You are viewing the chat in desktop mode. Click here to switch to mobile view.
X
Return toD1Baseball
D1Baseball Weekly Chat: April 1
powered byJotCast
View Full Chat Next Page
Aaron Fitt
12:02
Hey folks, hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend. Let's dive in!
Andrew
12:03
Kendall, I asked you preseason how many bids you thought the Sun Belt would earn, and you said the conference would be good enough to ‘earn’ 5. Any other thoughts on that number a few weeks into conference play?
Kendall Rogers
12:03
I don't think five bids is out of the question at all for the Sun Belt. As of right now, Louisiana, Southern Miss and Coastal Carolina would be slam dunks for me to make the field of 64. There are others who are in the mix now or would be in the mix with a solid second half of the season. 4 is probably the safest bet right now, but five is doable for sure.
Andrew H
12:04
What is up with OU? Can they survive the Big XII with the Jekyll and Hyde routine? Who are they?
Kendall Rogers
12:04
Andrew -- Oklahoma's pitching was abysmal for the most part against Lamar over the weekend. There's no doubt the Cards are vastly improved, but what an outrageously poor showing by the Sooners pitching staff, and team as a whole. I'm still a believer OU is a very dangerous and solid team, but the weekend certainly gave me some pause.
Jordan
12:04
Who is the best team in the Sun Belt right now?
Aaron Fitt
12:04
Right now, I think you'd probably have to say Louisiana based on body of work. Certainly impressed with the Cajuns being 8-1 in the Sun Belt with a road sweep of Texas State and a home sweep of ODU. That Rice series back in February is a blemish, but the Cajuns are playing a lot better now -- and most of the other top teams have more recent head-scratching blemishes.
Jake
12:07
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being panic button, how concerned should LSU and Wake fans be about potentially missing a regional with their slow starts and upcoming schedules?
Aaron Fitt
12:07
I still don't think either team is going to miss regionals -- but the fact that you have to ask that question at the halfway point of the season is telling. LSU being 2-7 in the SEC with series looming vs. Vandy and at Tennessee in the next two weeks -- that's not exactly an ideal position. Wake is 4-8 in the ACC and now must go to Virginia Tech. These teams definitely need to make a run before they find themselves in too deep of a hole, but I still think both will find a way. So I guess call it a 4 or 5.
Omaha Husker
12:08
Nebraska is ranked. RPI is high. What is the path to hosting with the B1G being not great?
Kendall Rogers
12:08
Yeah, unfortunately, I don't think the Big Ten is going to leave Nebraska with a ton of wiggle room. The good news is that RPI-wise, the SOS is solid and they've got some of the tougher series, IMO, at home this spring. Keep winning and things will take care of itself.
ConcernedDuck
12:10
I know RPI hasn’t completely settled yet but Oregon doesn’t have a lot of RPI boosts in the upcoming schedule. Do they get in if they’re second in the PAC with a 60-75 RPI? What about third?
Aaron Fitt
12:10
It's a tough scene out in the Pac this year, that's for sure. Only Utah (38) and Oregon State (10) are currently inside the top 60 of the RPI, so it is starting to feel like the Pac could be shaping up as a 3-bid league.... maybe even 2 bids, as crazy as that feels. Those Pac teams just did not take care of business in nonconference play, largely, so now they have poor RPIs and that's only going to compound as they continue to play each other. But if the Ducks wind up as the No. 2 team in the Pac pecking order, I have a feeling they'd get a big even with a poor RPI. There's no way the Pac could get just one bid.... right? (Surely they'd get some leeway in that scenario.)
Patrick M
12:11
Kentucky has the best record in the SEC with 2 series sweeps against great teams like Georgia and Ole Miss. also not only did they beat ole miss on the road the killed them. I get how you wanted them  to prove themselves after loosing to keennesaw but they have and then some with 2 series wins on the ROAD AGAINT SEC TEAMS. I have no idea how they are not top 10. All they have done the last 3 weeks was prove themselves as Omaha contenders.
Kendall Rogers
12:11
Kentucky is playing exceptionally well, but there are several factors on UK. 1) The Wildcats have played Ole Miss, Georgia and Missouri. Ole Miss is OK, Missouri is really bad and Georgia is improved but just how good is it? We'll find out as the season progresses. FWIW -- I saw UK earlier this season, and the thing I did like is that it knows exactly who it is. There are not a lot of 'superstars' on this team, but it's a very very solid/clean club, overall.
FittsMagic
12:12
Can we start talking about UC Irvine as the best team on the west coast? Sweeping a good Hawaii team on the road needs some respect (ask Ole Miss & NC State). Plus they’re doing so with a banged up roster right now…
Kendall Rogers
12:12
Great question about UCI. In our Top 25 call last night, I actually brought up that road series at Hawaii. Hawaii was rolling when the 'Eaters showed up, and we know what can happen to teams who have to travel to the islands. Not only did the 'Eaters play well, but they swept the series. Ultra loud weekend, and UCI is clearly team 2 behind Oregon State -- and 3 .... is a big drop off.
Heel
12:13
How has the sweep at Wake changed the big-picture view of UNC both in the ACC race as well as nationally?
Aaron Fitt
12:13
I think it moves UNC firmly into that top tier of ACC contenders with Clemson, Duke, Virginia Tech and Florida State just a tick ahead of that middle clump with UVa, NC State, Miami and Wake. Still feels like there's a lot of fluidity in those two groups. Ultimately I think Duke and UNC probably have the best pitching in the league from top to bottom (although FSU's rotation would be above both, I think). But as we prepare for our midseason field of 64 projection, I suspect UNC will be firmly in hosting position, whereas a week ago the Heels were right on the edge.
