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Oklahoma had a helluva week, so I'm sure that helped.

Indiana holds on to win a wild game Iowa, PSU win - #6 Wisc / #14-#11 Mich-PSU Iowa, Mary win - #6 Wisc / #14-#11 Mich-Mary Ill, PSU win - #6 Indiana / #14-#11 Mich-PSU Ill, Mary win - #6 Indiana / #14-#11 Mich-Mary If Iowa beats Illinois, Wisconsin is the #6 seed / if Illinois wins Indiana is the #6 seed Illinois at Iowa at 6 on FS1 Maryland at PSU at 6:30 on BTN

What a rally - love teams that can score with 2 outs and we did a bunch of it Saturday & Sunday. Even though the circumstances were identical, today was a complete flip from Friday when we go down 4-0 after 4 batters and kind of fail to rise to the level of the fight. That was not a problem after going down 4-0 today. Clearly a lesson learned Friday and taken to heart. Even though USA had 7 runs, most of that is on the D. Pretty sloppy day from the infield today and that's an understatement. I think the injuries on the infield and the crazy subsequent lineups finally caught up with us a bit today. But we managed to overcome it. Couldn't have been easy for Horn to see his mates boot 2 balls on the first 3 hitters in his first start, so the HR that followed probably shouldn't have been a surprise. I liked what he did to hang in there and keep battling after that. McConnaughey was outstanding, too. I think he and Horn can give us a nice combo on Sundays. Timmerman continues to impress. USA is pretty good - make it 3 good series wins against southern schools. I'll take 8-2 vs GCU, C of C, and USA all day, every day. Will be very interesting to see how things go Tuesday & Wednesday in Wichita. That is not an easy place to play. I assume Walsh gets the start Tuesday. A chance for him to show that he's not going to give up on trying to get back in that weekend rotation with a good performance.

They'll be desperate and play with some motivation in Minneapolis, too, because they could move into bubble status with a deep run. I'd prefer not to see them on the #11 line.

OSU goes on the road and blows out RU - the Bucks will be a tough out next week. Possible matchups for us with 3 games left: Ind, Iowa, PSU win - #6 Wisc / #14-#11 Mich-PSU Ind, Iowa, Mary win - #6 Wisc / #14-#11 Mich-Mary Ind, Ill, PSU win - #6 Indiana / #14-#11 Mich-PSU Ind, Ill, Mary win - #6 Indiana / #14-#11 Mich-Mary MSU, Iowa, PSU win - #6 Iowa / #14-#11 Mich-OSU MSU, Iowa, Mary win - #6 Iowa / #14-#11 Mich-Mary MSU, Ill, PSU win - #6 MSU / #14-#11 Mich-OSU MSU, Ill, Mary win - #6 MSU / #14-#11 Mich-Mary 2 chances for Wisc as #6 seed 2 for Indiana as #6 2 for Iowa as #6 2 for MSU as #6 MSU at Indiana at 3:30 on CBS Illinois at Iowa at 6 on FS1 Maryland at PSU at 6:30 on BTN

Time to add a new member of a pretty exclusive club - 31st player in NU history, I believe - that's awesome for Keisei, especially to do it in 3 years.

Keisei with 30 pts in 32 min and on 17 shots. He was insanely good today. That's the kind of 30 for 30 that I like to see. What a season, but I get the impression these guys don't feel like they're anywhere near done. Why not go on a run in Minneapolis?

