Comments on: Stock Report: Week 10

By: Ben

Ben — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 16:31:38 +0000

Scott,
I share your pain and have made plenty of these comparisons before. Based on information I have received from many collegiate coaches in the Northwest, which also has witnessed limited post-season hosting opportunities (PAC-12, West Coast, Big West), the hosting picture has much to do with the gate that can be earned, especially given the fact that much of college baseball remains at non-revenue producing status.
I believe, as many others do within the sport, that the RPI is skewed and it supports the southern region teams because college baseball is a hot-bed in this part of the country. Fair or unfair, this is simply the way things are.
The post season has to make money and the power conference teams, especially those in the Southern-Sunshine Regions always receive the benefit of the RPI.
Having all the PAC-12 powers listed at the bottom of the Top-10 is a prime example. The SEC and ACC teams will always dominate the hosting sites, as well as the Top-10 and RPI Rankings.
Most of Stanfords losses are in conference, the PAC-12 has dominated the SEC this year, yet many of these teams are ranked higher than the PAC-12 teams or many other quality West Coast or Northern Tier teams.
How can Florida State be ranked ahead of Baylor? When is the last time a team has gone 18-0 in a power conference. Mike Martin's teams ( and I mean no disrespect here because I am a Mike Martin fan) have notoriously under achieved in the post season, especially at Omaha.
This is just one example of the of the relationship between sunshine, RPI, national rankings and the gate that can be earned.
The RPI is the baseball version of the BCS profiles in College Football. It is all a bunch of hogwash where you can hide your true intentions with a formula that few understand or can make any sense of. In this manner, you can shrug your shoulders and claim plausible deniability in an effort to deregulate and control the agenda.

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:54:56 +0000

Believe me, I would love to see Maryland make the tournament. I don't remember them ever really being a factor in college baseball and think it would fun to see them in there. They have some impressive wins, no doubt. However, at some point you have to use common sense. 7-14 in their conference should not be rewarded with an NCAA bid. Sorry. Why should they go in place of a Kent State other than their RPI or ISR? Isn't it a wiser decision to go with the 1st place team of a conference with similar non conference wins over the 10th place team of a power conference because of their RPI?

Pretend the Southland was a power conference and thus all the teams in it had inflated RPIs. Should Lamar receive a bid? 8-13 in the Southland. However, 2 wins @ Baylor, 1 win @ Rice, 2 wins over SE Louisiana, 1 win over Sam Houston St., and 1 win over UTA. Aaron has all 5 of those teams in the tournament as of 'Stock Report 10'. Of course Lamar shouldn't get an invite but you have to admit those are some pretty good wins. Just trying to make a point.

By: College Baseball 2012: Purdue Projected As National Seed | South Bend IN DIRECTV Service

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 07:52:33 +0000

[...] Both Baseball America and Perfect Game are high on the Purdue Boilermakers when it comes to the 2012 NCAA Tournament. Perfect Game continues to project Purdue as a National seed, while Baseball America’s most recent projection has the Boilermakers close: [...]

By: Aaron Fitt

Aaron Fitt — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 07:01:31 +0000

I do agree that Maryland’s resume is pretty good — that is a very nice collection of quality wins. Maryland’s pitching is pretty darn good, too.

By: Chris Luper

Chris Luper — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 03:41:50 +0000

The ACC is ranked high in boyd’s ISR ratings too. Maryland is 10th in the ACC and won a series at UCLA, gave Purdue one of their few losses and beat ECU on the road and took 2 of 3 against State.

That’s pretty good baseball team. Or else they have been real lucky beating teams that few others have.

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:27:30 +0000

Thanks for the kind words about my post. Still trying to figure out who is on the baseball committee but I did forward my post to #14, Coach Anderson.

By: John Manuel

John Manuel — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 19:55:54 +0000

Great, informative post Scott. Hope you sent a copy of that to the members of the Division I baseball committee.

