Quote:Kendall Rogers ‏@KendallRogersD1 4h4 hours ago
Some really nice news, the @astros Houston College Classic will be televised nationally on @MLBNetwork in 2016. Great showcase for the tourney

Not surprising given 5 likely Top 25 caliber teams in Rice, UH, TCU, ULaLa and Arkansas. Who's the sixth team again?

TxTech

That is actually excellent news as coverage has been a little hit and miss the last few years.

(12-16-2015 07:05 PM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  TxTech

This may be the strongest top to bottom field ever for the Classic. Tech will be projected Top 50 in all likelihood. Going in, preseason, we're probably considered the 5th best team in the field. An opportunity to make some national noise and rise from beneath most pundit's radar.

Collegiate Baseball ranked all six teams competing in the 2007 Classic: they ranked the Rice Owls the top team in college baseball, and also ranked the #8 Vanderbilt Commodores, #14 Arizona State Sun Devils, #21 Baylor Bears, and #33 Houston Cougars

This field will have a couple ranked teams but is nowhere near what this tourney has had before. It'll be our best competition of the year though so I think we need to compete well at Minute Maid to keep our RPI in hosting range. Good to be back in this tourney though and glad it's getting good tv exposure.

Glad it's on the MLB Network though. That's cool.

(12-17-2015 11:51 PM)BufflOwl Wrote:  Collegiate Baseball ranked all six teams competing in the 2007 Classic: they ranked the Rice Owls the top team in college baseball, and also ranked the #8 Vanderbilt Commodores, #14 Arizona State Sun Devils, #21 Baylor Bears, and #33 Houston Cougars

This field will have a couple ranked teams but is nowhere near what this tourney has had before. It'll be our best competition of the year though so I think we need to compete well at Minute Maid to keep our RPI in hosting range. Good to be back in this tourney though and glad it's getting good tv exposure.

Glad it's on the MLB Network though. That's cool.

Huh? Do you have a clue what you're talking about? Both TCU and ULaLa are likely Top 10 teams heading into the season, with Arkansas, Houston and Rice all Top 25 candidates...and Tech likely Top 50. How is that nowhere near what this tournament has had before?

Also, as I corrected you before, the rest of the OOC schedule is strong, as usual. ECU is being actively considered as one of the final Top 25 preseason teams (according to Stitchhead just yesterday), UCF will almost assuredly be Top 35 caliber again, and we play midweek games against 5 Top 25 teams in TCU, A&M and UH x 3. Arizona may not be as strong as they have been in the past, but they're not exactly RPI killers. Finally, the CUSA may not be great, but it's not as bad in baseball as you try to make it out to be.

(12-18-2015 12:30 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(12-17-2015 11:51 PM)BufflOwl Wrote:  Collegiate Baseball ranked all six teams competing in the 2007 Classic: they ranked the Rice Owls the top team in college baseball, and also ranked the #8 Vanderbilt Commodores, #14 Arizona State Sun Devils, #21 Baylor Bears, and #33 Houston Cougars

This field will have a couple ranked teams but is nowhere near what this tourney has had before. It'll be our best competition of the year though so I think we need to compete well at Minute Maid to keep our RPI in hosting range. Good to be back in this tourney though and glad it's getting good tv exposure.

Glad it's on the MLB Network though. That's cool.

Huh? Do you have a clue what you're talking about? Both TCU and ULaLa are likely Top 10 teams heading into the season, with Arkansas, Houston and Rice all Top 25 candidates...and Tech likely Top 50. How is that nowhere near what this tournament has had before?

Also, as I corrected you before, the rest of the OOC schedule is strong, as usual. ECU is being actively considered as one of the final Top 25 preseason teams (according to Stitchhead just yesterday), UCF will almost assuredly be Top 35 caliber again, and we play midweek games against 5 Top 25 teams in TCU, A&M and UH x 3. Arizona may not be as strong as they have been in the past, but they're not exactly RPI killers. Finally, the CUSA may not be great, but it's not as bad in baseball as you try to make it out to be.

Why do you attack me everytime I disagree with you? Even in your rebuttal stating how strong our schedule is you came up with about 10 games against teams that might start in the top 25....and as we've seen the past couple years with Stanford and Texas starting there doesn't mean they'll end there. My prediction only...ECU won't end there and we'll be saying but they were supposed to be good.