PU takes down Wisky - NU clinches #3 seed - highest seed we've had since being #3 in 1991 Big 8 tourney Possible matchups for us with 4 games left: Ind, Iowa, PSU, Rutg win - #6 Wisc / #14-#11 Mich-OSU Ind, Iowa, Mary, Rutg win - #6 Wisc / #14-#11 Mich-Mary Ind, Ill, PSU, Rutg win - #6 Indiana / #14-#11 Mich-OSU Ind, Ill, Mary, Rutg win - #6 Indiana / #14-#11 Mich-Mary MSU, Iowa, PSU, Rutg win - #6 Iowa / #14-#11 Mich-OSU MSU, Iowa, Mary, Rutg win - #6 Iowa / #14-#11 Mich-Mary MSU, Ill, PSU, Rutg win - #6 MSU / #14-#11 Mich-OSU MSU, Ill, Mary, Rutg win - #6 MSU / #14-#11 Mich-Mary Ind, Iowa, PSU, OSU win - #6 Wisc / #14-#11 Mich-PSU Ind, Iowa, Mary, OSU win - #6 Wisc / #14-#11 Mich-Mary Ind, Ill, PSU, OSU win - #6 Indiana / #14-#11 Mich-PSU Ind, Ill, Mary, OSU win - #6 Indiana / #14-#11 Mich-Mary MSU, Iowa, PSU, OSU win - #6 Iowa / #14-#11 Mich-OSU MSU, Iowa, Mary, OSU win - #6 Iowa / #14-#11 Mich-Mary MSU, Ill, PSU, OSU win - #6 MSU / #14-#11 Mich-OSU MSU, Ill, Mary, OSU win - #6 MSU / #14-#11 Mich-Mary 4 chances for Wisc as #6 seed 4 for Indiana as #6 4 for Iowa as #6 4 for MSU as #6 OSU leads at RU by 4 on BTN near halftime MSU at Indiana at 3:30 on CBS Illinois at Iowa at 6 on FS1 Maryland at PSU at 6:30 on BTN

Purdue by 7 with 7 min to go

Geez - Even when the clocks spring ahead an hour, this game still can't get here fast enough. Tired of watching the BTN guys talk - let's play

I also like this look - really stresses the other team. However, Walsh just isn't where he needs to be. He didn't make the progression in the offseason like he needed to on gaining more velocity and/or mastering a 3rd pitch. Makes it tough to start him, at least on the weekend, when he has to go thru the lineup 2+ times. Horn has the arm talent to be really, really good. Hope he shows it today. Coaches don't like 3 righties as the weekend starters, but Horn can make them learn to like it if he pitches up to his talent level. Our bullpen is in great shape today, so no one will have a long leash. And I like our chances if we can get into USA's middle bullpen. Need to win this home series.

Probably should've postponed for a DH tomorrow because our guys weren't all that ready to play / interested in playing. Far too many popups and fly balls trying to take advantage of the wind. Not a good approach at the plate. Time to stop reading the nice things everyone has been saying and to get back to work tomorrow. I like having a no-nonsense guy like Sears on the bump for a game where we need an attitude adjustment.

But it's so hard not to hope Wisconsin loses every game they play, plus a few more.

Indiana fans seem to be taking the news well.

A step closer to earning the #3 seed and finishing in at least a tie for 3rd place. Haven't finished 3rd or higher in a conference season since 1993 (tied for 2nd) Haven't been seeded #3 or higher in a conference tourney since 1991

Sounds like Overbeek is aiming at next weekend to return.

Going to be a big next 5 games for NU - USA is much improved, and Wichita is certainly a surprise after their roster was gutted at the end of last season. All 5 games will be big for RPI down the road. Sounds like it's Sears / Christo / ??? for this weekend. McConnaughey, who pitched pretty well in relief last weekend, would be my guess. Horn may get a look instead. The coaches don't like starting 3 righties on a weekend, but I think that's probably where we're headed. Sundays are going to be interesting, which is pretty on brand for 90% of teams in college baseball. Need Sears & Christo to keep it rolling and eating innings to give us a lot of options on Sundays.

