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D1Baseball Weekly Chat: March 22
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Trey
1:03
With Louisiana Tech heating up, and Southern Miss starting to come together as well, which team do you give an edge for the  four game series in Hattiesburg? How important is this series for the overall outlook of Conference USA? What are your thoughts on CUSA's four game series layout?
Kendall Rogers
1:03
Trey -- It's really hard to go against Southern Miss at home at the Pete, but we'll see. La Tech is battle tested, hard-nosed, and it clearly has two outstanding arms at the front end of the rotation in Jonathan Fincher and Ryan Jennings. You've got two teams with A LOT of mojo right now. That's such a fun series on paper.
Tex
1:05
who do you see emerging as the leading teams in the Big 12 and in what order?
Kendall Rogers
1:05
Tex -- I would caution everyone to keep an eye on Oklahoma. Skip Johnson's Sooners beat Arkansas in midweek action, and that apparently created quite the spark for a bonfire. Wyatt Olds threw great on Friday and the offense was clicking all-weekend long against Houston. Perfect timing for the Sooners with Texas on the menu this weekend. Stock is going up for OU right now ... Overall, 1. Tech, 2. Texas 3. TCU 4. Oklahoma State ... 5. I still like OU here.
Mike
1:07
love the work and chats. Thoughts on the Big West looking like a 1 bud league?
Kendall Rogers
1:07
Mike -- It's still way too early to project RPIs and such, but, boy, the Big West is off to an awful start. The league as a whole has a winning percentage of around .400 or so, and that's not going to cut it in terms of getting multiple postseason bids. The league will get one bid -- but a second? that's very very debatable at this point, and likely predicated upon what UC Irvine does the rest of the way. It's disappointing, because I thought the BW would be pretty strong this year.
BillyBob
1:07
What's the ceiling on North Carolina? Strong weekend pitching staff and bats heating up?
Aaron Fitt
1:07
Hi BillyBob -- feels like a solid regional team, and probably a 2-seed type. But I may be selling them short -- the Heels already look better than I originally thought heading into the season. It's just a nice solid all-around club, and maybe they'll find a way to host.
TOAST
1:08
Anyone coming to Starkville this weekend? This should be a fun series.
Aaron Fitt
1:08
I will be there for at least part of the weekend, planning to split between Tuscaloosa and Starkville. Fun series is right! Can't wait to see all those power arms from both sides match up.
Sam Smith
1:09
After watching the Tennessee UGA series do you thing Blade Tidwell can take Chad Dallas Friday night spot. Also is Tennessee a good enough team to get a top 16 seed at the end of the year?
Aaron Fitt
1:09
I like Dallas in that Friday spot, he's your classic veteran bulldog who feels like a reliable workhorse you can count upon to get you deep into the game and set the tone for the weekend. Tidwell is immensely talented and is a no-doubt future Friday guy, but I typically like to have a veteran guy going on Fridays. That's a nice one-two punch right there. I wrote about both those guys in today's Fitt Bits, so check that out.
Eli
1:11
When are we going to see LSU fall out of the top 25?
Aaron Fitt
1:11
I mean, they won six straight heading into this past weekend and they salvaged the rubber game. They're 16-5, no reason to drop them out yet. If they lose their next series against Tennessee, then they'll drop out. But there's no shame in losing two out of three to a top-five team.
Hog Heaven
1:13
UCLA has 2 bad series losses to USSF and Cal Poly. They have 1 series win over an above average yet still unranked Arizona team. What is your justification for having them in your top 10?
Aaron Fitt
1:13
It's not a top-10 resumé, if you were ranking teams strictly by the quality of their wins over the first five weeks. But we're still early in the season -- as I always say, the rankings are like see-saw that starts the year 100 percent projection and gradually tips to 100 percent resumé by season's end. Five weeks in, resumé is mattering more and more, but there's a reason UCLA started the season ranked No. 2 -- we believe in that roster and still expect them to be the team to beat in the Pac-12. We did drop them after both of their series losses, but when you start at No. 2 you have more room to fall and still stay ranked fairly high.
Trench
1:14
Biggest disappointment and biggest surprise so far this year?
Aaron Fitt
1:14
Take your pick of ACC teams for both of these questions. NC State, Virginia and Wake Forest all qualify is major disappointments thus far, especially the first two -- I'm just shocked by how poorly they've played so far. And even though I thought Notre Dame and Pitt were dangerous, I definitely did not expect them both to be top-15 clubs at this point in the season, considering all the challenging ACC road series they've played. The ACC is wild this year!
Ben
1:15
Regular season ends today. Does Texas A&M make a regional?
Kendall Rogers
1:15
Ben -- I will go with no. I still like what the Aggies have on the mound, but they were putrid at times offensively against Florida over the weekend. I just don't think you can expect the pitching staff to hold up that much in a league as good and deep as the SEC this season. We'll see, though. I never count out Rob Childress, especially with arms.
Dirt
1:16
Big RPI week ahead for Southern Miss with Alabama midweek and then a 4 game series with LA Tech, who’ve both been on a year. What do the Golden Eagles need to do this week to move into the top 25? Would going 3-2 in that stretch be enough?
Aaron Fitt
1:16
We typically don't move teams into the rankings after a 4-game split, so they'd have to take three out of four this weekend and then they might move in even if they lose to Alabama. Southern Miss remains right in that clump of teams not far out of the rankings, so taking three of four from a Top 25 team this weekend would probably be enough to get them in. That's a very intriguing series.
