BB: Top Teams in West Region

Started by CrashDavisD3, February 20, 2012, 08:23:11 PM

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Jack Parkman

I am a little late to the party but the rankings will figure themselves out over the next few weeks.  Was Cal Lu overrated coming into the season?  Absolutely.  Should they still be getting votes after the performance they have shown?  Absolutely not.  They are having a similar start to what Trinity had in 2017.  Trinity started the year at #7, even after losing a majority of their team, just like Cal Lu.  By the 2nd poll, Trinity was out of the top 25.  By the final poll, Trinity received a total of 0 votes.  Does that make both teams terrible?  Not one bit, they just had massive expectations after winning it all.  I am sure there are plenty of coaches and players in the SCIAC that are happy as a pig in sh*t right now because Cal Lu is really struggling.  I don't blame them one bit simply because they have dominated the conference for about 25 years, save a few years where they were a .500 team.  Regardless of all of that, nobody will ever take away what they did last year.

As far as the rest of the West, it's a total crap shoot.  There have been some pretty good performances and some not good performances.  Here are the SOS numbers for the teams that seem to be on everyone's mind at this point.

31- UT Tyler
44- Chapman
71- Cal Lu
74- Redlands
79- Whitworth
92- Trinity
94- Concordia
126- Linfield
149- Centenary
158- UT Dallas
166- Pomona
174- Texas Lutheran
188- George Fox

The sample-size at this point isn't huge, but these numbers will absolutely matter in the eyes of the voters.  Still a ton of baseball to be played but I think the picture will be much more clear by April 1.

Bmo

I just noticed the 2018 championship handbook is out..

http://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/2018DIIIMBA_PreChampsManual_20180302.pdf

Couple interesting items:

- There are 58 playoff participants, 2 more than last year.  40 Pool A, 2 Pool B, 16 Pool C.
- 5 8 team regionals, 3 6 team regionals (in the past, 4/4)
- WIAC Conference is considered Pool B, this year. (top two will most likely be the pool Bs)
- The south region is in Raleigh, NC.  That location makes most of the SAA a potential flight.
- West Region is still yet to be determined.  Seems like Texas would be favorable, as they might be able to bus in the SAA rep, but someone mentioned earlier that Linfield was in consideration.
- Next year will start the 4 team regional, super regional, WS format.


Pirat

Significant series in Spokane this weekend.  Geo Fox coming to Whitworth.  Geo Fox brings a nice winning percentage but a weak schedule although they did take 2 of 3 from Linfield.  Whit on the other hand brings a .500 record and having played one of the tougher schedules in the region.  Looks like a matchup of hitting (Geo Fox) vs pitching and defense (Whit).

(509)Rat

Whitworth sweeps George Fox this weekend in Spokane

10-3 with Smith getting the W
7-0 Simmelink struck out 10 over 7 innings
7-1 Young threw a complete game for the Pirates

The Pirates really couldn't have had a better weekend than that. More than just the fact they took 3 from Fox, they looked real good doing it. Hit well, pitched well...really really good series

Jack Parkman

Quote from: (509)Rat on March 11, 2018, 07:36:41 PM
Whitworth sweeps George Fox this weekend in Spokane

10-3 with Smith getting the W
7-0 Simmelink struck out 10 over 7 innings
7-1 Young threw a complete game for the Pirates

The Pirates really couldn't have had a better weekend than that. More than just the fact they took 3 from Fox, they looked real good doing it. Hit well, pitched well...really really good series

That is a very impressive weekend for the Pirates.  The NWC race should be a really good one.

Ralph Turner

Quote from: Jack Parkman on March 11, 2018, 09:15:42 PM
Quote from: (509)Rat on March 11, 2018, 07:36:41 PM
Whitworth sweeps George Fox this weekend in Spokane

10-3 with Smith getting the W
7-0 Simmelink struck out 10 over 7 innings
7-1 Young threw a complete game for the Pirates

The Pirates really couldn't have had a better weekend than that. More than just the fact they took 3 from Fox, they looked real good doing it. Hit well, pitched well...really really good series

That is a very impressive weekend for the Pirates.  The NWC race should be a really good one.

Solid pitching was the early season insight into Whitworth's season.

Jack Parkman

#2106
Not a great trip for Centenary but I fully expect them to roll Oxy today.  The biggest thing that has hurt (and helped) Centenary on their CA trip is errors.  They have made 12 errors in four games while getting help from Redlands who made 5 errors in Cent's only win.  They dropped a close slug-fest with Cal Lu yesterday but this is a pretty good trip overall for their SOS down the road.

I will still maintain that Trinity is the top team in the West.  They have been pretty dominant so far with only one slip-up against MIT.  The other conferences are a mystery at this point with nobody really separating themselves.

TLU just swept UT Dallas which makes UTD's out of conference record pretty bad.  The biggest issue for TLU is the team just a little bit Southwest of them.

Ut-Tyler just dropped their second conference series in a row.

Mike Lehman

Quote from: Jack Parkman on March 08, 2018, 12:52:37 PM
I am a little late to the party but the rankings will figure themselves out over the next few weeks.  Was Cal Lu overrated coming into the season?  Absolutely.  Should they still be getting votes after the performance they have shown?  Absolutely not.  They are having a similar start to what Trinity had in 2017.  Trinity started the year at #7, even after losing a majority of their team, just like Cal Lu.  By the 2nd poll, Trinity was out of the top 25.  By the final poll, Trinity received a total of 0 votes.  Does that make both teams terrible?  Not one bit, they just had massive expectations after winning it all.  I am sure there are plenty of coaches and players in the SCIAC that are happy as a pig in sh*t right now because Cal Lu is really struggling.  I don't blame them one bit simply because they have dominated the conference for about 25 years, save a few years where they were a .500 team.  Regardless of all of that, nobody will ever take away what they did last year.

