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2021 Baseball


Bugeaters1

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Obviously the way the B1G handled scheduling was counted against.  A two seed that was counted last among two's and two #3 seeds.  Perhaps they couldn't resist also pitting Bolt against Van Horn, but our bid esp. was a total diss.  I trust the Huskers will all have their big boy pants on.  But their reaction when they were announced tells it all.  

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Well, I guess we were nowhere near earning a regional host bid. Probably would've had to go 43-0 to pull that off.

 

With where Maryland & NU ended up in the bracket, and with Michigan going 2-4 vs Maryland & NU in the final 2 weekends and finishing well behind both teams in the standings and in RPI, I have no explanation for how Michigan makes the field.

 

To top off the insanity, Michigan gets the softest draw of the 3 B1G teams. With the quality of Michigan's #1 and #2 starters and with a strong closer, they have a shot to sneak out of that regional.

 

The inability to properly seed the B1G teams comparatively to each other is on the NCAA committee. The overall treatment for B1G teams is squarely on the B1G leadership, though, by not allowing non-con games. Yet another B1G leadership blunder in a season of them. 

 

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To add insult to injury - only 3 times since NU joined the B1G has the regular season conference champ finished with a better than .721 league winning percentage like NU had this year. All 3 of those teams were national seeds & hosted regionals.

  • 2014 - Indiana - #4 national seed
  • 2015 - Illinois - #6 national seed
  • 2018 - Minnesota - #14 national seed

None of those 3 teams had as large of a championship margin as NU, which won the B1G by 3-1/2 games. Indiana and Illinois each won by 3 games, and Minnesota won by 1-1/2 games.

 

 

Now all 3 of those teams were outstanding in league play, 21-3, 21-1, and 18-4, respectively. So NU didn't win at as high of a rate as those teams and wasn't going to get the same level of treatment from the NCAA committee. Understandably. 

 

But it's reasonable to assume that if NU had played non-con games, based on past numbers for recent similar teams in the B1G, that this NU team being in the #18 to #22 range nationally is not out of line. Certainly not #32.

 

 

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3 hours ago, 49r said:

 

So that would make us like the #32 overall seed? Damn.

 

I guess it does kinda make sense when you look at the RPI:

 

https://d1baseball.com/nitty-gritty/

 

All of the Big Ten teams got the shaft due to not playing any non-con games.  I think the team with the biggest beef today is probably Iowa.  Getting left out of the tournament altogether while Michigan, 12 spots below them, gets in.

 

You kind of wonder if we had swept Michigan, would Iowa have taken their place?

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12 minutes ago, 49r said:

All of the Big Ten teams got the shaft due to not playing any non-con games.  I think the team with the biggest beef today is probably Iowa.  Getting left out of the tournament altogether while Michigan, 12 spots below them, gets in.

 

7 minutes ago, hskr4life said:

I thought this as well-- there was NO way the B1G was getting 4 teams in.  Michigan was playing for a lot more than I think they realize this weekend.

 

Was Iowa ever even close to being in the conversation the final couple of weeks of the season?

 

I actually think Michigan was aware of the magnitude of this final series. You could see the effort of "every pitch counts" from both teams immediately in Game 1 of the series.

 

More than anything, this continues to emphasize that the Big Ten is a 1-3 bid league (closer to 1-2). And also, that preseason rankings have too much influence on how rankings are set throughout the season. Michigan was a favorite going in and that narrative stayed strong through to the very end.

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2 hours ago, Huskerpapa said:

We just need to go get it done.  It is the closest regional to us and the Van Horn/Bolt/Nebraska storyline is quite honestly hard for the committee to pass on.  Hey, we have to win the first one before we worry about the second one.  We have to win to get to Arkansas. 

It is very easy to pass on the story line.  Seed the damn thing fairly is all you have to do.  Does Barry Collier run this selection committee also?

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1 hour ago, 49r said:

 

I guess it does kinda make sense when you look at the RPI:

 

https://d1baseball.com/nitty-gritty/

 

All of the Big Ten teams got the shaft due to not playing any non-con games.  I think the team with the biggest beef today is probably Iowa.  Getting left out of the tournament altogether while Michigan, 12 spots below them, gets in.

 

You kind of wonder if we had swept Michigan, would Iowa have taken their place?

RPI wildly inaccurate this year with inconsistency of non conference schedules.  There is no data as to where to put the Big Ten so RPI cannot be relied upon at all for Big Ten teams.  

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Not to nitpick, the B1G hasn't been a 1-to-3, let alone 1-to-2, bid league for several years. That's old thinking. And the bids have been spread around the league to a large number of different teams.

 

The quality of play in the B1G since NU joined the league has increased tremendously. (Not claiming that NU is responsible for that - it's probably more related to tons of money from football needing to be spent somewhere - but having a school that cares about baseball like NU join the league and moving the league tournament to the home of the CWS hasn't hurt.)

 

2019 - 5 bids - Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio State - Michigan made CWS

2018 - 4 bids - Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio State, Purdue - Minnesota was a #14 national seed

2017 - 5 bids - Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska

2016 - 3 bids - Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State

2015 - 5 bids - Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan - Illinois was a #6 national seed

2014 - 2 bids - Indiana, Nebraska - Indiana was a #4 national seed

2013 - 2 bids - Illinois, Indiana - Indiana made CWS

2012 - 2 bids - Michigan State, Purdue

 

From 2012 thru 2019, only Northwestern, Penn St, and Rutgers didn't play in the NCAAs. 10 out of 13 teams having that level of success is pretty good.

 

From 2013 on, it's been far more success than the B1G had in the previous 30 years. I believe Indiana's CWS appearance was the first for the B1G in 3 decades. 

 

Just as recently as 2011, Illinois was the only qualifier and was a #4 regional seed after a 15-9 regular season league record. In 2010, the same thing happened. Minnesota was the only B1G qualifier after a 15-9 regular season league record and was a #4 seed in a regional. So the league has come a long, long way.

 

2021 is an outlier because of the B1G's short-sighted decision to not allow non-con games.

 

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Nothing earth shattering.  Athletic well worth the price, especially if you get in on a Cyber monday deal or something like that.  If you would like @HuskerFever I will ship you a 30 day free trial.  They give me a few and haven's used any.  PM me if you want one.  Not sure if Marist and Delaware St. have writers though.  

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