JP
1:16
Is Travis Jewitt on the hot seat? He inherited a David Pierce team that went to back-to-back regionals and has since gone barely over .500 thru five seasons with no regionals and squandered top-tier seasons by the likes of Hoese and Olthoff. Are Tulane fans right to be getting antsy?
Kendall Rogers
1:16
JP -- Good question. Personally, I really like Jewett and thinks he's a solid coach, but this is a results oriented business. Jew got REALLY unlucky last spring with the season ending ... Tulane was poised to have a big year. if Tulane doesn't make the tournament this year, Tulane fans would have a legitimate gripe. But do you get a COVID pass in 2021? We'll find out.
HailState17
1:17
Who do you like in Arkansas/Mississippi State in Starkville this weekend?
Kendall Rogers
1:17
I like Mississippi State in this series at home. I love Arkansas' club, but I have more faith in MSU's pitching staff at this point. But you're really splitting hairs between those two teams. Bednar's health and emergence is a big key for me.
Joe
1:19
Which SEC team had the most impressive weekend? Who was honorable mention?
Aaron Fitt
1:19
I think I've gotta go with Mississippi State going on the road and taking two of three from LSU. Honorable mention to Florida and Ole Miss for emphatic sweeps, and Vandy for taking two of three from South Carolina. That's a lot of mentions! But that top five in the SEC just keeps impressing.
The Dude
1:19
It seems like Kendall has been kind of lukewarm on Texas this year, saying he thinks they’re below Tech, TCU and OSU in the Big 12 pecking order. When it comes to the rankings though, Texas is still inside the top-10. My question is, which ranking do you is more accurate at the end of the year? Are they a top-10 club fighting for a National seed or are they a club that finishes in the middle of the pack in the Big 12 as a #2 seed in a regional?
Kendall Rogers
1:19
Actually, I just had Texas right behind Texas Tech for me at the moment. Texas will go the way of its pitching staff this spring. I still don't have much faith in the UT offense moving forward, but Ty Madden and Tristan Stevens have been solid, and they're getting solid innings from the bullpen for the most part. Having someone like Madden who's damn near an automatic win on Friday night helps. I think Texas hosts at this juncture.
Boss Hawg
1:20
Explain Vandy #1 in the rankings over Arkansas.
Kendall Rogers
1:20
Very easy. Arkansas has teetered a little bit on the mound lately, and some of the guys who were off to insane starts offensively have cooled off. Still an incredible team, but give me Vandy with Rocker/Leiter, and a quality offensive lineup ... ever so slightly ... over Arkansas at this point. It's close.
Siege
1:22
Arkansas has started most of their games fairly slow at the plate, how do you think that will play out against some great arms at MSU this weekend?  What do they need to do to get off to a better start to games?
Kendall Rogers
1:22
Siege -- That's a great point. Arkansas has really had a flare for the dramatic in the latter innings. I can tell you this -- expecting to stage late-inning rallies on a consistent basis against Landon Sims and Co., is a losing proposition. It's imperative that the Hogs get off to quick starts in Starkville during the upcoming weekend. I think they'll play well.
SECbaseball
1:22
Vols get their first test and win a road series over UGA. Aaron, curious on how you think UT stacks up to the other top 16 caliber clubs you've seen. How many SEC wins do they need to be in the hosting discussion, and more importantly, can they get there?
Aaron Fitt
1:22
I really think that lineup is going to be a handful -- the Vols really aren't even firing on all cylinders offensively yet, but I'm a big fan of the balance, physicality, athleticism and experience they've got. It's right-left-right all the way through, and anybody in the lineup can hurt you in one way or another. If they can hold it together on the mound until Jackson Leath comes back, I think it's a legitimate hosting-caliber club. I like the bullpen too, even though they don't have the kind of big power arms that you'll see out of the bullpen from those top five SEC teams. Right now I think I feel comfortable with Tennessee as the No. 6 team in the SEC, and I think 16-14 gets them a hosting spot. And I think they can pull that off.
SECbaseball
1:26
If you're a head coach which pitching staff would you rather have? Vanderbilt, or Mississippi State.
Aaron Fitt
1:26
Another good one, SECbaseball! I do like Mississippi State's depth better, but I just can't go against Rocker and Leiter. To answer another of your questions I see in the queue, I'll set the over/under on combined losses for Rocker and Leiter at... 3.5, and that's just being conservative out of respect for the SEC and how hard it is to dominate every single start. I just have a hard time believing Vandy loses more than one or two series this year with those two guys going every Friday and Saturday.
JFK
1:28
Husker freshman Max Anderson has been impressive .349 avg, 1.091 OPS, .674 slugging, 4 Hr/14 rbi in 11 games. Has anyone east of the Mississippi noticed?
Aaron Fitt
1:28
Might I suggest checking out some of D1Baseball's excellent Midwest coverage, which we roll out every single week? Our man Patrick Ebert wrote this about Anderson just last week: "Cleanup hitter Max Anderson is a base hit machine, and he added two more base hits in this game after hitting a booming home run on Friday. His bat-to-ball talents are proving to be elite and he’s an aggressive hitter looking to put a charge into a ball. He’s also patient enough to draw a walk and overall has a clear understanding of what he’s trying to do in the batter’s box." We also talked about him in our Weekend Preview show on Instagram live heading into this past weekend. He's a stud.
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