As far as the rest of the West, it's a total crap shoot.  There have been some pretty good performances and some not good performances.  Here are the SOS numbers for the teams that seem to be on everyone's mind at this point.

31- UT Tyler
44- Chapman
71- Cal Lu
74- Redlands
79- Whitworth
92- Trinity
94- Concordia
126- Linfield
149- Centenary
158- UT Dallas
166- Pomona
174- Texas Lutheran
188- George Fox

The sample-size at this point isn't huge, but these numbers will absolutely matter in the eyes of the voters.  Still a ton of baseball to be played but I think the picture will be much more clear by April 1.
March 12, 2018
ASC - Louisiana College 11-3 Concordia Texas 12-6
NWC - Pacific Lutheran 8-2
SCAC - Trinity Texas 10-1 Texas Lutheran 15-3
SCIAC - Pomona Pitzer 13-4 Redlands 13-4


(509)Rat

QuoteNWC - Pacific Lutheran 8-2

Technically I'm pretty sure the NWC standings look like this...of course this is all so meaningless with the huge disparity in conference games played and being so early in the season

Whitworth 5-1
PLU 7-2
George Fox 8-4
Linfield 7-5
...

Jack Parkman

Quote from: Jack Parkman on March 12, 2018, 12:28:53 PM
Not a great trip for Centenary but I fully expect them to roll Oxy today. 


Well, looks like I was waaaaay off on this one.  that is a nightmare of a trip for Centenary who I am sure did not expect to go 1-4.  Oxy is a strange team as they dropped games to Ursinus and Rutgers-Newark, then beat a darn good Centenary team. 

Purple Heys

I don't know about anyone else but I am enjoying the hell out of watching the rankings (and ranked teams) get trashed week to week.

This season is crazy.
You can't leave me....all the plants will die.

Mr. Ypsi

Quote from: Purple Heys on March 12, 2018, 07:24:17 PM
I don't know about anyone else but I am enjoying the hell out of watching the rankings (and ranked teams) get trashed week to week.

This season is crazy.

Check out the men's basketball final four.  In the final regular season poll they were #24, ORV, and two receiving no votes at all.  They went straight from crazy to The Twilight Zone!

108 Stitches

Frankly the National rankings are a beauty contest based on history, but what really matters is regional rankings later in the season. Centenary, while they certainly would have liked a better outcome from their trip, they did themselves a huge favor in their SoS rankings (Massy #5) and potentially in their regional rankings.  I believe two teams from the SCAC will be in the Regional  this year and all teams will need all of the help they can get.  I think Trinity's relatively weak SoS is a bit of a risk for them if they don't win the SCAC but they are certainly back based on their performance early in the season.

Jim Dixon

What the Top 25 a beauty contest?  Based on history?  I count four teams in the Top 25 that were not there 2-3 years ago.  For the west teams, the initially ranked teams, except for Trinity, never lived up to the expectations.

108 Stitches

Through games of Sunday March 11, 2018

#   School (1st votes)   Rec   Pts   Prev.
1   Mass-Boston (12)   6-1   602   1
2   UW-Whitewater (9)   0-0   570   2
3   Washington and Jefferson   6-2   540   3
4   North Central (Ill.) (1)   2-0   522   4
5   Trinity (Texas) (2)   10-1   502   7
6   Wooster (1)   1-0   478   6
7   Concordia-Chicago   7-2   465   9
8   Methodist   17-2   452   13
9   Roanoke   10-3   393   14
10   Cortland   5-5   299   5
11   Rowan   6-1   293   25
12   Oswego State   4-3   277   11
13   Shenandoah   7-3   256   15
14   Frostburg State   10-1   248   rv
15   Southern Maine   1-1   241   10
16   Christopher Newport   12-4   209   22
17   Randolph-Macon   8-2   181   20
18   Baldwin Wallace   10-2   164   rv
19   Catholic   11-0   153   rv
20   Centenary (La.)   8-6   142   8
21   Johns Hopkins   4-4   135   12
22   St. Scholastica   3-0   118   rv
23   Texas-Tyler   10-7   93   16
24   George Fox   14-6   80   18
25   Redlands   13-4   68   rv

Dropped out: No. 17 St. Thomas (Minn.), No. 19 TCNJ, No. 21 Wheaton (Mass.), No. 23 Birmingham-Southern, No. 24 Salve Regina.

Others receiving votes: La Roche 57, Texas Lutheran 47, TCNJ 42, Maryville 41, Salisbury 40, Wheaton (Mass.) 37, Marietta 34, Mount Union 32, Berry 31, Webster 30, Millsaps 30, Tufts 27, Salve Regina 24, UW-La Crosse 20, RIT 16, Earlham 16, Cal Lutheran 12, Case Western Reserve 12, Mitchell 10, St. Thomas (Minn.) 10, Spalding 10, Otterbein 10, Adrian 9, LaGrange 9, Concordia (Texas) 6, Mass.-Dartmouth 6, Piedmont 6, Wartburg 5, Franklin 4, Denison 3, Babson 3, Saint John's (Minn.) 2, UW-Oshkosh 2, New York Univ 1.