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D1Baseball's Weekly Chat: March 1
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Aaron Fitt
1:37
It's hard to know what to make of RPI this year because so many conferences are playing modified schedules, but generally speaking you'd think those SEC powers will have a significant RPI edge over a Big West team because as those SEC teams all play each other, it helps all of them in the RPI. Their advantage in RPI just compounds as the season goes along. The Gauchos will have a bunch of RPI killers in their conference schedule; there aren't any of those in the SEC.
Big12Fan
1:37
Fill in the blank: The best team in the Big 12 is ____.
Kendall Rogers
1:37
Still Texas Tech. I get it -- the Red Raiders didn't play well at Globe Life, but I still like this team a lot. WTS -- keep an eye on TCU. I'm impressed with its level of play right now. The offense isn't overwhelming, but it's a veteran laden lineup that can pieces together some runs. And Saarloos' pitching staff looks very strong in the early going. This is a very balanced club. I like Tech/TCU/OSU in that order at the moment.
PalmettoHead
1:41
2 things from SC this weekend---1. USC-Upstate could be the best mid-major around in the southeast. 2. The Gamecocks are back!
Aaron Fitt
1:41
You definitely could be onto something with USC Upstate. I saw those guys in the fall and thought there was quite a bit to like about them. I am tentatively planning to see them in a couple of weeks at Campbell, which should be a fun little mid-major showdown. And yes, the Gamecocks are back. I've been trying to tell you guys!
John
1:41
Is Dylan Crews the leader for All-American, Freshman and SEC honors?
Kendall Rogers
1:41
John -- Kevin Parada at Georgia Tech is also off to an amazing start with an OPS north of 1.600, but man, Dylan Crews has been awesome. He reminds me a lot of Alex Bregman (albeit bigger) with some of his actions. How about this? His OPS is over 1.300 right now. Not bad, freshman.
Wesley Wells
1:42
How solid is Arkansas in the #1 spot? Would dropping one of the three against Murray State this weekend equate to a fourth week with a fourth new #1, or would it take the Hogs dropping the series?
Aaron Fitt
1:42
We very seldom drop teams after winning their weekends. As long as the Hogs win their series, they should stick in that spot.
Dan Bennett
1:44
The Northern teams have started out pretty well against the Southern teams.  Does this mean that the Northern teams are catching up with talent?
Aaron Fitt
1:44
I do think there are some programs in the Northeast that have serious momentum, and have done an awesome job keeping a lot of the talent in the region from fleeing for warm weather. Boston College, UConn, Northeastern, Bryant, St. John's -- these are quality, established programs that can go toe-to-toe with good teams anywhere in the country.
Guest
1:46
Don't sleep on the Stetson Hatters.  Off to a 9-0 start. The pitching is deep and talented.  The offense has some pop it has not had the last few years.  This is a mid-major to watch.  Strongest non-conference schedule in school history by far.  At-large and/or Regional host potential?
Kendall Rogers
1:46
Definitely not sleeping on the Hatters. It's interesting -- I was having a conversation with Steve Trimper a few weeks ago when we were talking about losing Daniel Paret, likely, for the season, and he said he actually though the pitching staff would be fine moving forward. He had a ton of confidence in guys like Chris Gonzalez. And now, those guys are off to terrific starts. They've got our attention.
Aaron Fitt
1:47
Yeah, I saw Stetson beat UCF on Tuesday in Orlando, and it was a pretty dominant performance. I'm with you on the power in the lineup, with Foggo and Sardinas and Hylton -- they've got some guys who can scare you. That's a good club. I wrote about some of those guys on our site this week, check it out.
Dylan
1:46
Is Coastal Carolina a few wins out of being ranked?
Aaron Fitt
1:46
Yeah, they're building a nice little resumé. Still behind some other teams in the pecking order because they did lose a home series last weekend, but they've got some nice wins over Wake Forest, West Virginia and the one win against Duke. That Coastal offense is scary, and if the talented young arms hold up, that team is very dangerous.
Brandon
1:51
Thoughts on LSU early on this season?
Kendall Rogers
1:51
Pretty much what I expected to this point. Landon Marceaux and Jaden Hill have been terrific, while Dylan Crews is meeting expectations. I'm not sure I saw Brody Drost getting off to this kind of start, however. And how about my man Tre Morgan? He's hitting .370 -- and not sure if you saw it, but he made an incredible scoop and snag of a play over the weekend. He's such a special defender over there at first .... makes it easy to see why the Tigers moved Beloso off 1B.
Brian
1:52
Big10 starts play this week.   What's the chances of some of them breaking into the top 25 w/o playing out of conference?
Kendall Rogers
1:52
If they've earned it, they'll be ranked. Michigan, for instance, is a team that we discussed extensively for our Preseason Top 25. The Wolverines won't be alone. We will evaluate the Big Ten teams just like we evaluate the other teams.
cool 1
Chris K
1:54
How close was Pitt to cracking the Top 25? And thoughts on how ECU's Carson Wisenhunt's first two starts bolsters their starting pitching?- thanks
Aaron Fitt
1:54
Man, I hated to leave Pitt out of the Top 25, and Notre Dame too, for that matter. What a fascinating start in the ACC. I mean look, Pitt's resumé is really strong right now -- a road sweep of Florida State (not a premium FSU team but still a talented squad), plus a quality series win against Indiana State. All those veterans in the Pitt lineup will make that team extremely competitive all year, I just wasn't sure they had enough arms -- but so far, so good on that front. Mitch Myers is really good, and it looks like he can anchor that staff, and Matt Gilbertson was awesome this week. Anyway, Pitt is knocking on the door. And Whisenhunt has been my pick to click for ECU since last summer when I saw him in the Coastal Plain League. I've been saying all offseason, I think he's got the best chance to become the true No. 1 starter that ECU has needed. After two starts, he sure looks like that guy.
