Good luck to everyone!

(05-25-2015 01:54 PM)FIUFanatic Wrote:  I believe every game in the Coral Gables Regional will be webcasted by ESPN3.com.

Go Panthers! Go Owls!....and Go Owls!

Cool. As long as Miami doesn't win I am good...

(05-25-2015 11:21 AM)dragon2owl Wrote:  1. Houston
2. Rice
3. UL Lafayette
4. Houston Baptist

This surely has to be close to being some kind of record for least distanced traveled by all teams combined for a regional??

Good luck to Rice, FAU and FIU

USM was in the last 4 out category. Close but damn!!!

(05-25-2015 06:15 PM)BamaScorpio69 Wrote:  USM was in the last 4 out category. Close but damn!!!

Too much bad baseball played early in the season as well as 1-2 record in CUSA tournament was too much to overcome. I posted in another thread but home losses to UNO and Oakland (x2) was brutal as their respective RPIs were in the 240+ range. In my opinion we did it to ourselves

I want Florida and Miami to lose in their own regionals because I hate them, so if FIU and FAU could pull off wins, I would be pretty happy.

Interviewed FAU head coach on Sirius radio College Sports Nation tonight. Seemed like a good guy.

(05-25-2015 11:46 AM)nastybunch Wrote:  Once again, they were not going to take 4 from C-USA.

Yup; that's the bottom line, and understandably so given we did rank #8 in conference RPI. Need to improve on that next year.

(05-25-2015 10:43 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(05-25-2015 11:46 AM)nastybunch Wrote:  Once again, they were not going to take 4 from C-USA.

Yup; that's the bottom line, and understandably so given we did rank #8 in conference RPI. Need to improve on that next year.

We're not going to finish higher than 8th until the teams at the bottom of the league improve.

(05-25-2015 11:33 PM)USMSTUD Wrote:  

(05-25-2015 10:43 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(05-25-2015 11:46 AM)nastybunch Wrote:  Once again, they were not going to take 4 from C-USA.

Yup; that's the bottom line, and understandably so given we did rank #8 in conference RPI. Need to improve on that next year.

We're not going to finish higher than 8th until the teams at the bottom of the league improve.

...or if we can get several more teams in the Top 50. Several years ago, before the exodus to the AAC, we still had 2 - 3 bottom feeders with RPI > 200, BUT we had 4 - 5 teams consistently ranked in the Top 50 (Rice, USM, ECU, UCF, Houston/Tulane)....and we were consistently ranked as the #5 or #6 conference (along with the Big West, after the ACC, SEC, Pac-12 and Big 12).

(05-26-2015 07:28 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(05-25-2015 11:33 PM)USMSTUD Wrote:  

(05-25-2015 10:43 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(05-25-2015 11:46 AM)nastybunch Wrote:  Once again, they were not going to take 4 from C-USA.

Yup; that's the bottom line, and understandably so given we did rank #8 in conference RPI. Need to improve on that next year.

We're not going to finish higher than 8th until the teams at the bottom of the league improve.

...or if we can get several more teams in the Top 50. Several years ago, before the exodus to the AAC, we still had 2 - 3 bottom feeders with RPI > 200, BUT we had 4 - 5 teams consistently ranked in the Top 50 (Rice, USM, ECU, UCF, Houston/Tulane)....and we were consistently ranked as the #5 or #6 conference (along with the Big West, after the ACC, SEC, Pac-12 and Big 12).

We're probably going to always be behind the AAC now. They have fewer teams and only one bad team in Cincinnati so even when they get into conference play and start beating each other up their RPI didn't take a hit.

(05-26-2015 07:28 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(05-25-2015 11:33 PM)USMSTUD Wrote:  

(05-25-2015 10:43 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(05-25-2015 11:46 AM)nastybunch Wrote:  Once again, they were not going to take 4 from C-USA.

Yup; that's the bottom line, and understandably so given we did rank #8 in conference RPI. Need to improve on that next year.

We're not going to finish higher than 8th until the teams at the bottom of the league improve.

...or if we can get several more teams in the Top 50. Several years ago, before the exodus to the AAC, we still had 2 - 3 bottom feeders with RPI > 200, BUT we had 4 - 5 teams consistently ranked in the Top 50 (Rice, USM, ECU, UCF, Houston/Tulane)....and we were consistently ranked as the #5 or #6 conference (along with the Big West, after the ACC, SEC, Pac-12 and Big 12).

At the risk of this turning into yet another expansion/realignment thread, this is why it's not ONLY about football & TV. If adding a certain baseball/basketball/whatever program adds to your conference's stroke in that sport, then it eventually helps the rest of the league's post-season chances. No doubt football & TV drive the bus, but other sports keep the tires inflated.

(05-26-2015 09:00 AM)HarborPointe Wrote:  

(05-26-2015 07:28 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(05-25-2015 11:33 PM)USMSTUD Wrote:  

(05-25-2015 10:43 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(05-25-2015 11:46 AM)nastybunch Wrote:  Once again, they were not going to take 4 from C-USA.

Yup; that's the bottom line, and understandably so given we did rank #8 in conference RPI. Need to improve on that next year.

We're not going to finish higher than 8th until the teams at the bottom of the league improve.

...or if we can get several more teams in the Top 50. Several years ago, before the exodus to the AAC, we still had 2 - 3 bottom feeders with RPI > 200, BUT we had 4 - 5 teams consistently ranked in the Top 50 (Rice, USM, ECU, UCF, Houston/Tulane)....and we were consistently ranked as the #5 or #6 conference (along with the Big West, after the ACC, SEC, Pac-12 and Big 12).

