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D1Baseball Weekly Chat: March 15
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Kendall Rogers
1:25
RFRoost -- Southern Miss is right on the cusp. They were discussed with Arizona, A&M and a few others for the Top 25 this week. Really solid season so far, but the resume is slightly light. Ryan Och and Walker Powell have been outstanding, and I think the offense has A LOT more potential.
Dominique
1:26
What is still keeping UGA out of your rankings? Even after losing Hancock and Wilcox, they still have a pair of top draft picks in Cannon and Webb. That pitching staff is certainly better than Tennessee’s who visits Athens this weekend. What do they have to do? This has been a top program for several years now.
Aaron Fitt
1:26
Georgia is a great program, and I do really like that pitching staff. But look, that resumé is light for the Top 25 right now -- there are zero wins against legitimate at-large candidates. If they win the Tennessee series this weekend, chances are the Bulldogs will find themselves ranked. They just need some quality wins.
The Dude
1:29
As a gun shy Texas fan, I kind of see the South Carolina sweep and get flashbacks to the 2019 sweep of LSU. What make you guys think this team is different than that one was?
Kendall Rogers
1:29
The Dude -- I think this Texas team is much different than that one. For starters, they have one of the best pitchers in college baseball setting the tone on Friday night, and I think Stevens/Kubichek are solid starters. I also feel very good about this team defensively. I really really like the middle of the infield with Daly/Faltine leading the way. I just think the makeup of this team is much different than that one.
Allen
1:31
Who are the top 5 “Mid Major” teams through this point in the season that look to be Omaha sleeper type teams?
Aaron Fitt
1:31
If we're defining "mid-major" as any team outside the "power five" conferences (and let's omit our teams that were in our preseason Top 25 like UCSB and ECU because they're not really "sleepers"), I'll go with Southern Miss, Indiana State, DBU, FAU and San Diego State.
DVH
1:33
Hey fellas, what have you thought about Arkansas' slow starts at times at the plate? Cause for concern or just working through early season kinks?
Kendall Rogers
1:33
DVH -- Sometimes teams are just built a little differently. For a team like Arkansas, they are clearly very good at mid-game adjustments from an offensive standpoint, hence their middle and late inning surges offensively. I'm not really worried about it at all.
Josh (Nebraska)
1:36
what's your thought on how Nebraska has looked so far, they had a nice 5 game win streak before dropping 2 on Sunday
Aaron Fitt
1:36
I think I was the high man on Nebraska among our staff heading into the season -- I thought they'd be part of that big clump of teams jostling for position in the top 6 or so. Really like the Povich-Hroch-Schanaman group in the rotation, like the bullpen depth, and I like the top half of the lineup. Huskers have played well through two weeks, and I feel even more comfortable regarding them as a top-five team in the Big Ten. I suspect those teams will be jostling for position all year long.
corey81280
1:37
Who looks to be the favorite in the SEC as of now. I know this will change massively since the west seems very good and the east is top heavy. Obviously been a huge Hogs fan you know my pick. However Vandy seems to be the likely favorite.
Kendall Rogers
1:37
Corey -- I love Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker, but I still think Arkansas is the better 'overall' team at this point. Time will tell. I'd also say don't sleep on Florida, Miss State and Ole Miss. I think all of those teams have very legitimate shots to win the league. But I feel very confident the winner of the league won't come outside of that group.
Aaron Fitt
1:41
Agree with Kendall here -- it will be one of those five teams. But right now I have no idea which of those five teams it will be. I'm looking forward to sitting back and watching it all play out.
JT
1:40
Arizona was No. 22 in the pre-season and is 11-4. Oregon State was unranked in the pre-season, but is currently ranked and is 11-3. Arizona fell from the rankings this week. Oregon State dropped 2-of-3 to Oregon and remained in the rankings. Can you explain the key differentiator between the two schools' resumes and why one is in and the other is out? Thanks! Appreciate you!
Aaron Fitt
1:40
We recalibrated our assessment of Oregon State based on Roons' repeated viewings of the Beavers -- feels like they're going to be neck and neck with Arizona as the No. 2 team in the Pac (Arizona has the scary offense but the shaky defense and the inconsistent pitching, OSU has the typical pitching-and-defense formula). This was OSU's first bad weekend, but Arizona has had two underwhelming 2-2 weekends at home against cold-weather teams that it should frankly beat. Overall there's not a huge difference between how we view these clubs, but OSU rose higher over the first three weeks because it didn't really have any hiccups, so it had more room to drop and stay in the rankings this week.
ILheel
1:43
Surprised to not see UNC here at 10-4 (6-3). Weak conference series wins but SOS still higher than many ranked teams. Was UNC in the discussion  this week?
Aaron Fitt
1:43
Yeah they were in the discussion. The crazy thing about the first month this year is that a series win over UVa and a sweep of Clemson suddenly aren't helping UNC's resumé a whole lot, because the Cavs and Tigers are very suspect. Pitt jumped in because its road series wins over Florida State and Georgia Tech are louder. But UNC is right there on the cusp -- I think the Heels will get back into the Top 25 soon.
Coosa
1:44
CUSA feels pretty stout this year with FAU, La Tech, and Southern Miss at the top as always, and then with UTSA taking LSU to the wire, ODU, MTSU, and Charlotte all having solid records so far. What are y'alls thoughts on it being more than a one bid league this year?
Kendall Rogers
1:44
COOSA -- I feel pretty confident that Conference USA Will be a two-bid league at this point, along with the Missouri Valley. The Big West is the league that looks like it's destined for just one bid -- that league is down No. 25 in conference RPI right now. Woof.
TOAST
1:46
SEC conference play is here. What series are you looking forward to the most? Mine is LSU and Miss State.
