(04-01-2014 10:07 AM)Digi368 Wrote:  

(04-01-2014 09:21 AM)eaglenjxn Wrote:  I fear this may be turning into another craptastic year for C-USA baseball. We really need FIU to pick it up in conference play.

I disagree a bit here. It’s difficult to fault rough conference play when you have several solid teams in the league. With a perennial baseball power like Rice in the conference most teams are going to earn their fair share of losses. FAU is a good example. FAU was swept by Rice and lost their series vs UTSA. Those are conference losses that you can't really be that surprised with, especially the Rice series. FIU also lost 3 straight to Rice to soften their conference record. With the exception of MTSU (thus far), I think most of us could live with a Rice sweep and are all hoping to at least steal 1 game.

Where the conference really needs to step up is in OOC play. Overall our records have the leaders are pretty poor. I think most of the coaches in the conference save many of their stud pitchers/relievers for conference play. UTSA does this from firsthand experience especially in those Tuesday night games. Tonight we play a pretty good Texas State team and I'm sure UTSA will deploy their contingent of rag tag pitchers to try and get it done. It occasionally works (#22 Sam Houston State) but often fails (Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Houston Baptist, Dallas Baptist) Recruiting will help new CUSA teams like UTSA, La Tech and Charlotte. UTSA already has some top Texas ballplayers committed for 2015

Compared to what some of us grew accustomed to, the conference is disappointing....though it has been for the last few years since Tulane, USM, and ECU fell off.

You have to remember that this conference--just three years ago--finished with three teams in the RPI Top 25. In 2009, we had three teams advance to the Super Regionals. We were a staple as the #5 baseball conference in the country.

Again, the blame falls on the older members for dropping off from where they were. Even Rice hasn't been nearly as dominant in recent years as they used to be.

some rule changes, the bat change have hurt the private schools. Tulane and Rice have aging coaches

USM has a coach on a very hot seat. If we don't make a regional, I could see there being some changes to assistants. If not that, maybe even to head coach.

(04-02-2014 09:02 AM)JDTulane Wrote:  some rule changes, the bat change have hurt the private schools. Tulane and Rice have aging coaches

Would be interested to hear that theroy;

There are so many different ways to argue how the bat change has adversely/positively affected programs.

(04-02-2014 09:01 AM)eaglenjxn Wrote:  Compared to what some of us grew accustomed to, the conference is disappointing....though it has been for the last few years since Tulane, USM, and ECU fell off.

You have to remember that this conference--just three years ago--finished with three teams in the RPI Top 25. In 2009, we had three teams advance to the Super Regionals. We were a staple as the #5 baseball conference in the country.
Again, the blame falls on the older members for dropping off from where they were. Even Rice hasn't been nearly as dominant in recent years as they used to be.

Right now there are three schools with an RPI of 40 or better and Rice is #8. That is very strong. The Sun Belt has one top-50 team right now which is pulling them up. Then there's the AAC which is less than a point in front of us at 7 and the West Coast and Missouri Valley are having exceptionally strong years to this point. That's what stands between us and #5.

I also think it's unfair to cherry-pick the best year in C-USA history and compare this year's campaign to that. It's the very rare exception that multiple programs have their best year all at the same time (e.g. 2009). The league is strong as supported by MTSU series win against Rice and FAU's road win at Florida last night. We should be a 4 bid conference this year.

It's going to be fun following the balance of this season.

(04-02-2014 08:33 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  Overnight performances push C-USA to the #9 baseball conference; squeezing by the MWC. Up next, the Sun Belt.

Going in the wrong direction vs Sun Belt last night: 0-3
Troy 7 UAB 0

#2UL 16 Tulane 0 http://www.nola.com/tulane/index.ssf/201...cart_river

TxST 7 UTSA 6

(04-02-2014 09:02 AM)JDTulane Wrote:  some rule changes, the bat change have hurt the private schools. Tulane and Rice have aging coaches

Where's a scratch your chin emoticon when you need one?

