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College Chat with Will Kimmey
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Moderator: Will Kimmey will begin taking your college questions at 1:30 p.m. ET.
| Q: |
Travis from Columbia, SC asks: Will, SEC play starts off this weekend. Now that you've had some time to see all the teams play who would you pick as favorites to win the East and West at this point in time? |
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| A: |
Will Kimmey: Right now, I'd take Arkansas in the West, but narrowly over Mississippi State (I think Ark has a better offense). In the East, wow, it's tough to call. Florida hasn't really hit and Tennessee hasn't played enough good teams to show up its hand. I'll take South Carolina there. |
| Q: |
J.P. from IL asks: At this point, who do you see KC taking as their #1 in June and why? Did Bard's stock improve after his recent performance? |
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| A: |
Will Kimmey: It's a pitching draft, and most of those arms are righthanded. Andrew Miller's being lefthanded with great stuff is a separator, and he's the guy now. Bard simply had another great weekend. He's been that good each start, as has Miller. Most players aren't going to see their draft stock fluctuate a whole bunch week to week, unless they do something that's very out of character. |
| Q: |
Daren from New York asks: What do you think about the KU Jayhawks? Played Clemson very tough in SC. A couple of key guys injured as well, but team is playing very well I think. Will they make some noise in the Big 12? Maybe a run to the Regionals? |
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| A: |
Will Kimmey: I think they're one of the nation's best 25 teams right now. (Then again, after about the first 16, you could toss the next 20 or so in a hat every week and see what shakes out). KU has nice veteran pitching in Land, Fairchild, Quick and Czyz, and a veteran lineup with Ritchie Price, Milner and Schweitzer. Getting Ryne Price healthy will help, but with Schweitzer at second in his stead and Preston Land at first, the younger Land has been able to make some nice contributions. I say KU gets back to NCAAs this year. |
| Q: |
Jason from Duluth, GA asks: Is it possible for Miss. State to sweep Tennessee at home this weekend? Last year we played them pretty tight in a two game rain shortened series (both games on Sunday being 7-inning 1-run affairs). |
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| A: |
Will Kimmey: Sure, and it's more possible than say, South Dakota State sweeping Nebraska. The UT-MSU series is a battle of youth versus experience, and you have to like Mississippi State playing at home against a young team that hasn't played a road series in front of a vocal crowd yet. I'd still hedge and take MSU 2 games to 1, though I might flip the pick if this series were played in the second half of the conference schedule, as UT's kids will be much more mature by then. |
| Q: |
J.P. from IL asks: Josh Rodriguez: Potential 2nd rounder, or no such luck? |
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| A: |
Will Kimmey: That's a very fair estimate. He's really swinging the bat well despite the elbow trouble that's kept him off shortstop. Teams would rather see him play the field to gather info, but they saw him last year and over the summer, so the injury won't hurt him much. His continuing to rake every week will help plenty. |
| Q: |
Max from Louisiana asks: With 5 previously unranked teams making it in, who do you think has the most potential to move to the top and why? Thanks. |
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| A: |
Will Kimmey: It's a toss up between Georgia and Washington. Both teams have pitched well, and Brooks Brown and Tim Lincecum are two high quality Friday starters. Washington is a very physical team, with nice power in guys like Matt Stevens and Curt Rindal, while Georgia gets most of its juice from Josh Morris, but has some very nice hitters in Beckham, Side, Robbins and Piesel. Both teams are well equipped to make conference runs, because the SEC and Pac-10 are both wide open this year. |
| Q: |
Paul from Glendale, CA asks: How close is UCLA to entering the Top 25 after going 5-1 the last two weekends against ranked opponents including a sweep at NC State? |
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| A: |
Will Kimmey: UCLA has really impressed lately. If it keeps improving at this rate, the NCAA tournament might come into focus. Still, there's an 11-11 record to contend with (albeit against a very strong schedule). |
| Q: |
Ryan from Albuquerque asks: The most interesting thing happened in Albuquerque this weekend. OSU pushed J. Nickerson to Sunday (which was snowed out and was forcasted all week.) That is the first time I have ever seen a top PAC 10 adjust their pitching rotation so one of their “studs” wouldn't have to pitch against a MWC team. Shouldn’t a MWC team adjust to a Pac 10 team?