RPI Hosting Range is staying very close to the 16 number. Therefore you can tout wins over top 35 or top 50-ish all you want but it won't help our RPI. And yes CUSA is that bad. I'll fact check if you want but I don't remember a season against so many teams outside the top 100. Several teams in our league pull our RPI down as soon as we step on the field with them.

Good thing is they still get to play the season.

(12-18-2015 09:44 AM)BufflOwl Wrote:  

(12-18-2015 12:30 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(12-17-2015 11:51 PM)BufflOwl Wrote:  Collegiate Baseball ranked all six teams competing in the 2007 Classic: they ranked the Rice Owls the top team in college baseball, and also ranked the #8 Vanderbilt Commodores, #14 Arizona State Sun Devils, #21 Baylor Bears, and #33 Houston Cougars

This field will have a couple ranked teams but is nowhere near what this tourney has had before. It'll be our best competition of the year though so I think we need to compete well at Minute Maid to keep our RPI in hosting range. Good to be back in this tourney though and glad it's getting good tv exposure.

Glad it's on the MLB Network though. That's cool.

Huh? Do you have a clue what you're talking about? Both TCU and ULaLa are likely Top 10 teams heading into the season, with Arkansas, Houston and Rice all Top 25 candidates...and Tech likely Top 50. How is that nowhere near what this tournament has had before?

Also, as I corrected you before, the rest of the OOC schedule is strong, as usual. ECU is being actively considered as one of the final Top 25 preseason teams (according to Stitchhead just yesterday), UCF will almost assuredly be Top 35 caliber again, and we play midweek games against 5 Top 25 teams in TCU, A&M and UH x 3. Arizona may not be as strong as they have been in the past, but they're not exactly RPI killers. Finally, the CUSA may not be great, but it's not as bad in baseball as you try to make it out to be.

Why do you attack me everytime I disagree with you? Even in your rebuttal stating how strong our schedule is you came up with about 10 games against teams that might start in the top 25....and as we've seen the past couple years with Stanford and Texas starting there doesn't mean they'll end there. My prediction only...ECU won't end there and we'll be saying but they were supposed to be good.

RPI Hosting Range is staying very close to the 16 number. Therefore you can tout wins over top 35 or top 50-ish all you want but it won't help our RPI. And yes CUSA is that bad. I'll fact check if you want but I don't remember a season against so many teams outside the top 100. Several teams in our league pull our RPI down as soon as we step on the field with them.

Good thing is they still get to play the season.

Games against any team ranked in the Top 50 will help your RPI. That's precisely how teams in the SEC, ACC and Big 12 have somewhat inflated RPIs despite their cupcake of an OOC schedule. CUSA was somewhat down last year, but in 2014, if I recall correctly, we had just one or two teams ranked outside the Top 100.

(12-18-2015 09:58 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(12-18-2015 09:44 AM)BufflOwl Wrote:  

(12-18-2015 12:30 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(12-17-2015 11:51 PM)BufflOwl Wrote:  Collegiate Baseball ranked all six teams competing in the 2007 Classic: they ranked the Rice Owls the top team in college baseball, and also ranked the #8 Vanderbilt Commodores, #14 Arizona State Sun Devils, #21 Baylor Bears, and #33 Houston Cougars

This field will have a couple ranked teams but is nowhere near what this tourney has had before. It'll be our best competition of the year though so I think we need to compete well at Minute Maid to keep our RPI in hosting range. Good to be back in this tourney though and glad it's getting good tv exposure.

Glad it's on the MLB Network though. That's cool.

Huh? Do you have a clue what you're talking about? Both TCU and ULaLa are likely Top 10 teams heading into the season, with Arkansas, Houston and Rice all Top 25 candidates...and Tech likely Top 50. How is that nowhere near what this tournament has had before?

Also, as I corrected you before, the rest of the OOC schedule is strong, as usual. ECU is being actively considered as one of the final Top 25 preseason teams (according to Stitchhead just yesterday), UCF will almost assuredly be Top 35 caliber again, and we play midweek games against 5 Top 25 teams in TCU, A&M and UH x 3. Arizona may not be as strong as they have been in the past, but they're not exactly RPI killers. Finally, the CUSA may not be great, but it's not as bad in baseball as you try to make it out to be.