Sam
12:14
Auburn is 1-8 with number 4 Tennessee Coming to town. And LSU is 2-7 with number 7 Vandy coming to town. Which Tiger has a better shot this weekend to get right and get back to where they need to be?
Aaron Fitt
12:14
I have more faith that LSU will bounce back and win that series at home. I'm nervous about Auburn. Very nervous.
Matt M
12:15
I haven't been following college baseball all that long so I don't have a good sense of the history... but is the Big 12 historically bad right now?  Be honest, ya'll put UCF in there just to spare them the embarrassment of having 0 ranked teams in the Top 25, right?
Kendall Rogers
12:15
Matt -- In all honesty, we discussed the Big 12 not having a team, but ultimately, I do really like what UCF has done as of late -- wins over Florida and Miami -- albeit, midweek games -- and then a trio of series wins over Texas Tech, Kansas and Oklahoma State. That's a strong three weeks, IMO. As for the Big 12 as a whole, I still would not want teams like Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and TCU in my regional, but the league has been a disappointment.
Guest
12:16
Update on James Ellwanger?  If he returns DBU looks elite.
Kendall Rogers
12:16
Supposed to return in the next couple of weeks. No structural issues with him -- it's more of a nerve issue. Should be fine, but something to monitor for sure. When you're a freshman throwing 99-100, you're going to have some issues at times.
Guest
12:18
Two questions...1) How is Carolina only 10th in y'all's rankings when they're 4th in the RPI, 2nd in the DSR, and are tied with A&M for the most wins in college baseball. This is a team now with 3 ACC sweeps including one against your supposed preseason #1 team.
Aaron Fitt
12:18
Well UNC has also lost two weekend series, and I think we've made it pretty clear that we value weekend series  around here. But I do think it's impressive that UNC has been flawless aside from those four losses to ECU and Miami -- they are undefeated otherwise. But anyway, we don't give a crap about RPI and DSR when we do our Top 25, especially in early April. Those things are not related to our process. And I believe UNC and Duke are the only teams in our top 10 with multiple series losses.
Joe
12:21
Going into last weekend I was of the mindset we just needed to not get swept at Florida and it would be a good weekend. After the weekend I feel like we should have won the series and maybe even swept it. This weekend even brought the fire lemonis crowd back out from under a rock for a few hours. Should state fans be content that we won one and for the most part outplayed Florida both of the other games or should those 2 innings leave a bitter taste in your mouth.
Aaron Fitt
12:21
I don't blame Mississippi State for feeling like it let a golden opportunity slip away this weekend. But once the bitterness of that walk-off loss in the series finale fades, State should feel pretty good about where it is in the bigger picture, at 4-5 in the SEC after facing LSU, at A&M and at Florida in the first three weeks. Heading into that stretch, we felt like 4-5 would be a  success, and now the schedule opens up a bit over the next three weeks. There are no gimmes, but State feels poised to make a nice run now.
Sec fan
12:22
Y'all think A&M has a shot at winning the west? Or is Arky just gonna run away with it?
Kendall Rogers
12:22
Hard to predict every series the rest of the season, but I think the Razorbacks and Aggies are close. Arkansas, for me, has the better weekend rotation and bullpen, although the Aggies have the best reliever in the country (for now) in Evan Aschenbeck. A&M's lineup, though, is infinitely scarier, especially at the top of the lineup. Can we just fast-forward to that May series between the two teams?
Sean
12:24
What do you guys think of the CAA teams so far? Do you think they can get 3 bids and beat last years mark?
Aaron Fitt
12:24
Heading into the season, we thought Northeastern, Campbell and UNCW all felt like regional-caliber clubs, and I still feel that way. All three are hanging around at-large range in the RPI at the halfway point, so there's certainly a chance for 3, especially if the two stronger RPI teams fail to win the auto bid. But I am concerned that some of the weaker RPI teams on the schedule could wind up dragging those top teams down. Two bids feels like the far more likely scenario.
Spencer
12:26
South Carolina has let a couple SEC road series get away from them early on that seemed like they needed to win to feel more confident in terms of hosting a regional. How much does this A&M series mean for the Gamecocks’ hosting chances?
Aaron Fitt
12:26
I think it's a big weekend for the Gamecocks -- a chance to make a major splash with a marquee series win against a top 5 team, and you get them at home. Realistically South Carolina is on track to host if it can get to 16 or 17 SEC wins, because its RPI is in a good spot, and it's currently 5-4 in the league, so it's tracking. But this feels like a chance to take a big jump up the ladder.
Roger
12:26
What do you think about the job Will Bolt has done at Nebraska so far, and do you think he can bring the Van Horn/early Anderson days' consistency back (with understanding that the Big Ten isn't the baseball powerhouse that the late 90's/early 2000's Big 12 was).
Kendall Rogers
12:26
Roger -- I think Will has done a great job with this team. Let's be honest, I think Will needed to win this year to be comfortable with his job. He has made some really nice moves over the past couple of seasons -- Mike Sirianni is a stud and adding Rob Childress as the pitching coach goes without saying, right? Huskers are in a great spot right now.
cool 1
Brandon
12:27
How would you describe the gauntlet that is the SEC this year? Is there any other conference where LSU is 2-7 right now?
Kendall Rogers
12:27
Brandon -- with the Pac-12 struggling, the Big 12 just being okay, etc, I think this is a year where the SEC getting 11 bids is a pretty easy call at this point. We will see if things change, but I think I'd be surprised if the league DIDN'T get 11 bids.
Greg
12:28
Is there a more frustrating team to evaluate right now than Florida? Tons of close games, haven't won more than two in a row since they swept Columbia, 11 losses already, real starting pitching issues, yet they just keep winning weekends over quality teams.
Connecting…