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| A: |
Will Kimmey: Oregon State started lefty Anton Maxwell between RHPs Dallas Buck and Jonah Nickerson for the entire 2005 season, and that worked out OK. Maxwell missed his first start of the year, so this was the first chance OSU to revert to the rotation it used last year. This sort of set up, splitting your aces, can work fine when you play all three games, because really it doesn't matter too much so long as all three pitch, but when there's a game lost, it hurts way more to have thrown your No. 1 and 3 instead of your 1 and 2. |
| Q: |
Jamie R. from Tampa, Fl. asks: Will, who are the top 5 draft eligible position players available for this years draft? Are there any ZimmermanGordon's out there? |
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| A: |
Will Kimmey: Evan Longoria, Matt LaPorta, Wes Hodges, Brian Jeroloman, Jason Donald and Matt Antonelli look to be the early leaders. This crop doesn't boast a player in Gordon's class, but you can see some Zimmerman in Antonelli, and Jeroloman's a polished enough defensive catcher to be in the majors now. |
| Q: |
John from Milwaukee asks: Will your the best! I was wondering what your thoughts are on Ryan Rohlinger, .397-4-15, and his Oklahoma Sooners? |
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| A: |
Will Kimmey: Rohlinger and the Sooners are rolling with seven straight wins. OU hasn't played the toughest schedule thus far, with wins against Notre Dame and Long Beach State and losses to Rice and Wichita State marking its best four opponents, but winning is always good. Visiting Arizona State this weekend should tell us exactly how much of a factor Sunny Golloway's first OU club will be in the Big 12. |
| Q: |
Marshall Peters from Birmingham, Ala. asks: I know UAB hasn't played anyone, but if they defeat Mississippi State on Tuesday will that begin to get them on the map? That would put them at 13-4. Will that be enough to enter the top 30-40 area? Thanks for the chats. |
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| A: |
Will Kimmey: Scheduling for a team like Alabama-Birmingham is always tough. If there are too many tough opponents, it ends up with an ugly record, but if there are too many weak ones, a gaudy records means little. Some sort of balance seems best. One midweek victory isn't going to rocket a team way up the list, but it would take a small step in legitimizing a team that hasn't faced the nation's most rigorous slate thus far. We'll see where UAB is once CUSA play begins and Rice, Tulane, East Carolina, Southern Miss and Houston pop up on the schedule. It was neat to see UAB's Zac Ward going 13-for-21 with 10 RBIs last week. |
| Q: |
Craig from Omaha, NE asks: Nebraska won a solid 3 game series against Alabama without Joba. The 2,3, and 4 guys shut down the tide for only 4 runs in the sweep. The bats and the errors seemed to be a problem for the huskers. Can this pitching staff take the Huskers to the CWS alone? |
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| A: |
Will Kimmey: It stands out when a team sweeps a solid opponent when its best player doesn't take the field. Still, Alabama isn't really known for much offense, and nor are too many of Nebraska's opponents thus far. Slowing down North Carolina State and Arizona stand out to me as the best two pitching performances of the year for this staff. But there's nothing wrong with winning 2-1 if you can. That style has helped Texas, Fullerton and Rice to titles in recent years, but Huskers fans are going to feel a lot more comfortable if the club can score a few more runs along the way. |
| Q: |
Matt from asks: Will, could you give us an idea as to who you consider to be the next 5-10 teams on the cusp of breaking into the rankings? |
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| A: |
Will Kimmey: Sure. North Carolina State, Winthrop, Ole Miss, Southern Miss, Hawaii, Cal Poly, Long Beach State, Washington State, Texas A&M, Missouri and USC all were discussed among that part of the rankings this week. And there are a slew of other teams right near that group. |
| Q: |
Hilario Garcia from Chandler, AZ asks: How does ASU, who went into Texas and sweep through the Whataburger classic, including an extra innings victory over #3 Rice, not move up more than one spot in the rankings? What do the Sun Devils need to do to prove that their admittedly young team is for real? They only played 3 games last week and won them all. |
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| A: |
Will Kimmey: We believe ASU is for real. Being ranked 16th says that, as that means we have about 270 teams behind the Sun Devils. Remember, rankings are dictated not only by what your team does, but also by those around it. Every team in this week's Top 25 won its weekend series. I also think that after Arizona State, there's sort of a rift in the rankings, with more space between ASU and the next few teams after it than between ASU and the next 5-10 ahead of it. |
| Q: |
Marc from Charleston, SC asks: How many games does a team have to lose to drop in the top 10? Rice lost 2 games this week and has 5 losses on the season, yet they stand firm at #3 |
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| A: |
Will Kimmey: Rice stayed put because it still managed to win 2 of 3 on the weekend, and no team made a strong enough case for passing it. It has played nine Top 25 teams this year (more than any other team in the nation's Top 30 or so), with all of its losses coming to that group of opponents. So five losses for Rice is a bit different than for a team that has lost to much more inferior competition. Kansas, Texas and Pepperdine have all played eight ranked opponents this year, and those teams thusly have more losses than other teams in the Top 25. Losing to good teams doesn't hurt as much as losing to poor ones, and the rankings reflect that. |