Why do you attack me everytime I disagree with you? Even in your rebuttal stating how strong our schedule is you came up with about 10 games against teams that might start in the top 25....and as we've seen the past couple years with Stanford and Texas starting there doesn't mean they'll end there. My prediction only...ECU won't end there and we'll be saying but they were supposed to be good.

RPI Hosting Range is staying very close to the 16 number. Therefore you can tout wins over top 35 or top 50-ish all you want but it won't help our RPI. And yes CUSA is that bad. I'll fact check if you want but I don't remember a season against so many teams outside the top 100. Several teams in our league pull our RPI down as soon as we step on the field with them.

Good thing is they still get to play the season.

Games against any team ranked in the Top 50 will help your RPI. That's precisely how teams in the SEC, ACC and Big 12 have somewhat inflated RPIs despite their cupcake of an OOC schedule. CUSA was somewhat down last year, but in 2014, if I recall correctly, we had just one or two teams ranked outside the Top 100.

BTW, BufflOwl, you never answered why in your mind this year's Minute Maid field is "nowhere near what it's been in the past".

Second, I don't "attack" you, but I do question many of your statements which would appear to show a lack of in-depth knowledge of the college baseball landscape.

Third, we have more than 10 games against potential Top 25 - 35 caliber teams, all of which help one's RPI: ECU x 3, UCF x 3, UH x 3, FAU x 3, TCU x 2, A&M, DBU, arkansas and ULaLa. That's over one-third of our 52-game regular season schedule.

(12-18-2015 11:38 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(12-18-2015 09:58 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(12-18-2015 09:44 AM)BufflOwl Wrote:  

(12-18-2015 12:30 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(12-17-2015 11:51 PM)BufflOwl Wrote:  Collegiate Baseball ranked all six teams competing in the 2007 Classic: they ranked the Rice Owls the top team in college baseball, and also ranked the #8 Vanderbilt Commodores, #14 Arizona State Sun Devils, #21 Baylor Bears, and #33 Houston Cougars

This field will have a couple ranked teams but is nowhere near what this tourney has had before. It'll be our best competition of the year though so I think we need to compete well at Minute Maid to keep our RPI in hosting range. Good to be back in this tourney though and glad it's getting good tv exposure.

Glad it's on the MLB Network though. That's cool.

Huh? Do you have a clue what you're talking about? Both TCU and ULaLa are likely Top 10 teams heading into the season, with Arkansas, Houston and Rice all Top 25 candidates...and Tech likely Top 50. How is that nowhere near what this tournament has had before?

Also, as I corrected you before, the rest of the OOC schedule is strong, as usual. ECU is being actively considered as one of the final Top 25 preseason teams (according to Stitchhead just yesterday), UCF will almost assuredly be Top 35 caliber again, and we play midweek games against 5 Top 25 teams in TCU, A&M and UH x 3. Arizona may not be as strong as they have been in the past, but they're not exactly RPI killers. Finally, the CUSA may not be great, but it's not as bad in baseball as you try to make it out to be.

Why do you attack me everytime I disagree with you? Even in your rebuttal stating how strong our schedule is you came up with about 10 games against teams that might start in the top 25....and as we've seen the past couple years with Stanford and Texas starting there doesn't mean they'll end there. My prediction only...ECU won't end there and we'll be saying but they were supposed to be good.

RPI Hosting Range is staying very close to the 16 number. Therefore you can tout wins over top 35 or top 50-ish all you want but it won't help our RPI. And yes CUSA is that bad. I'll fact check if you want but I don't remember a season against so many teams outside the top 100. Several teams in our league pull our RPI down as soon as we step on the field with them.

Good thing is they still get to play the season.

Games against any team ranked in the Top 50 will help your RPI. That's precisely how teams in the SEC, ACC and Big 12 have somewhat inflated RPIs despite their cupcake of an OOC schedule. CUSA was somewhat down last year, but in 2014, if I recall correctly, we had just one or two teams ranked outside the Top 100.

BTW, BufflOwl, you never answered why in your mind this year's Minute Maid field is "nowhere near what it's been in the past".