Dr, O
1:56
Potential surprise teams in the PAC-12 this year? Perhaps a team like Oregon or WSU taking over the position that UW played in the conference the last few years?
Kendall Rogers
1:56
Dr -- Oregon State being this good so early kind of surprises me... But then again, it's Oregon friggin' State, so maybe it shouldn't. WTS -- I do think Washington State seems very much improved. We've gotten stellar reports on hard-hitting Kyle Manzardo from this past weekend, who's hitting .452 with an OPS north of 1.300, 3. homers and 13 RBIs.
James
1:58
Looking around the country at teams like Arkansas, Vandy, Louisville, Georgia Tech that have multiple backups that would start at most programs. How are coaches dealing with the surplus in talent and playing time?
Aaron Fitt
1:58
I think you'll continue to see a lot of coaches use a bunch of different lineups or even bring in a whole second wave of players halfway through a game, something that Florida did against Miami (and got a spark from). I have a feeling lineups will start to coalesce more in another month or so, but right now it makes sense to give as many players opportunities as possible, to build morale and also see if somebody unexpected emerges. It isn't an easy thing to manage, but there are worse problems for coaches, that's for sure.
PowerMajors
2:00
Viva la POWER MAJOR! It was nearly a mega weekend for some under the radar teams from non P5 conferences. What do you guys attribute to the successes these teams are having agains the big boys?
Aaron Fitt
2:00
Well Shooter, I do think part of it is how much veteran experience a lot of these POWER MAJOR programs got back. Through the years, you often see those types of programs make serious runs when they have a bunch of quality seniors -- experience and physical maturity really matter in college baseball. I talked about Pitt's experience earlier, they have a bunch of fifth- and sixth-year players back, which just makes them a handful to deal with. I think that's the case at a lot of these non-power five schools too.
Oxford Bald Eagle
2:01
Southern Miss just took 2/3 from what I think is a good UCONN squad.  Stanley and the bullpen looked electric.  I know it’s early, but should USM be worried about Walker and the other starters?
Kendall Rogers
2:01
OBE -- Obviously, if those two have issues coming back moving forward, that hinders Southern Miss. But let's just assume they are back -- that's a VERY strong weekend rotation to go with an expected, potent offense. Chris Sargent, in particular, caught my attention over the weekend. The recipe is there for the Golden Eagles to be that Omaha Sleeper I predicted them as before the season. PS: Don't let me down. :)
Guest
2:01
How is CENTRAL FLORIDA not in the top 25? I saw them play Ole Miss 3 games this weekend and they were the better team.  Don't tell me they have a losing record and got beat by sorry teams last weekend b/c that's not true.
Aaron Fitt
2:01
They got beaten by GOOD teams last weekend -- FAU is a Top 25 team and Stetson isn't far removed. But still, we can't bring a 3-4 team into the Top 25, even if it did take two of three from the No. 1 team in the nation. But that was a hell of a bounceback weekend for the Knights.
BauerBruins
2:03
UCLA has looked mediocre to start the year. Sluggish offense. Do you see this turning around any time soon?
Aaron Fitt
2:03
After what I saw from UCLA in Frisco last year, when they  were just a nightmare for opposing pitchers with as dynamic a team offense as you'll see, I expected the Bruins to keep that up this spring, so I have been a bit surprised by their modest start offensively. But this is where the old "that's baseball" applies -- it's a long season, and teams are always going to run hot and cold, no matter how good they are. I still love the personnel there, and I fully expect UCLA to become a buzzsaw soon enough.
Guest
2:04
Which type of bear is best?
Aaron Fitt
2:04
Black Bear.
Kendall Rogers
2:05
Grizzly or get out.
OwlFan
2:04
Should Rice fans be alarmed by the start of the season? The schedule was much, much less aggressive than our typical non-con yet we are seeing similarly poor results.
Kendall Rogers
2:04
Owl -- I'm definitely concerned about the Owls. I was not real high on them coming out of fall workouts despite having some improvements in some key areas. WTS, I am encouraged by Roel Garcia's start this season. He's always had a premium arm but has also always battled injuries. He's commanding the zone well and is missing bats. He has to have a strong spring for the Owls to have any chance at all of making noise in CUSA.
frank
2:06
I believe Georgia Southern this weekend against ECU had a man on base every inning in the first 2 games, also their game with C of C and back to part of the TU game on last Sunday. They also had men on base all but 2 innings in game Sunday. They are a Real Good Team loaded with veteran players. ECU can rightly say they had to play their best baseball to get out of there with a series win and played like they can and will Sunday to win the series. What do you see for Georgia Southern and ECU each for the rest of the Season?
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