Tennessee Softball 2023

#526
#526
EZE said:
I don’t understand going all the way to Mexico to play such weak competition. This is like a DII tournament with a few DI schools sprinkled in.
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Don't know for sure but suspect for recruiting purposes. In Women's basketball (I think) NCAA allows overseas travel once every three years. In a world of NIL and other enducements overseas travel may have been a deciding factor for specific recruits. It certainly didn't hurt.
 
#529
#529
EZE said:
I don’t understand going all the way to Mexico to play such weak competition. This is like a DII tournament with a few DI schools sprinkled in.
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When Tennessee agreed to play in the event, some of the teams that played last week were supposed to have been playing this week. I don’t know if something changed with those teams schedules, or if Tennessee was misled, but regardless the field is not as strong as Tennessee anticipated it being.

That said, if last weekend’s schedule had not been affected by weather, Tennessee would have already played three top 15 teams before heading down there, and is scheduled to play at least one team next weekend that was projected to be ranked. So I don’t think the schedule as a whole is bad at all, at least the way it was constructed before weather affected the games last week.
 
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#530
#530
DeerPark12 said:
The only preseason tournament that has actual TV coverage is the ESPN St. Pete/Clearwater Elite, and a team can only be invited to it once every three seasons.

FloSoftball buys the rights to a lot of the other major tournaments, including the Mary Nutter and the two tournaments that Arizona State runs. They have done the Mexico tournament the past few years, surprised to hear they may not this year.

I’d bet that the USF tournament will have ESPN+ for the games USF plays in, but since that’s a school production, they won’t do games they aren’t involved in.
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DeerPark12 said:
The only preseason tournament that has actual TV coverage is the ESPN St. Pete/Clearwater Elite, and a team can only be invited to it once every three seasons.



This is completely false since UCLA is attending for the second straight year and are already slated for next year!
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#531
#531
Yeah I heard that too on the ucla Bama broadcast that next
year will be ucla’s third straight appearance. So we either didn’t want to go or they did not want us.
 
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#533
#533

I can’t speak to UCLA’s situation specifically. All I can tell you is what the ESPN documentation said two years ago. It is important to remember that last year‘s field was actually the 2021 field, those contracts carried over when the event was canceled, which is why you saw teams like Tennessee go to Clearwater and to the Mary Nutter. It is possible that ESPN changed its selection criteria beginning with this year‘s event, after the two year Covid reset.

It is about to be a moot point, however, as there are strong rumors that ESPN Events is launching another tournament, and taking over one, possibly two, existing events to distribute on ESPN+. Should be interesting if that comes to fruition.
 
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#534
#534
Aladywhovolunteer said:
Don't know for sure but suspect for recruiting purposes. In Women's basketball (I think) NCAA allows overseas travel once every three years. In a world of NIL and other enducements overseas travel may have been a deciding factor for specific recruits. It certainly didn't hurt.
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From that standpoint, I understand completely. But one would think that the tournament could sell it better to top tier programs.
 
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#535
#535
DeerPark12 said:
When Tennessee agreed to play in the event, some of the teams that played last week were supposed to have been playing this week. I don’t know if something changed with those teams schedules, or if Tennessee was misled, but regardless the field is not as strong as Tennessee anticipated it being.

That said, if last weekend’s schedule had not been affected by weather, Tennessee would have already played three top 15 teams before heading down there, and is scheduled to play at least one team next weekend that was projected to be ranked. So I don’t think the schedule as a whole is bad at all, at least the way it was constructed before weather affected the games last week.
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Sorry, DP, I highly respect your input on here, but the schedule for this event is lackluster at best.

Now, if it’s a reward for the team, no problem at all.

I just wish there were some marquee games on the schedule. I think think this could be an OKC team, and I’d like to see it challenged.
 
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#536
#536
DeerPark12 said:
When Tennessee agreed to play in the event, some of the teams that played last week were supposed to have been playing this week. I don’t know if something changed with those teams schedules, or if Tennessee was misled, but regardless the field is not as strong as Tennessee anticipated it being.

That said, if last weekend’s schedule had not been affected by weather, Tennessee would have already played three top 15 teams before heading down there, and is scheduled to play at least one team next weekend that was projected to be ranked. So I don’t think the schedule as a whole is bad at all, at least the way it was constructed before weather affected the games last week.
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You mean two. Texas and Northwestern.
 
#538
#538
Cal State Fullerton doesn't have much hitting but their pitching is great. They are usually going to make the games close with their pitching. Have a win over California and Ole Miss. Lost to UCLA 3 to 0. Liberty seems to be down from last season still a lot better team than the two we faced thus far. They have played five ranked teams lost some close game to them.
 
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#539
#539
Volfan2012 said:
Cal State Fullerton doesn't have much hitting but their pitching is great. They are usually going to make the games close with their pitching. Have a win over California and Ole Miss. Lost to UCLA 3 to 0. Liberty seems to be down from last season still a lot better team than the two we faced thus far. They have played five ranked teams lost some close game to them.
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Cal State should be like Miami in Football…the radius of 50 miles is enough to fill a competitive roster of kids wanting to stay close to home not headed to UCLA, AZ. Danielle O'Toole has been their pitching coach for a few years now.
 
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#541
#541
Pannell is a little of a mystery since she seems to function. It will be awhile on Lair I suspect and Keene is not looking good but hope for the best.
 
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