Second, I don't "attack" you, but I do question many of your statements which would appear to show a lack of in-depth knowledge of the college baseball landscape.

Third, we have more than 10 games against potential Top 25 - 35 caliber teams, all of which help one's RPI: ECU x 3, UCF x 3, UH x 3, FAU x 3, TCU x 2, A&M, DBU, arkansas and ULaLa. That's over one-third of our 52-game regular season schedule.

First off, I don't claim to have an in depth knowledge of anything. That's your MO.

I just enjoy asking questions that challenge just how inside your info is or how expert your knowledge is. And the answer is I don't think those teams will prove to be that good.

Maybe I'm wrong and all 6 wind up in Omaha and you'll be right. But I think two of these Minute Maid teams end the season in the top 25 and Rice isn't one of them. I hope I'm wrong and I hope this team which apparently doesn't read the Parliament pins this post to their locker and proves me wrong. But I suspect TCU finishes in the supers and the rest are over hyped through the first half of the season, flames out in the second half and loses in a regional. One other, hard to say who finds a way to finish 20 to 25. The others are your words "Top 35 caliber" even though your completely making that up and it doesn't mean anything at all.

To go further, I then think come back on here again next year telling us it's not all about the post season and next year's starting pitching will be "one of the best ever" the defense will be much improved.

How bout you make a prediction on this field and we'll see whose closer? By the way, you still haven't answered my question from another thread when I asked what basketball and baseball have to do for this year to be a step forward for our athletic department. And you also ripped me for saying U of H had past us last year.

(12-19-2015 12:07 AM)BufflOwl Wrote:  

(12-18-2015 11:38 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(12-18-2015 09:58 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(12-18-2015 09:44 AM)BufflOwl Wrote:  

(12-18-2015 12:30 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  Huh? Do you have a clue what you're talking about? Both TCU and ULaLa are likely Top 10 teams heading into the season, with Arkansas, Houston and Rice all Top 25 candidates...and Tech likely Top 50. How is that nowhere near what this tournament has had before?

Also, as I corrected you before, the rest of the OOC schedule is strong, as usual. ECU is being actively considered as one of the final Top 25 preseason teams (according to Stitchhead just yesterday), UCF will almost assuredly be Top 35 caliber again, and we play midweek games against 5 Top 25 teams in TCU, A&M and UH x 3. Arizona may not be as strong as they have been in the past, but they're not exactly RPI killers. Finally, the CUSA may not be great, but it's not as bad in baseball as you try to make it out to be.

Why do you attack me everytime I disagree with you? Even in your rebuttal stating how strong our schedule is you came up with about 10 games against teams that might start in the top 25....and as we've seen the past couple years with Stanford and Texas starting there doesn't mean they'll end there. My prediction only...ECU won't end there and we'll be saying but they were supposed to be good.

RPI Hosting Range is staying very close to the 16 number. Therefore you can tout wins over top 35 or top 50-ish all you want but it won't help our RPI. And yes CUSA is that bad. I'll fact check if you want but I don't remember a season against so many teams outside the top 100. Several teams in our league pull our RPI down as soon as we step on the field with them.

Good thing is they still get to play the season.

Games against any team ranked in the Top 50 will help your RPI. That's precisely how teams in the SEC, ACC and Big 12 have somewhat inflated RPIs despite their cupcake of an OOC schedule. CUSA was somewhat down last year, but in 2014, if I recall correctly, we had just one or two teams ranked outside the Top 100.

BTW, BufflOwl, you never answered why in your mind this year's Minute Maid field is "nowhere near what it's been in the past".

Second, I don't "attack" you, but I do question many of your statements which would appear to show a lack of in-depth knowledge of the college baseball landscape.

Third, we have more than 10 games against potential Top 25 - 35 caliber teams, all of which help one's RPI: ECU x 3, UCF x 3, UH x 3, FAU x 3, TCU x 2, A&M, DBU, arkansas and ULaLa. That's over one-third of our 52-game regular season schedule.

First off, I don't claim to have an in depth knowledge of anything. That's your MO.

I just enjoy asking questions that challenge just how inside your info is or how expert your knowledge is. And the answer is I don't think those teams will prove to be that good.

