesn't mean they are still really good; it means that last year was an aberration, and that in truth they are pretty average.

As for Rodon, he is massively overrated, I promise. Time will bear that out. He gets flat-out bratty on the mound when things aren't going his way. That's not how you improve.

Perhaps more importantly than the overall ranking is the fact that Rice trails both UT and UH in all three polls (and in both RPI and ISR). The bad news is that it makes hosting a super-regional less likely. The good news may be that Rice won't have to travel far to find one.

There's a lot of baseball left before anyone decides who hosts in the postseason...

(03-31-2014 02:25 PM)grol Wrote:  There's a lot of baseball left before anyone decides who hosts in the postseason...

This

(03-31-2014 01:26 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(03-31-2014 01:03 PM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  

(03-31-2014 12:16 PM)Wiessman Wrote:  That's not enough of a drop. It just isn't.

But again, baseball polls don't mean much. PG has ACC teams at 1 and 2, which is an absolute joke.

BTW, that "great" NC State team that we lost to has gone off a cliff. Makes that SR loss sting just that much more.

or it means that maybe we shouldn't have given that close series as much importance in saying that we should be much improved this year.

Or maybe it just means some of their key players aren't playing well this year?

Isn't Rodon doing pretty poor given how well he has pitched in the past? Sometimes players, especially college ones, have crappy years. We shouldn't be trying to make any connections between that SR and our play this year.

We lost one crappy series to MTSU. If we didn't have the record we did and the SOS/RPI, I would be getting worried. But until we show a consistent TREND of losing bad games, I'm going to hold off on worrying too much.

We had one miserable week, culminating with a weekend in which we probably played our worst all-around baseball of the year. Road series against a relatively weak, no name opponent...the kids are starting to get tired and/or the academic pressures are starting to set in as we approach the end of the Semester...and we have several injuries that have yet to be disclosed (and which I'm not at liberty to disclose).

Fortunately for us, 75% of the teams around us in the polls also lost series this weekend, and that's the reason we didn't drop more than we did. Back at home, we better turn up the intensity this week against UT and ECU. Very important bounce back week upcoming.

As for NC State, though they have two of the best players in college baseball in Rodon and Turner, they did lose two-thirds of their great bullpen from a year ago, as well as 5 starters in their lineup...so it is not fair to compare this year's team with the one with faced in the Supers last year.

(03-31-2014 02:11 PM)I45owl Wrote:  Perhaps more importantly than the overall ranking is the fact that Rice trails both UT and UH in all three polls (and in both RPI and ISR). The bad news is that it makes hosting a super-regional less likely. The good news may be that Rice won't have to travel far to find one.

I'm not saying UH will Coog it, but...the reality is that they've hardly played any games outside of Houston this year...and we're over half-way through the season. That's about to suddenly change. Let's see if they can keep up their pace of winning. I think they're still very good, but I do think you're going to see them starting to lose more games.

I think Rice can and will prove that it deserves a national seed on its own merits. However, I don't like the notion that they will have to climb over one or both of UH/UT in the remaining schedule, as - IMHO - it becomes more difficult to move up in the polls around this time of year. They can ill-afford to lose either of those upcoming matchups.

(03-31-2014 05:30 PM)I45owl Wrote:  I think Rice can and will prove that it deserves a national seed on its own merits. However, I don't like the notion that they will have to climb over one or both of UH/UT in the remaining schedule, as - IMHO - it becomes more difficult to move up in the polls around this time of year. They can ill-afford to lose either of those upcoming matchups.

Just as a reminder, the polls have negligeable, if any, impact on the selection of national seeds and regional hosts. Yes, the Committee does include the Coaches poll in their official criteria, but historically they have largely ignored it. Instead, they go largely on RPI, but also give weight to conference championships and record vs. Top 25/50/100.

(03-31-2014 02:02 PM)Wiessman Wrote:  Any way you slice it, the loss to MTSU was bad.

We out scored them by 4 in a three game series, I'll take that 5 times out of 10.

(03-31-2014 05:44 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(03-31-2014 05:30 PM)I45owl Wrote:  I think Rice can and will prove that it deserves a national seed on its own merits. However, I don't like the notion that they will have to climb over one or both of UH/UT in the remaining schedule, as - IMHO - it becomes more difficult to move up in the polls around this time of year. They can ill-afford to lose either of those upcoming matchups.

Just as a reminder, the polls have negligeable, if any, impact on the selection of national seeds and regional hosts. Yes, the Committee does include the Coaches poll in their official criteria, but historically they have largely ignored it. Instead, they go largely on RPI, but also give weight to conference championships and record vs. Top 25/50/100.

I know I do this every year, but it's the cases where someone has to get screwed that I fear the polls (read: subjective factors) come into play, and three worthy teams in Austin-Houston-Houston implies someone may get screwed. I'd just rather be on the plus side of polls/RPI if and when that happens.

We have similar SOS left, so it will be interesting to see if we both end up in the same RPI range who gets the regional. I'm sure you have the advantage in the committees mind and maybe rightfully so based on history , so let's hope we both get one and are NOT grouped together.

Going 0-3 against UT and UH isn't going to help any, but we've got three games to right that ship, and people love late season 'improvements'.