(04-02-2014 09:31 AM)EagNBran Wrote:  USM has a coach on a very hot seat. If we don't make a regional, I could see there being some changes to assistants. If not that, maybe even to head coach.

Clean it out from TOP to BOTTOM.. too much talent for us to be struggling as much as we have been the last couple of years.

(04-02-2014 10:52 AM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(04-02-2014 09:01 AM)eaglenjxn Wrote:  Compared to what some of us grew accustomed to, the conference is disappointing....though it has been for the last few years since Tulane, USM, and ECU fell off.

You have to remember that this conference--just three years ago--finished with three teams in the RPI Top 25. In 2009, we had three teams advance to the Super Regionals. We were a staple as the #5 baseball conference in the country.
Again, the blame falls on the older members for dropping off from where they were. Even Rice hasn't been nearly as dominant in recent years as they used to be.

Right now there are three schools with an RPI of 40 or better and Rice is #8. That is very strong. The Sun Belt has one top-50 team right now which is pulling them up. Then there's the AAC which is less than a point in front of us at 7 and the West Coast and Missouri Valley are having exceptionally strong years to this point. That's what stands between us and #5.

I also think it's unfair to cherry-pick the best year in C-USA history and compare this year's campaign to that. It's the very rare exception that multiple programs have their best year all at the same time (e.g. 2009). The league is strong as supported by MTSU series win against Rice and FAU's road win at Florida last night. We should be a 4 bid conference this year.

It's going to be fun following the balance of this season.

There is no reason to be looking at RPI right now. We moved up 52 spots during a 4-2 stretch. It just isn't stable enough yet.

I wasn't cherry picking. I mentioned 2011 before 2009. Here's 2008: #4 Rice, #20 ECU, #25 USM, #37 Houston, #42 Tulane. 2006: #2 Rice, #21 Houston, #30 Tulane, #41 USM . This was out of nine teams.

As I said, C-USA was the #5 baseball conference each year (except last year) after Rice and UCF joined the party.

I'm sorry but the conference just can't hold a candle to what it used to be.

(04-02-2014 12:58 PM)eaglenjxn Wrote:  There is no reason to be looking at RPI right now. We moved up 52 spots during a 4-2 stretch. It just isn't stable enough yet.
I wasn't cherry picking. I mentioned 2011 before 2009. Here's 2008: #4 Rice, #20 ECU, #25 USM, #37 Houston, #42 Tulane. 2006: #2 Rice, #21 Houston, #30 Tulane, #41 USM . This was out of nine teams.
As I said, C-USA was the #5 baseball conference each year (except last year) after Rice and UCF joined the party.
I'm sorry but the conference just can't hold a candle to what it used to be.

I don't know, after nearly 30 games the hoops RPI is pretty stable not sure why baseball woudn't be. Also, as far as UCF is concerned FIU (and begrudgingly FAU) is every bit as good as them. Beyond that, there should be no reason UAB, USM, MTSU, WKU, UTSA and Old Dominion don't challenge for top 25 status year in and year out.

I think it's about time that you get over the realities of your new conference and learn to embrace it. (cue )

(04-01-2014 11:05 AM)Digi368 Wrote:  I wish UNT and UTEP would join the fray

it's coming for north texas...'15 or '16...

(04-02-2014 01:35 PM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(04-02-2014 12:58 PM)eaglenjxn Wrote:  There is no reason to be looking at RPI right now. We moved up 52 spots during a 4-2 stretch. It just isn't stable enough yet.
I wasn't cherry picking. I mentioned 2011 before 2009. Here's 2008: #4 Rice, #20 ECU, #25 USM, #37 Houston, #42 Tulane. 2006: #2 Rice, #21 Houston, #30 Tulane, #41 USM . This was out of nine teams.
As I said, C-USA was the #5 baseball conference each year (except last year) after Rice and UCF joined the party.
I'm sorry but the conference just can't hold a candle to what it used to be.