Maybe I'm wrong and all 6 wind up in Omaha and you'll be right. But I think two of these Minute Maid teams end the season in the top 25 and Rice isn't one of them. I hope I'm wrong and I hope this team which apparently doesn't read the Parliament pins this post to their locker and proves me wrong. But I suspect TCU finishes in the supers and the rest are over hyped through the first half of the season, flames out in the second half and loses in a regional. One other, hard to say who finds a way to finish 20 to 25. The others are your words "Top 35 caliber" even though your completely making that up and it doesn't mean anything at all.

To go further, I then think come back on here again next year telling us it's not all about the post season and next year's starting pitching will be "one of the best ever" the defense will be much improved.

How bout you make a prediction on this field and we'll see whose closer? By the way, you still haven't answered my question from another thread when I asked what basketball and baseball have to do for this year to be a step forward for our athletic department. And you also ripped me for saying U of H had past us last year.

First off, no one (including d1baseball, Baseball America, Perfect Game, Stitchhead or anyone else) knows who's going to end the season in the Top 25. Sorenson had UH ranked outside the Top 100, and the Aggies ranked in the 40s preseason. Based on returning, proven talent (which is how one bases preseason rankings), who would have predicted UT (consensus preseason Top 10) and Stanford would have had such poor seasons last year? You cannot predict injuries, obviously. Having said that, this year's Minute Maid field stacks up well to previous fields; it's not weaker as you have contended. BTW, of all the teams in the field, I think ULaLa is the one most likely to go to Omaha. Their pitching staff may be the best in the country (and most are only Sophomores), and they return most of their lineup from last year's team. TCU lost a ton of pitching, with Travers the only returnee amongst their Top 5 pitchers from last year. They lost their two best bats as well, but bring in a Top 10 recruiting class, which is why they'll likely still be in the preseason Top 20. I've said all along I expect we will be only borderline Top 25 heading into the season, as we are flying well below the radar with regards to the national pundits, who have been highlighting who we lost as opposed to who we bring back. Actually, that's a nice change of pace for the team, and might serve us well.

Yes, I'm a strong believer that the post-season is a crap shoot and, in isolation, is not a fair way to assess the success of one's season. Others disagree, and that's fine. As for UH passing us as a program, I just don't see it; not yet any way, and neither did the guys at D1Baseball when they recently ranked the Top 50 programs. Yes, they had a better regular season than us last year, but only barely so....and that was just one year. Even then, we split our four games in 2015, and eliminated them from their own Regional They may or may not be ranked ahead of us in preseason polls, but I suspect both of us will fall in the 20 - 30 range in most polls.

Your insinuation that our schedule is weak this year just does not hold water. No, it's not an SEC, ACC or Pac-12 schedule, but it is stronger than last year's and on par with previous seasons.

(12-19-2015 12:44 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(12-19-2015 12:07 AM)BufflOwl Wrote:  

(12-18-2015 11:38 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(12-18-2015 09:58 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(12-18-2015 09:44 AM)BufflOwl Wrote:  Why do you attack me everytime I disagree with you? Even in your rebuttal stating how strong our schedule is you came up with about 10 games against teams that might start in the top 25....and as we've seen the past couple years with Stanford and Texas starting there doesn't mean they'll end there. My prediction only...ECU won't end there and we'll be saying but they were supposed to be good.

RPI Hosting Range is staying very close to the 16 number. Therefore you can tout wins over top 35 or top 50-ish all you want but it won't help our RPI. And yes CUSA is that bad. I'll fact check if you want but I don't remember a season against so many teams outside the top 100. Several teams in our league pull our RPI down as soon as we step on the field with them.

Good thing is they still get to play the season.

Games against any team ranked in the Top 50 will help your RPI. That's precisely how teams in the SEC, ACC and Big 12 have somewhat inflated RPIs despite their cupcake of an OOC schedule. CUSA was somewhat down last year, but in 2014, if I recall correctly, we had just one or two teams ranked outside the Top 100.

BTW, BufflOwl, you never answered why in your mind this year's Minute Maid field is "nowhere near what it's been in the past".

Second, I don't "attack" you, but I do question many of your statements which would appear to show a lack of in-depth knowledge of the college baseball landscape.

