April 7 Polls

[fryeguy93]

 

[fryeguy93]

Looking at these polls gives me some thoughts. Some more positive than others.

* As you would expect, the RPI is now increasingly coming in line with the polls and rankings.
* The same 10 SEC teams appear in all 6 lists.
* The Vols have only played two ranked teams. (Xavier is #16 RPI but I'm not counting that) I'm not sure if that's far off from the other teams. Except for a Kentucky, The Vols will be racing ranked opponents every weekend from this point.
* Clemson is really saving the ACC's arses right now. UVA, and UNC (and in some respect FSU) have not lived up to hype and this has allowed Wake Forest, Louisville, and Georgia Tech more space.
* The west coast - after a dreadful 2024 is slowly coming back. This will take away some hosting opportunities as UCLA, Oregon, Oregon State and Irvine look to get into top-16. (This will hurt the ACC a lot more than SEC but the non-hosting ACC and SEC teams may have some long regional trips

 

[txbo]

I don't have much to argue about with any of those polls.

 

[fryeguy93]

Ok.

I looked further. Tennessee's schedule is more in line than I thought.

Arkansas has played only played two consensus ranked teams (Ole Miss and Vanderbilt) and TCU who is ranked only by Baseball America.
Texas has played four ranked teams Ole Miss, Louisville, LSU, and Georgia
LSU has played two- Texas and Oklahoma and RPI ranked Xavier
Georgia has played two - Auburn and Texas
Clemson has played four- Arizona, Ole Miss, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech
Ole Miss has played five- Arizona, Texas, Clemson, Arkansas, and Southern Miss

So, Ole Miss has played a fairly taxing schedule with only Clemson offering a higher SOS.
Vanderbilt has played four
Alabama five
Georgia Tech one
Coastal Carolina five
Arizona six

 

[fryeguy93]

I don't have much to argue about with any of those polls.

Me either.

Texas schedule is interesting. They've cancelled out their ranked opponents with some uber-softies. The Las Vegas tournament did them no favors. Their defeat of both LSU and UGA cancels out some soft scheduling otherwise.


They play at Kentucky this week, so it's the Longhorns turn to be annoyed and threaten to kick Mingione's ass. Unlike when Vols play at UK, the weather us expected to be nice.

 

[fryeguy93]

This week:

Arkansas visits Georgia (HUGE SERIES)
Clemson hosts suddenly ice cold Stanford (losers of 9 straight ACC games)
LSU visits Auburn (who is coming alive)
Vanderbilt visits Oklahoma

None of these teams play a meaningful midweek foe

The good SEC midweek games this week.

Florida State at Florida
Southern Miss at Alabama
Georgia Tech at Auburn
Dallas Baptist at Oklahoma
Kentucky at Louisville

2nd tier matchups?
SC Upstate at SC

Ole Miss is playing an opponent even worse than Alabama State (Alcorn State) on Wed after playing at Memphis on Tuesday

 

[WillisWG]

 

[Boca Vol]

It's a tournament sport. Do rankings really matter until the very end?

 

[volsagain]

It's a tournament sport. Do rankings really matter until the very end?

Definitely. You want to host a regional and super regional. Top 8 is where you want to be.

 

[Boca Vol]

Definitely. You want to host a regional and super regional. Top 8 is where you want to be.

That will come with wins. The actual ranking isn't that important.

 

[Tenacjim]

That will come with wins. The actual ranking isn't that important.

Well, ”rankings” as in the polls don’t matter at ALL.

RPI does and then how the committee ultimately seeds the tourney. From THAT point, it is all results based. Win the tourney, get the trophy. D1, BA, the writers or coaches “opinions” don’t matter. Do it on the field…….

 

[Boca Vol]

Well, ”rankings” as in the polls don’t matter at ALL.

RPI does and then how the committee ultimately seeds the tourney. From THAT point, it is all results based. Win the tourney, get the trophy. D1, BA, the writers or coaches “opinions” don’t matter. Do it on the field…….

That's the only thing that matters.

 

[arkyvol]

I'd damned sure prefer to go into Fayetteville with Arkansas having the number 1 on their backs instead of the Vols.

 

[Orange931]

I'd damned sure prefer to go into Fayetteville with Arkansas having the number 1 on their backs instead of the Vols.

We put that “curse” to bed. We had the #1 on our backs all through the tournament last year and won it all.

 

[fryeguy93]

Alabama State's terrible RPI has dropped Vols to #7 in RPI. They've been passed by LSU and Vanderbilt

Alabama State (16-18) is currently #226 as earlier opponent UNC Asheville (11-20) is #248.
There are #307 Div 1 baseball schools
All schools have at least 1 Div 1 win.
Norfolk State has only 1 div 1 win and are ranked #305. Their only win was against Fairleigh Dickinson (#301)

ETSU has dropped to #75 RPI after losing 2 of 3 at UNCG. They too won via run rule on Friday only to lost the next 2 games. ETSU has lost 3 of last 4 after taking it to SC Upstate 2 weekends ago and have dropped to 4th in the SoCon. (8 teams) They lost to woeful Radford in last midweek.

 

[chuckiepoo]

Alabama State's terrible RPI has dropped Vols to #7 in RPI. They've been passed by LSU and Vanderbilt

Alabama State (16-18) is currently #226 as earlier opponent UNC Asheville (11-20) is #248.
There are #307 Div 1 baseball schools
All schools have at least 1 Div 1 win.
Norfolk State has only 1 div 1 win and are ranked #305. Their only win was against Fairleigh Dickinson (#301)

ETSU has dropped to #75 RPI after losing 2 of 3 at UNCG. They too won via run rule on Friday only to lost the next 2 games. ETSU has lost 3 of last 4 after taking it to SC Upstate 2 weekends ago and have dropped to 4th in the SoCon. (8 teams) They lost to woeful Radford in last midweek.

Winning a few SEC roadies would work wizardry…

 

[Volador]

Alabama State's terrible RPI has dropped Vols to #7 in RPI. They've been passed by LSU and Vanderbilt

Alabama State (16-18) is currently #226 as earlier opponent UNC Asheville (11-20) is #248.
There are #307 Div 1 baseball schools
All schools have at least 1 Div 1 win.
Norfolk State has only 1 div 1 win and are ranked #305. Their only win was against Fairleigh Dickinson (#301)

ETSU has dropped to #75 RPI after losing 2 of 3 at UNCG. They too won via run rule on Friday only to lost the next 2 games. ETSU has lost 3 of last 4 after taking it to SC Upstate 2 weekends ago and have dropped to 4th in the SoCon. (8 teams) They lost to woeful Radford in last midweek.

But we sure put a woopin' on those boys from Balama State. Yeeeeeehaaaaaaaa!!!!