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D1Baseball Weekly Chat: March 23
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Gamecocks
1:21
On the USC job...by many accounts, Dan McDonnell of Louisville was the first coach on campus in 2024 to speak to AD and that was coming off two non-NCAA years. Two years later, coming off a trip to Omaha, he isn't even mentioned as a candidate. Are people missing this because of their infatuation for the obvious guys (Coastal) who are gonna likely extend at their own place....or what?
Kendall Rogers
1:21
Dan will always be mentioned for jobs, but I'll believe he will pull the trigger and leave Louisville when I see it. He has flirted with plenty of jobs, only to decide on an extension with U of L. He truly does love that place. I'm also not 100% sure Dan is what South Carolina needs right now. As much as I love Coach Mac, he's not exactly tearing up the Transfer Portal looking for new players, and that's precisely what SC needs.
Louie
1:57
How about the improvement Mizzou is showing this year?  They took Auburn to the wire in two games, and I know Tennessee is a shell of what they once were, but they took a game in Knoxville in dominant fashion.  Kerrick Jackson is the man.  I think they can get 10-13 SEC wins.
Kendall Rogers
1:57
Louie -- The Tigers have definitely been better so far this year, and it kind of starts on the mound. The Tigers pitched well enough to win the Tennessee series over the weekend. The addition of Javyn Pimental back to the weekend rotation has paid some dividends. Pimental is not a super high swing and miss guy, but teams have a tough time squaring him up and he has an 0.90 ERA in 10 innings of work. Super curious to see how that series goes at home against Texas A&M this weekend.
SmartMuffin
1:58
Let's play "Pretender or Contender" in the Big 12:
UCF
Texas Tech
Kansas

Go!
Kendall Rogers
1:58
I'm going to say UCF is my contender right now. I think the Knights have a solid offense, and I feel pretty good about the starting rotation with Matt Sauser, etc...
FittsMagic
1:59
Are the Beavs officially back in host-mode after the UCI sweep?
Kendall Rogers
1:59
Definitely trending more in that direction right now. I also think the Beavers will get some leeway with any selection committee given some of its schedule constraints. How about the really cool series at home this weekend between Mercer and Oregon State? Mercer is off to a ridiculously hot start at 20-4.
Jeff
2:02
Who has been your ACC biggest surprise and biggest disappointment 3 weeks into the conference schedule?
Kendall Rogers
2:02
Great question.

Biggest ACC Surprise: Notre Dame (Our Bradley Smart though the Irish were a postseason type of club, but Top 25 caliber right now in Mid March? Yeah I wasn't expecting that).

Biggest ACC Disappointment: Miami ..... and probably Stanford not even being competitive at times.
Jake
2:03
How likely do you feel the season will be eventually moved back to start in March?
Kendall Rogers
2:03
Depends. The Big Ten actually caring more about baseball right now should help that happen, but ultimately it will hinge on the ACC and SEC, and the Big 12, to some degree, agreeing that it's the best course of action. I have not heard a massive groundswell of momentum on it. Discussions? Yes. Massive momentum? Not yet.
Berm Burner
2:04
Big matchup for State and Ole Miss this coming weekend. What are y'all's thoughts going into it?
Kendall Rogers
2:04
Should be a pretty even series with both teams being without a starting pitcher this weekend in all likelihood. Depending on the weather conditions at Swayze Field, I would imagine this will be a very offensive series if I was a betting man. I think I might lean Ole Miss at home ....
Eric
2:06
The SEC and ACC are definitely the top two conferences, but has the Big 10 surpassed the Big 12 for 3rd best? Which conference will get more bids come tourney time?
Kendall Rogers
2:06
The Big 12 is still the better conference and will get more bids on Selection Monday for sure, IMO. The Big Ten has been very solid at the top, but I don't love the middle to bottom of that league. I actually think the Big 12 is pretty salty. Even teams like Arizona, BYU and Houston at the bottom of the league standings are pretty pesky.
Jurien
2:07
Does the NCAA tournament ever get expanded? What about a secondary tournament? Ie: NIT
Kendall Rogers
2:07
I think expansion could happen. I don't think NIT is going to be in the works anytime soon. There's a reason the event has been scaled back dramatically in basketball. I just don't see the risk/time needed vs. reward in baseball being worth it, personally speaking.
Erik
2:08
Is there a world where Nebraska could host? 18-6. wins vs FSU/Auburn, 9 wins away from home already...but, I assume it involves series wins vs USC AND Oregon, but the series vs Penn State, Michigan State, and Ohio State are really going to drag that RPI number down, even if they win all 9 of those. What say you?
Kendall Rogers
2:08
It's still way too early to look at the RPI, but sitting at 33 with series remaining against USC, at Oregon, etc, the Huskers will certainly have a pathway. But like most Big Ten teams, there also are some teams on the schedule that are huge warts from an RPI standpoint. The margin for error won't be massive down the stretch.
James
2:12
Thoughts on the FSU lineup? Back-to-back weeks with run rule wins against top end ACC pitching staffs. Freshman (Paulino, Stuetzer, Bavaro) figuring it out...
Kendall Rogers
2:12
It's funny, we were just talking about this on our podcast and as a staff a couple of weeks ago. Would Florida State be offensive enough? My very low hanging fruit take was that with Link Jarrett, I'm always a believer in his offenses to figure things out. Well, it certainly seems like the Noles have figured out the right formula. As you mentioned, Stuetzer was really good over the weekend, as was Paulino and others. It wasn't just the Myles Bailey and Brayden Dowd show, it was everyone up and down the lineup. I actually thought it was a good sign that Beard and Mendes weren't at their best, and the Noles still found a way this past weekend to maul the Pack the final two games of the series. FSU is trending up FAST for me.
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