I don't know, after nearly 30 games the hoops RPI is pretty stable not sure why baseball woudn't be. Also, as far as UCF is concerned FIU (and begrudgingly FAU) is every bit as good as them. Beyond that, there should be no reason UAB, USM, MTSU, WKU, UTSA and Old Dominion don't challenge for top 25 status year in and year out.

I think it's about time that you get over the realities of your new conference and learn to embrace it. (cue )

Charlotte will be in the mix most years.

(04-02-2014 09:02 AM)JDTulane Wrote:  some rule changes, the bat change have hurt the private schools. Tulane and Rice have aging coaches

ODU just destroyed W&M, 20 to 5. The Monarchs move to 17-12 on the season.

Somebody help me out here. ODU has the second best RPI in the conference at 36. They have the No. 20 strength of schedule. They have 17 wins. They got one win from Rice in the three-game series (at Rice) but (I believe) all three went into extra innings. They just beat the projected CAA champion (W&M, which is also projected into the playoffs) by a score of 20-5 – and the Monarchs are not even in the conversation. What’s up with this?

I guess as the old saying goes, maybe the proof is in the pudding (whatever that means). So look out this weekend FIU. You may be in for a surprise when the Monarchs get to Miami, and just maybe the conversation will change a little bit.

USM beat USA 3-1 last night...

(04-03-2014 07:22 AM)ODU AGGIE Wrote:  Somebody help me out here. ODU has the second best RPI in the conference at 36. They have the No. 20 strength of schedule. They have 17 wins. They got one win from Rice in the three-game series (at Rice) but (I believe) all three went into extra innings. They just beat the projected CAA champion (W&M, which is also projected into the playoffs) by a score of 20-5 – and the Monarchs are not even in the conversation. What’s up with this?

I guess as the old saying goes, maybe the proof is in the pudding (whatever that means). So look out this weekend FIU. You may be in for a surprise when the Monarchs get to Miami, and just maybe the conversation will change a little bit.

ODU has always been in the front of my mind as to comments I've made here and on other boards. C-USA has three top-40 programs and 5 top 65 programs not to mention schools like FAU, MTSU, UTSA, ECU and Tulane who can get hot at any time (as they've done in the past).

Just speculation but perhaps their lack of recognition at this time has something to so with the relative strength of the conference they are coming from. A couple strong years in a conference like C-USA will do nothing but increase the profile of their program.

Looking forward to a great weekend of C-USA baseball in Miami.

(04-03-2014 07:22 AM)ODU AGGIE Wrote:  Somebody help me out here. ODU has the second best RPI in the conference at 36. They have the No. 20 strength of schedule. They have 17 wins. They got one win from Rice in the three-game series (at Rice) but (I believe) all three went into extra innings. They just beat the projected CAA champion (W&M, which is also projected into the playoffs) by a score of 20-5 – and the Monarchs are not even in the conversation. What’s up with this?

I guess as the old saying goes, maybe the proof is in the pudding (whatever that means). So look out this weekend FIU. You may be in for a surprise when the Monarchs get to Miami, and just maybe the conversation will change a little bit.

Exactly what do you mean by, "not even in the conversation"?

If you mean 'mentions' in the polls, I'd not worry about it at this point. There are a lot of teams competing to get into the top 25 and unfortunately, teams like LSU who are neck-and-neck with you guys in RPI yet have a much weaker SOS at 103 will always get a nod in the polls just due to their history. And let's face it, in baseball, LSU has history.

Also, while the Monarchs have 17 wins, you guys have 12 loses with most of those sprinkled throughout the games played to date. Two or three wins wrapped around a loss doesn't help the cause. Unless you're a perennial baseball power, the pollsters apparently like to see long winning streaks before they'll consider a "newbie" for ranking.

From what I understand, RPI and SOS are VERY IMPORTANT to the selection committee, not the polls. With an RPI of 36, and an SOS of 20, I'd say you guys are very well-positioned at this point in the season. If you don't win C-USA outright, finish this well or better and you should get an at-large invite to a regional.