Aaron Fitt
1:46
Yeah I'm with you, I think LSU-Mississippi State is the marquee event of SEC opening weekend. LSU is a weird team -- feels like a lot of odd box scores over the first month, but you look up and they're 14-3. I think this weekend will tell us a lot about where the Tigers actually stand right now, because MSU is for real. That's a very good measuring stick for LSU.
cool 3
Cory
1:48
Has UCONN’s tough scheduling dug them too deep a hole to crawl out of to reach an at large bid? They have been competitive with everyone but can’t seem to get enough to win a series.
Kendall Rogers
1:48
Cory -- More than likely. I commend Jim Penders for playing that kind of schedule, but you also have to win some of those games. UConn will very likely need to win that league's automatic bid to get in at this point. They are a solid team IMO, but just can't get over the hump in these weekend series.
Guest
1:49
Where is ASU ? Are you starting to see a trend of west coast ( pac12 , big west , WCC ? ) stepping up much stronger than anticipated and the talent gap; between ACC, SEC ,; Pac12 may not be expansive as you assumed
Aaron Fitt
1:49
I'm impressed that ASU keeps on winning despite its pile of pitching injuries, but there aren't really any quality wins on that resumé against anything close to an at-large contender (crazy as it feels to say that about Cal State Fullerton). I'm still concerned the losses on the mound will eventually catch up with the Sun Devils, but maybe they'll just be the little engine that could, a year after losing all that star power to the draft. As for the West as a whole -- the Big West stinks, the Pac-12 is still shaky, and the gap between the SEC and everybody else remains enormous. I do like the WCC, feels like there are some dangerous clubs in that league.
Wrigley
1:50
What are your thoughts about the top of the pecking order in the Big 12 entering conference play?
Kendall Rogers
1:50
I still think it's Texas Tech and everyone else at this point. I think feel better about TCU long-term than Texas, and I honestly think I might also feel a little better about Oklahoma State more long term than Texas, but time will tell. My final projection at the end of the season Big 12-wise, is: 1) Texas Tech, 2) TCU, 3) Oklahoma State, 4) Texas, 5) Oklahoma?
Beamer
1:53
Who had an under the radar series win this past weekend that nobody is talking about?
Aaron Fitt
1:53
I mentioned some nice "under-the-radar" series wins in The Dean's List last night, but I'll say Campbell here. The Camels and USC Upstate are the two best teams in the Big South, and the Spartans had been undefeated, but Campbell showed me something by responding to Friday night's loss with a doubleheader sweep on Saturday.
Matt
1:53
Are far is UGA from the top 25, I mean Georgia has been playing great with a weak scedule but UGA 2 legit starting pitchers that are top 3 round draft picks. If UGA beats the Vols this weekend would rank them ahead of UT.
Kendall Rogers
1:53
Matt -- No doubt Cannon and Co., are off to terrific starts, but that's also been a crazy easy schedule thus far. If Georgia takes care of that Tennessee series, the chances of it being ranked rise exponentially
Randy
1:56
Please talk me off the ledge on South Carolina.  I don't see how a team that performed the way they did this past weekend against Texas, can have any success in a conference slate featuring the top 5 teams in the country.
Kendall Rogers
1:56
Randy -- There are two ways of looking at that Texas series. Do I think South Carolina is an elite team? Not even close. But I do think the offense will perform better than it did in Austin. SC left a ton of guys on base AND I said before the weekend that ballpark was a really bad matchup for the Gamecocks. WTS -- I didn't see a ton of hard-hit balls. Wes Clarke looked pretty solid, and I liked some of the things I saw out of Braylen Wimmer. But for the most part, a lot of blah. I did like Brannon Jordan. His velo wasn't amazing, but his 11-5 breaking ball is a really, really nice pitch. And I think Jack Mahoney has a bright future. He's physical and I think he'll be more 94-96 mph with his FB in due time.
Mike
1:56
Hey guys, love these chats!

How does Covid-19 fan restrictions affect Home Field advantage this year? I know the RPI formula does take into account Home vs Away vs Neutral. With no fans in the stands in a large part of the country, it seems the only key advantage is Home Team vs Visiting Team. I know out West, Oregon State sells out almost every game (one of the few on the West Coast) so they have definitely lost some of there Home Field advantage. Are there any talks of adjusting the formula this year?
Aaron Fitt
1:56
I don't think there has been any talk of adjusting the formula. I still think there are advantages to playing on your own field, sleeping in your own bed, and being the home team, as you mentioned -- and a lot of places are starting to let some fans in, so there's at least some advantage there too (for example, even with 1200 fans at East Carolina this weekend, that place had real atmosphere). I'm more concerned with how to evaluate the Big Ten when none of those teams are playing nonconference games, or other leagues that have modified their conference schedules. I do feel like the RPI is way, way less useful this year because of the schedule weirdness.
Guest
1:57
Can K-State be a team the eventually gets in to the Top 25?
Kendall Rogers
1:57
Guest -- Kansas State still has a ton to prove with Big 12 play looming in the distance. At the end of the day, this is a team a week removed from losing a weekend series at home to Eastern Illinois. There's no doubt they have potential with Wicks-Seymore-McCullough in that weekend rotation. But potential can only get you so far ...
TxBaseball17
1:58
I'm a bit surprised by Texas top 10 ranking. I know they swept SC but still. Either way my question still holds: can Texas continue to count on pitching and just enough offense to win games? Sunday was better, but the offense has been pretty lackluster this season? If Madden has a bad game, is Friday night pretty much sunk for the Horns?
Kendall Rogers
1:58
I would definitely agree that every weekend series for UT is pretty much dependent on how Madden pitches in the opening game. The good news? He's been so damn good this year, I'm not sure that matters. He relishes that role/pressure.
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