By: Aaron Fitt

Aaron Fitt — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 19:41:03 +0000

Great post, Scott. I understand your frustration, and I share your frustration with the committee’s reliance on the RPI. I have spent far too much energy railing about that topic, however. For now, we know the committee uses the RPI heavily, so I will continue trying to forecast how the field of 64 will look with ample consideration given to the RPI realities.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 16:50:25 +0000

Have to say something about these projections. Drives me crazy that year after year the same thing occurs. It is like clockwork. The RPI bias towards the power conferences continually hurts the growth of college baseball. I realize the RPI is being tweaked next season and welcome the greater weight to road victories. Personally think even more weight should be given to road wins in the future. Nonetheless, 9 teams from the ACC?!! Southern California? Mississippi State? Come on. What have these power conference bubble teams done other than being fortunate enough to be playing in a conference that typically has some very good teams at the top? Many of the "quality wins" from these power conference bubble teams are against other power conference bubble teams. Someone has to win the game when two teams play! Sure the power conference bubble teams win an occasional game against the elite teams in their conference. It is baseball. Something called Francis Marion beat 2 time defending National Champion South Carolina for crying out loud. Does anyone actually believe that if you plugged in a good Mid Major school into one of these conferences that they would go 0-16 or something? Examples of the RPI being a joke: Kent St. (24-16 overall; 12-3 conference; "Boyd's RPI" 139; 4 wins (Georgia Tech; 2 @ New Mexico St.; @ Pepperdine) against Stock Report 10 tourney teams that aren't in their conference. Played 10 home games so far this season! Maryland (26-17; 7-14; "Boyd's RPI" 33; 4 wins (2 @ UCLA; Purdue; East Carolina) against Stock Report 10 tourney teams that aren't in their conference. If these two played a three game series I'd take Kent State (with Starn!) in a heartbeat yet they are 100+ lower according to the RPI. Purdue is "Bubble In" regarding hosting. Are they supposed to go undefeated to guarantee themselves a host?!! They have played 8 home games this year yet are 32-6. Lastly, I'm a Minnesota Gopher fan and follow the Big Ten. Purdue was plenty good last year, along with fellow non tourney teams Minnesota and Michigan St., yet none of these teams received a bid. Good teams from the mid majors are being left at home in exchange for mediocre power conference teams every year and it is a joke. It hurts the growth of the sport in other parts of the country.

By: Chris Luper

Chris Luper — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:54:53 +0000

Seems to me that VT has a better argument for a bid right now than Mississippi State.

2 road wins and 2 wins over the top 50 should never get a team in the NCAA tournament.

By: Regional Projections (April 24, 2012)

Regional Projections (April 24, 2012) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:13:38 +0000

[...] 500 Baseball America stock report; Big 12 (4 bids) SAFELY IN: Baylor, Texas A&M, Texas ON THE BUBBLE (IN): Oklahoma ON THE BUBBLE (OUT): None No change from last week. Despite playing three games against Alabama State (No. 257 in the RPI) last week, the Sooners find themselves at No. 55 in the RPI this week, still within at-large striking distance. Baseball America | Blog | Baseball America College Blog | Stock Report: Week 10 [...]

By: Adam

Adam — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 05:39:14 +0000

I am surprised that out of all outlets you have the least faith in UCF. PerfectGame and ESPN project UCF as a host. The coaches poll puts UCF at 7th, NCBWA 8th, and CBN 11th, NCAARPI 12th.
Three things are clear:
#1 All that matters is winning regardless of circumstances. UCF will have to go through miami and florida or florida state to reach omaha. Fair? Whats the difference… win. No excuses.
#2 It's easy to select a team and say they are this or that. There are 50 reasons to backup that they are good and 2 reasons to say they are not. If you decide they are "worthy", you key on a few of the 50 reasons and support the claim. If you decide they are not good enough, you find the 2 stats to support the claim they are not. Bunch of bull imo.
#3 Why have polls in college baseball? Why rate a team 14th and say they don't host? The poll is meaningless. 16 hosts, 1-16 should host, right? Makes sense. 1-8 should be national seeds. Otherwise what is all this poll bs other than fluff.. Does that sound so crazy? Guess you can blame it on the selection committee, but.. im asking them too.