| Q: |
Bill L from Bozeman, MT asks: I remain intrigued by Nebraska's start in relationship to where BA saw the Huskers fitting into early-season polls. Can you comment on the the thought process regarding the Huskers preseason and as the season has progressed? |
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| A: |
Will Kimmey: Sure. Nebraska has answered a lot of the questions about the club. Luke Gorsett, Ryan Wehrle, Nick Jaros and Bryce Nimmo have all played really well, forming the nucleus of an offense that (aside from Wehrle, who hit down in the order as a freshman) was unproven. Tony Watson, Charlie Shirek and Jared Cranston have given the club pitching depth. |
| Q: |
Bill L from Bozeman, MT asks: What can you tell us about Creighton this year? |
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| A: |
Will Kimmey: After opening 1-2, the Blue Jays have reeled off 11 straight wins. The best was a 5-4 win at Vanderbilt, so we've yet to see a full weekend series against a top quality team, but that's a great start for a club that lost a lot of veterans from last year's NCAA team. Chris Gradoville, who hit six homers and drove in 18 runs in five games last week, and Zach Daeges lead a sturdy offensive attack. Put Creighton in the running for the MVC title this year, along with Wichita State and Southern Illinois. |
| Q: |
Scott from New York City asks: Hey Will. What's your take on the Boilers of Purdue this year? They have played 2 straight highly ranked opponents very tough and even beat Max Sherzer on Friday. And #1 starter Jay Buente has outpitched everyone he has faced so far. |
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| A: |
Will Kimmey: Jay Buente has been great all year, proving he can match up with any starter in the nation. Don't look for Purdue to lose too much on Fridays, and I think winning the Big 10 is very realistic right now. Mitch Hilligoss leads that offense from the lead off spot, hitting big homers and driving in runs when needed while providing leadership at shortstop. |
| Q: |
jordan from new orleans asks: what do you think of the way Warren McFadden has been playing so far for the green wave? could he be in the running for possibly freshman of the year? |
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| A: |
Will Kimmey: Teammate Mark Hamilton referred to McFadden as my boy when I spoke with him earlier this year, so I've got to say I'm pleased. That's because I picked McFadden as a darkhorse freshman of the year candidate before 2005 started, and he ended up taking a medical redshirt. That claim carried over to this, his redshirt freshman year, so I've got to stick by it. He leads Tulane in batting and doubles and provides solid defense as well. He'll be in contention, but it's real early to hand out awards right now. McFadden could be my favorite Green Wave, but in covering 285 teams, you sort of develop one favorite for every team in the country. Just to keep the LSU fans happy, I've got Jarred Bogany on the Tigers. |
| Q: |
steve from alabama asks: What do you think about the Sun Belt conference so far this season? |
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| A: |
Will Kimmey: South Alabama is the favorite there, so long as PJ Walters keeps taking the mound. I also like Florida International. It nonleague record isn't as pretty as some other conference members, but FIU has played a very aggressive schedule, and I think that will pay off when SBC play comes around. |
| Q: |
Scott from Seattle asks: Besides ASU's Ike Davis, what other Pac10 freshmen, if any, have made an impression on you? |
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| A: |
Will Kimmey: I've got to start with Brandon Crawford, who has been sensational for UCLA thus far, or Washington State's Jared Prince, who's done the same up in Pullman. Write it down that those two will challenge Ike Davis for the league's freshman of the year mantle. We can't talk about Pac-10 freshmen without mentioning Stanford's Jeremy Bleich or Joey August. Tommy Milone and Ryan Cook are doing nice jobs as USC's 2 and 3 behind Ian Kennedy. |
| Q: |
Bill L from Bozeman, MT asks: Can you handicap the three major West Coast baseball leagues (WCC, Big West, Pac 10), and where West Coast baseball fits into the national scene? |
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| A: |
Will Kimmey: West Coast baseball seems first and foremost to me right now. Look at the intersectional matchups, and most every team from the East that has gone West has come home with an L: Baylor is the only team I can think of that has traveled West and won, taking two of three at Long Beach. Give me Pepperdine over San Diego in the WCC, but both teams should make the NCAAs. Give me Fullerton, Long Beach and Cal Poly--that order--in the BWC, and all three in NCAAs. As for the Pac-10 ... well, Washington State won 1 game out there last year, but I wouldn't fall out of my chair if the Cougars won the darn league this year. I'd still take Oregon State and Arizona State as the favorites, but there's not a dog in the league. Sorting out this conference for NCAA bids will not be easy and I have a feeling the standings will be closely packed from top to bottom, where two or three games is the difference between your best team and the seventh place one. Will Kimmey: That's all I've got time for today. As regular as the request for lights at Gene Hooks Stadium, we'll be back next week to answer questions from Nebraska to New Orleans to Nunavat. |
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