Here are the items discussed that are of interest to the B1G and there were several items. I stopped following the Chris Lemonis saga at Miss. St., but there was an item on him which caught my attention, and I included it.
Guest: Is Oregon actually good, or have they just played a pathetic schedule?
Kendall Rogers: I think Oregon is pretty good. The Ducks have definitely had some games where the pitching has been abysmal, but overall, I like their vibe and I think that offense is extremely dangerous from top to bottom. It’s a loud offensive group, and it’s a group who was in a Super Regional last season. That’s pretty scary if you ask me.
Justin douglas: Regarding Mississippi state. Do you think southern miss head coach Christian Ostrander is the legitimate front runner if their season continues down this path.
Kendall Rogers: Has there ever been a coach more prematurely fired than Chris Lemonis? I get it, tough weekend. But let the season play out. Remember when last season, everyone wanted Lemonis gone in early March, and MSU ended up having a pretty good year? This team has that ability, too. All three of those Texas games could’ve gone either way. Do I think MSU is a finished product right now? Not at all. Do I think they look like a team totally lost? Not at all. They don’t look like A&M, for instance.
Brenton: Death, Taxes, and a RPI question. What was the lowest RPI national host that you guys can remember and what can a lower conference team(say UTSA, Tulane in the AAC) Do to host? Go undefeated in conference AND win conf tournament?
Joe Healy: My colleague Mark Etheridge is a walking encyclopedia of information like this, so I wish he were here to help me out on this one, but as a generalization, the teams with the worst RPIs to host have tended to be west coast teams. I seem to remember UCLA once hosting with an RPI somewhere in the range of 34. Hosting as a team east of the Mississippi and south of the Mason Dixon Line with RPIs outside the top 18 or so is exceedingly rare. If you’re looking to concoct a scenario where an AAC team could host, look to what ECU has done in the past, including just last year. 43-15 after the AAC tourney, comfortably won the regular season title, lots of non-con wins against good teams in the region (UNC, UNCW, Liberty, NC State, etc.). But like it or not (and most of the time I don’t), RPI is going to be the single most important factor in the discussion.
WestCoastBestCoast: A month into the season now, who do you see making the tournament besides Oregon and UCLA in the B1G?
Joe Healy: The Big Ten is deep this season, but it’s precisely because of that depth that there’s a very real scenario where it only gets 2-3 teams into the field with everyone beating each other so bad that it’s hard to separate teams 4-10, for example, and none of the RPIs in that range stand out. But to actually answer your question, based on performance so far, I’d go Penn State. But based on having a schedule that you could see working out in the team’s favor RPI-wise, I might go Michigan, though a series loss at home to USC over the weekend isn’t helping the Wolverines’ cause.
Eric Simmons: I think the Big Ten might come down to Oregon or UCLA what do you think?
Joe Healy: I think that’s correct and I wouldn’t be surprised if Oregon wins the league going away.
Daniel: How many wins total do you think it will take for USC to make the post season this year?
Joe Healy: If you mean the USC Trojans, it’s probably going to have to finish somewhere in the top 3-4 in the Big Ten and pick up some key midweek wins to be in the mix. If you mean the USC Gamecocks, like all SEC teams, it’s all about getting to 13 or 14 wins in conference play.
Guest: Is Oregon actually good, or have they just played a pathetic schedule?
Kendall Rogers: I think Oregon is pretty good. The Ducks have definitely had some games where the pitching has been abysmal, but overall, I like their vibe and I think that offense is extremely dangerous from top to bottom. It’s a loud offensive group, and it’s a group who was in a Super Regional last season. That’s pretty scary if you ask me.
Justin douglas: Regarding Mississippi state. Do you think southern miss head coach Christian Ostrander is the legitimate front runner if their season continues down this path.
Kendall Rogers: Has there ever been a coach more prematurely fired than Chris Lemonis? I get it, tough weekend. But let the season play out. Remember when last season, everyone wanted Lemonis gone in early March, and MSU ended up having a pretty good year? This team has that ability, too. All three of those Texas games could’ve gone either way. Do I think MSU is a finished product right now? Not at all. Do I think they look like a team totally lost? Not at all. They don’t look like A&M, for instance.
Brenton: Death, Taxes, and a RPI question. What was the lowest RPI national host that you guys can remember and what can a lower conference team(say UTSA, Tulane in the AAC) Do to host? Go undefeated in conference AND win conf tournament?
Joe Healy: My colleague Mark Etheridge is a walking encyclopedia of information like this, so I wish he were here to help me out on this one, but as a generalization, the teams with the worst RPIs to host have tended to be west coast teams. I seem to remember UCLA once hosting with an RPI somewhere in the range of 34. Hosting as a team east of the Mississippi and south of the Mason Dixon Line with RPIs outside the top 18 or so is exceedingly rare. If you’re looking to concoct a scenario where an AAC team could host, look to what ECU has done in the past, including just last year. 43-15 after the AAC tourney, comfortably won the regular season title, lots of non-con wins against good teams in the region (UNC, UNCW, Liberty, NC State, etc.). But like it or not (and most of the time I don’t), RPI is going to be the single most important factor in the discussion.
WestCoastBestCoast: A month into the season now, who do you see making the tournament besides Oregon and UCLA in the B1G?
Joe Healy: The Big Ten is deep this season, but it’s precisely because of that depth that there’s a very real scenario where it only gets 2-3 teams into the field with everyone beating each other so bad that it’s hard to separate teams 4-10, for example, and none of the RPIs in that range stand out. But to actually answer your question, based on performance so far, I’d go Penn State. But based on having a schedule that you could see working out in the team’s favor RPI-wise, I might go Michigan, though a series loss at home to USC over the weekend isn’t helping the Wolverines’ cause.
Eric Simmons: I think the Big Ten might come down to Oregon or UCLA what do you think?
Joe Healy: I think that’s correct and I wouldn’t be surprised if Oregon wins the league going away.
Daniel: How many wins total do you think it will take for USC to make the post season this year?
Joe Healy: If you mean the USC Trojans, it’s probably going to have to finish somewhere in the top 3-4 in the Big Ten and pick up some key midweek wins to be in the mix. If you mean the USC Gamecocks, like all SEC teams, it’s all about getting to 13 or 14 wins in conference play.
