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Baseball American & D1Baseball Weekly Chats (5/17)

Alum-Ni

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Gold Member
Aug 29, 2004
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B1G relevant topics from the two chats today:


Keegan: Who in the Big Ten race has the hardest road ahead? Do you expect the Nebraska and Michigan series to determine the conference champion?

Teddy Cahill: Maryland has the hardest finish -- at Michigan, vs. Indiana. I'd probably rank it Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska and Indiana in terms of schedule toughness. If by "determine the conference champion" you mean act as a de facto Big Ten championship series, no I don't think it'll be that way. I expect the Big Ten title race to come down to the final day. I expect both the Nebraska-Michigan series and the Indiana-Maryland series to play a role in who wins the title.
 

Jake: Are the regional pairings this year going to be 100 percent matched up for a super regional like in previous years? Or will that change in 2021 given some of the guidelines the NCAA is implementing due to COVID?

Kendall Rogers: Nothing is changing in terms of the NCAA Tournament appearances. 1 vs 16, 2 vs 15 and so on.....

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John Sonedecker: Why can't the Big Ten get some love. You keep bouncing Michigan, Nebraska and Indiana in and out of the #21-25 rankings. Is it their conference-only schedule? How many Big Ten teams do you think will make it into the NCAA Tournament? Last week, I think you even projected five (5): Nebraska, Indiana, Michigan, Maryland and Iowa.

Aaron Fitt: I think I still see five bids for the Big Ten, although Iowa definitely hurt its case with that home series loss to Illinois. As for the Top 25, those teams just keep beating each other up -- every time we bring one in, it loses its weekend and falls back out.

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Matthew S: The Big Ten obviously left the softball selection show feeling slighted, with only three teams in and Michigan not getting a hosting spot. Different sport and different committee, but do you feel that's an ominous message for how the baseball selection committee is going to handle the B1G?

Kendall Rogers: Matthew -- the committees are vastly different in some ways, but I can tell you there are some folks on the current committee who wonder how much stock you can put into anything out of the Big Ten this spring. With that said, I would certainly have Michigan, Nebraska and Indiana in.....would it surprise me if those are the only teams who made the field? Not really. I would have Maryland in, but not sure the committee would agree at the moment.

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Matt: How wobbly is Iowa right now after losing two of three to Illinois and falling two games behind Maryland in the Big Ten standings?

Aaron Fitt: I alluded to this earlier, but that was a big setback. "Wobbly" is the right word; we'll see if we've still got room for the Hawkeyes when we build our field of 64 tonight. If they're in, they'll likely be one of the last teams in.

Kendall Rogers: Sitting in fifth place and two games back of fourth-place Maryland, I would have Iowa on the bad side of the bubble right now. The Hawkeyes will need to finish very strong to get in, IMO.
 
Aaron Fitt: I think I still see five bids for the Big Ten, although Iowa definitely hurt its case with that home series loss to Illinois. As for the Top 25, those teams just keep beating each other up -- every time we bring one in, it loses its weekend and falls back out.
Why don't you include all 3 then?
 
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