Third, we have more than 10 games against potential Top 25 - 35 caliber teams, all of which help one's RPI: ECU x 3, UCF x 3, UH x 3, FAU x 3, TCU x 2, A&M, DBU, arkansas and ULaLa. That's over one-third of our 52-game regular season schedule.

First off, I don't claim to have an in depth knowledge of anything. That's your MO.

I just enjoy asking questions that challenge just how inside your info is or how expert your knowledge is. And the answer is I don't think those teams will prove to be that good.

Maybe I'm wrong and all 6 wind up in Omaha and you'll be right. But I think two of these Minute Maid teams end the season in the top 25 and Rice isn't one of them. I hope I'm wrong and I hope this team which apparently doesn't read the Parliament pins this post to their locker and proves me wrong. But I suspect TCU finishes in the supers and the rest are over hyped through the first half of the season, flames out in the second half and loses in a regional. One other, hard to say who finds a way to finish 20 to 25. The others are your words "Top 35 caliber" even though your completely making that up and it doesn't mean anything at all.

To go further, I then think come back on here again next year telling us it's not all about the post season and next year's starting pitching will be "one of the best ever" the defense will be much improved.

How bout you make a prediction on this field and we'll see whose closer? By the way, you still haven't answered my question from another thread when I asked what basketball and baseball have to do for this year to be a step forward for our athletic department. And you also ripped me for saying U of H had past us last year.

First off, no one (including d1baseball, Baseball America, Perfect Game, Stitchhead or anyone else) knows who's going to end the season in the Top 25. Sorenson had UH ranked outside the Top 100, and the Aggies ranked in the 40s preseason. Based on returning, proven talent (which is how one bases preseason rankings), who would have predicted UT (consensus preseason Top 10) and Stanford would have had such poor seasons last year? You cannot predict injuries, obviously. Having said that, this year's Minute Maid field stacks up well to previous fields; it's not weaker as you have contended. BTW, of all the teams in the field, I think ULaLa is the one most likely to go to Omaha. Their pitching staff may be the best in the country (and most are only Sophomores), and they return most of their lineup from last year's team. TCU lost a ton of pitching, with Travers the only returnee amongst their Top 5 pitchers from last year. They lost their two best bats as well, but bring in a Top 10 recruiting class, which is why they'll likely still be in the preseason Top 20. I've said all along I expect we will be only borderline Top 25 heading into the season, as we are flying well below the radar with regards to the national pundits, who have been highlighting who we lost as opposed to who we bring back. Actually, that's a nice change of pace for the team, and might serve us well.

Yes, I'm a strong believer that the post-season is a crap shoot and, in isolation, is not a fair way to assess the success of one's season. Others disagree, and that's fine. As for UH passing us as a program, I just don't see it; not yet any way, and neither did the guys at D1Baseball when they recently ranked the Top 50 programs. Yes, they had a better regular season than us last year, but only barely so....and that was just one year. Even then, we split our four games in 2015, and eliminated them from their own Regional They may or may not be ranked ahead of us in preseason polls, but I suspect both of us will fall in the 20 - 30 range in most polls.

Your insinuation that our schedule is weak this year just does not hold water. No, it's not an SEC, ACC or Pac-12 schedule, but it is stronger than last year's and on par with previous seasons.

You do recognize the difference between this post and your others don't you? Being possibly the best ever and stacking up well is very different. So is "not SEC, ACC or Pac-12" from your previous comments about how the great the schedule is. I can't and won't argue with anything in this post...and it's not semantics its magnitude.

(12-16-2015 08:18 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(12-16-2015 07:05 PM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  TxTech

This may be the strongest top to bottom field ever for the Classic. Tech will be projected Top 50 in all likelihood. ...

And what's surprising is we can make this statement without UT even being in the field....

(12-26-2015 10:29 AM)WeatherfordOwl Wrote:  

(12-16-2015 08:18 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(12-16-2015 07:05 PM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  TxTech

This may be the strongest top to bottom field ever for the Classic. Tech will be projected Top 50 in all likelihood. ...

And what's surprising is we can make this statement without UT even being in the field....

Can't believe UT barely cracked Collegiate Baseball's Top 40 (#39) preseason poll, one that historically have been heavily biased toward the P5 national powers. Might be their lowest early rankings in the Augie era.