B1G Boyd's World RPIs through 3 weeks: 3 Nebraska (7-3) 6 Rutgers (8-2) 29 Indiana (7-4) 30 N'western (5-5) 53 Purdue (8-3)* 54 Ohio St (6-4) 74 Iowa (5-6) 87 Maryland (9-3) 97 Penn St (7-3)* 114 Michigan (4-8)* 119 Minnesota (4-5) 124 Illinois (5-6)* 151 Michigan St (4-7) * NU doesn't play Other teams of note: 31 bluebirds (7-1) 86 K-State (7-3) 93 UCLA (5-5) 109 Washington (3-5) 113 North Dakota St (2-9) 153 Kansas (7-4) 154 USC (2-9) 160 Oregon (7-3) 221 South Dakota St (6-6) 286 Omaha (0-10) Of course, these are going to change a bunch just in the next few weeks, but good to see the B1G with 9 Top 100 teams out of the gate. Has to be far better than last year's start. Overall, our schedule looks pretty good so far - certainly far tougher than last year - which should help the RPI, as long as we keep taking care of business. And our four incoming brethren are having really bad starts. They better pick it up if they want to be able to hang in the B1G in baseball. Northwestern isn't putting up with this kind of shoddy play.

Post-week 3 update - how our primary non-con opponents are playing, with the Boyd's World RPI rankings as of Monday: http://boydsworld.com/baseball/rpi/currentrpi.html South Alabama 10-2 (55 RPI) USA beat Nicholls 11-10 midweek and then took two of three at home vs UNC-Wilmington --- very impressive & only allowed 11 runs in the 3 games vs UNCW, so we may be in for some tight low-scoring games again this weekend NEXT UP: New Orleans (1 game), at NU (3 gms) Wichita St 7-3 (66 RPI) Beat Oral Roberts midweek & swept Utah Tech Allowed 2 runs in the four games -- yes, total NEXT UP: at Oklahoma (1 gm), vs Long Beach (3 gms) Nicholls 11-2 (111 RPI) Beat So Miss midweek and then lost to So Alabama, both in extra innings Swept Southern U on the weekend with two shutout wins NEXT UP: vs Tulane (1 gm), vs Non-D1 SE Baptist (2 gms), vs Grambling (3 gms) New Mexico St 5-6 (258 RPI) Swept first 3 games from Northern Colorado, one more game today, by scores of 11-6, 19-11, and 22-12 NEXT UP: vs Prairie View A&M (3 games) _____ Teams we've played: Baylor 4-7 (NU W) (178 RPI) LAST WEEK: 0-1 vs Abilene Christian, 3-0 vs Oral Roberts (by a combined 31-12) UP NEXT: vs Dallas Baptist (1 gm), at Houston (3 gms) Texas Tech 9-2 (NU L) (67 RPI) LAST WEEK: 3-0 vs Gardner-Webb (by a combined 48-15) UP NEXT: at New Mexico (1 gm) vs Texas (3 gms) Oklahoma 5-5 (NU L) (105 RPI) LAST WEEK: 0-1 vs Pitt 0-1 vs Ohio St UP NEXT: vs Wichita St (1 gm) vs UCF (3 gms) Grand Canyon 6-5 (NU WWLW) (80 RPI) LAST WEEK: 1-2 at UTSA UP NEXT: vs Oregon (2 gms) at Stephen F Austin (3 gms) College of Charleston 7-3 (NU WWW) (205 RPI) LAST WEEK: 0-3 vs Nebraska NEXT UP: vs Liberty (1 gm) vs Penn (4 gms)

Boyd's World has us #3 in RPI and #16 in his ISR - he doesn't publish rankings until most teams have 10 games played, as he says that's when the numbers start to make some sense. He's a college baseball numbers guru, so I'll take his word for it that the RPI starts to mean something now. http://boydsworld.com/baseball/isr/currentisr.html http://boydsworld.com/baseball/rpi/currentrpi.html

Exactly - I was thinking the same thing as that game unfolded. I gotta think the hand checks will get called tighter in the NCAAs, but who knows. I guess the good news is we've seen all kinds of styles - so we should be ready for just about anything.