We had a thread on the Belt forum a few weeks back that went in to great detail about how the RPI is calcualted. What was most interesting to me though was its importance in how the committee selected teams for post season play and how they were seeded. Belt poster gonegolfin' really understands the whole RPI thing and he presented data for the last several years for teams in the top 16 or so who got regionals. Their seedings virtually matched their rank in RPI. It's all buried in a baseball thread, a long one if you're interested in seeing the data.

Good luck going forward. I'll be sure to watch how you do this weekend.

(04-02-2014 02:22 PM)919R Wrote:  

(04-02-2014 01:35 PM)FIUFan Wrote:  

(04-02-2014 12:58 PM)eaglenjxn Wrote:  There is no reason to be looking at RPI right now. We moved up 52 spots during a 4-2 stretch. It just isn't stable enough yet.
I wasn't cherry picking. I mentioned 2011 before 2009. Here's 2008: #4 Rice, #20 ECU, #25 USM, #37 Houston, #42 Tulane. 2006: #2 Rice, #21 Houston, #30 Tulane, #41 USM . This was out of nine teams.
As I said, C-USA was the #5 baseball conference each year (except last year) after Rice and UCF joined the party.
I'm sorry but the conference just can't hold a candle to what it used to be.

I don't know, after nearly 30 games the hoops RPI is pretty stable not sure why baseball woudn't be. Also, as far as UCF is concerned FIU (and begrudgingly FAU) is every bit as good as them. Beyond that, there should be no reason UAB, USM, MTSU, WKU, UTSA and Old Dominion don't challenge for top 25 status year in and year out.

I think it's about time that you get over the realities of your new conference and learn to embrace it. (cue )

Charlotte will be in the mix most years.

The RPI in basketball is still very fluid after 30 games, which is appropriate....for basketball. One game means something in basketball and it make sense that a team should fall seven or eight spots for a single loss. That is not appropriate for baseball because one game (or two, or three, etc) has far less meaning. In the grand scheme of things, one game means nothing in baseball. By the end of the year, a team will fall one or two spots for a single loss (if that).

As I said with our example earlier, we rose 52 spots during a 4-2 stretch. We jumped five spots for a single win (over 13-15 USA, no less!).

From a percentage standpoint, there just isn't enough data.

Add: A lot of Northern teams haven't played mroe than 15-20 games.

And yes, I get that the conference is different and I will accept that. I was just explaining why it may be difficult for some of the old C-USA fans to be excited about how the conference has done this year. I realize that the arrogance of many of the old C-USA schools' fans has been unwarranted in football in basketball. In baseball, however, we were very proud of our conference and had reason to be.

As I indicated in my first post, I want FIU more than anyone to get on a roll this year because I think you guys have some major potential! And I put most of the blame on the conference's shortcomings on our shoulders, as well as Tulane's and ECU's.

(04-03-2014 07:22 AM)ODU AGGIE Wrote:  Somebody help me out here. ODU has the second best RPI in the conference at 36. They have the No. 20 strength of schedule. They have 17 wins. They got one win from Rice in the three-game series (at Rice) but (I believe) all three went into extra innings. They just beat the projected CAA champion (W&M, which is also projected into the playoffs) by a score of 20-5 – and the Monarchs are not even in the conversation. What’s up with this?

I guess as the old saying goes, maybe the proof is in the pudding (whatever that means). So look out this weekend FIU. You may be in for a surprise when the Monarchs get to Miami, and just maybe the conversation will change a little bit.

Just want to be clear that FIU fans (and the team) are not taking ODU lightly. I'm impressed with several C-USA teams and I'm very positive about the conference's overall future. With this said, we have had very little "athletic joy" this season at FIU. So for now we will continue to think that our sh*t doesn't stink (with all due respect to Rice that hammered us and UAB that beat us 2-1). Even if reality is much different at the end of the season. Now can we just go back to being awesome in our minds without you unreasonably bringing reality into the picture?