At the risk of this turning into yet another expansion/realignment thread, this is why it's not ONLY about football & TV. If adding a certain baseball/basketball/whatever program adds to your conference's stroke in that sport, then it eventually helps the rest of the league's post-season chances. No doubt football & TV drive the bus, but other sports keep the tires inflated.

Preach brother! (or sister)

Louisiana Lafayette has done things in football, basketball AND baseball. They represent the Belt this season and many others too. Just saying..

But yes I hope all 3 do good in this tourney. I think FAU or FIU coming out of the regional would be a miracle with 2 of the big 3 Florida teams standing in their way though.

Baseball really needs to scrap the regional setup where you get put with schools closest to you. It's unfair for teams that are 2 seeds if they barely miss the one line. Not this year but what if FAU or FIU barely miss being a 1 and then get put with a top 5 seed Miami, FSU or Florida team? Wouldnt be fair...

Gonna be a really big FIU fan Friday!

(05-26-2015 11:27 AM)Ragu Wrote:  Louisiana Lafayette has done things in football, basketball AND baseball. They represent the Belt this season and many others too. Just saying..

But yes I hope all 3 do good in this tourney. I think FAU or FIU coming out of the regional would be a miracle with 2 of the big 3 Florida teams standing in their way though.

Baseball really needs to scrap the regional setup where you get put with schools closest to you. It's unfair for teams that are 2 seeds if they barely miss the one line. Not this year but what if FAU or FIU barely miss being a 1 and then get put with a top 5 seed Miami, FSU or Florida team? Wouldnt be fair...

Several coaches have come out and said the same thing. There's too much money being made for them to use that as a reason to keep teams close to home. How many times do we need to see Florida/Florida State or Florida/Miami paired together. They need to rank the field 1-64 and set up regionals accordingly to reward the higher seeds.

(05-26-2015 07:28 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(05-25-2015 11:33 PM)USMSTUD Wrote:  

(05-25-2015 10:43 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(05-25-2015 11:46 AM)nastybunch Wrote:  Once again, they were not going to take 4 from C-USA.

Yup; that's the bottom line, and understandably so given we did rank #8 in conference RPI. Need to improve on that next year.

We're not going to finish higher than 8th until the teams at the bottom of the league improve.

...or if we can get several more teams in the Top 50. Several years ago, before the exodus to the AAC, we still had 2 - 3 bottom feeders with RPI > 200, BUT we had 4 - 5 teams consistently ranked in the Top 50 (Rice, USM, ECU, UCF, Houston/Tulane)....and we were consistently ranked as the #5 or #6 conference (along with the Big West, after the ACC, SEC, Pac-12 and Big 12).

I second what Walt says above.

I've lamented the weakness of the conference for the last few years and have always been met with the "We have x teams in the Top 100" argument.

The conference is solid in the middle and at the bottom. The problem is that the 1-4 teams are not what they used to be.

FAU: 16
Rice: 33
USM: 55
UAB: 69


Compare to 2011:

Rice: 12
UCF: 21
USM: 22
ECU: 31

Anytime you start tossing around the words "parity," you have to ask yourself if it is more a case of good parity (the middle/bottom catching up with the top) or bad parity (the top dropping down to the middle/bottom).

I think it is clearly more a case of the latter. Rice and USM fans will be the first to tell you that their programs aren't what they were in the late 00's. In Rice's case, of course, it has simply been a drop from "elite" to still "very good"....but Rice's annual Top 10-15 rating was a huge part of our conference's RPI. Throw in that you could typically count on two teams amongst UCF, ECU, UH, and Tulane to be a Top 40/50 team each year.

Go Panthers?

(05-26-2015 11:36 AM)USMSTUD Wrote:  

(05-26-2015 11:27 AM)Ragu Wrote:  Louisiana Lafayette has done things in football, basketball AND baseball. They represent the Belt this season and many others too. Just saying..

But yes I hope all 3 do good in this tourney. I think FAU or FIU coming out of the regional would be a miracle with 2 of the big 3 Florida teams standing in their way though.

Baseball really needs to scrap the regional setup where you get put with schools closest to you. It's unfair for teams that are 2 seeds if they barely miss the one line. Not this year but what if FAU or FIU barely miss being a 1 and then get put with a top 5 seed Miami, FSU or Florida team? Wouldnt be fair...

Several coaches have come out and said the same thing. There's too much money being made for them to use that as a reason to keep teams close to home. How many times do we need to see Florida/Florida State or Florida/Miami paired together. They need to rank the field 1-64 and set up regionals accordingly to reward the higher seeds.

Even softball gets it right as they actually rank the 1 seeds #1-16. The top 8 get to host super regionals should they win their regional. The pairings of 1 vs 16, 2 vs 15, etc is not based on regional matchups. It's actually based on who is #1, #16, etc. Don't know how softball beat baseball to that.

The baseball committee said many years ago (esp. around 9/11) that they wanted regionals more compact and help northern schools earn a way into post season play. Still hasn't worked out that well as ten of the sixteen regionals are in Florida (3), California (3) and Texas (4). But they did manage to match the Ill. and Vandy regionals together to insure a little diversity.

To the point though, if you're not hosting, it really doesn't matter wear you go because they tend to do a pretty good job of balancing the brackets.