ADVERTISEMENT

Tomorrow’s championship will be late

saluno22

Defensive Coordinator
Mar 1, 2006
7,859
3,820
113
Curfew and weather are pushing Ohio State-Minnesota to 11am CDT tomorrow. We will play the championship about 1 hour after the conclusion of that game.
 
I can’t remember since we have been in the B1G that all 4 games were played on Saturday, of course because of the curfew rule they had to move game 14 for this morning..

Might be better if we play Bucknuts because we haven’t seen each other but I always pull for Minnesota in the B1G as long as their not playing Nebraska..
 
  • Like
Reactions: saluno22
I can’t remember since we have been in the B1G that all 4 games were played on Saturday, of course because of the curfew rule they had to move game 14 for this morning..

Might be better if we play Bucknuts because we haven’t seen each other but I always pull for Minnesota in the B1G as long as their not playing Nebraska..
I prefer Minnesota because they will have played one more game than OSU.
 
I can’t remember since we have been in the B1G that all 4 games were played on Saturday, of course because of the curfew rule they had to move game 14 for this morning..

Might be better if we play Bucknuts because we haven’t seen each other but I always pull for Minnesota in the B1G as long as their not playing Nebraska..
You got me curious so I looked it up...

The Big Ten expanded to the 8-team field in 2014 and, save for a couple tweaks on when certain matchups are played and the one tournament in Bloomington (2017), the scheduled start times of games have not changed.

2014: Indiana and Nebraska swept through their respective brackets.
2015: Michigan and Maryland swept through their respective brackets.

2016: Iowa swept through their bracket, Ohio State did not and due to a ton of weather delays, they played an if necessary game with Michigan State on Sunday morning (9am CDT).
2017: Both Iowa and Northwestern needed if necessary games to reach the championship after going 2-0, and Iowa's if necessary with Minnesota went 13 innings very, very late.
2018: Minnesota and Purdue swept through their respective brackets.
2019: Nebraska and the Minnesota/Ohio State winner will have played their if necessary games, with Minnesota/Ohio State on Sunday morning (11am CDT).

So to modify a phrase from Brian Fantana, 50% of the time when the Big Ten baseball tourney has had an 8-team field, an if necessary game has been played on the morning of the championship every time. :)

Looks like the Big 12 is having the same issue this season (TCU and Oklahoma State are playing an if necessary game this morning before the championship).

My question is why is today's postponed game at 11am instead of 9am?

Nonetheless, as much as it was mocked for the few years it existed in the Big 12 (2006-2010, 2013), I'm kind of longing for splitting the field into two 4-team round robin pools with 3 guaranteed games for each team and a single-game championship for the pool winners (if there was a 3-way tie at 2-1 in either pool, the championship qualifier defaulted to the higher seed; just once did this happen (2009)). 13 games total, no if necessary, and much less taxing on pitching staffs. Would still have the issue of playing 4 games each day, but they did put in an off day to account for weather delays. So max 4 games over 5 days rather than anywhere from 4 to 6 games over 5 days like currently.
 
Saluno22, I’m OK with the way they’re doing now.. I like the idea of changing brackets after only 4 teams are left playing..
 
  • Like
Reactions: saluno22
Saluno22, I’m OK with the way they’re doing now.. I like the idea of changing brackets after only 4 teams are left playing..
I agree under the current format, it makes sense because it provides with a variety of matchups. That's a big thing I can't stand about the CWS is you see the same matchups over and over.

2017: LSU played 7 games against 3 teams (2 vs. Florida State, 3 vs. Oregon State, 2 vs. Florida)
2015: Virginia played 7 games against 3 teams (1 vs. Arkansas, 3 vs. Florida, 3 vs. Vanderbilt)

I miss the old format where it was essentially an 8-team bracket, then when there were just 4 teams with 1 or fewer losses, the field is reshuffled to avoid rematches to the greatest degree possible.

Anyway, my main point was that the 2-pool round-robin format is less taxing on pitching staffs (that was the main reason the Big 12 went to it, because teams were tired of having their pitchers beat up against good competition when half the tourney field or more was already going to be in the NCAA Tournament). The ancillary benefit is every game is a unique matchup the entire tournament.
 
  • Like
Reactions: scarletred
I agree under the current format, it makes sense because it provides with a variety of matchups. That's a big thing I can't stand about the CWS is you see the same matchups over and over.

2017: LSU played 7 games against 3 teams (2 vs. Florida State, 3 vs. Oregon State, 2 vs. Florida)
2015: Virginia played 7 games against 3 teams (1 vs. Arkansas, 3 vs. Florida, 3 vs. Vanderbilt)

I miss the old format where it was essentially an 8-team bracket, then when there were just 4 teams with 1 or fewer losses, the field is reshuffled to avoid rematches to the greatest degree possible.

Anyway, my main point was that the 2-pool round-robin format is less taxing on pitching staffs (that was the main reason the Big 12 went to it, because teams were tired of having their pitchers beat up against good competition when half the tourney field or more was already going to be in the NCAA Tournament). The ancillary benefit is every game is a unique matchup the entire tournament.

Exactly, I like the B1G better too plus you pretty much seat where ever you like..I’ve sat through some hot days on the 3rd base side and I was down watching it there after 6 or 7 innings..
 
One benefit to playing all these games is the experience gained by guys who normally get none. I mean even Tyler Martin was able to get live game action in that could even help in a regional.

One thing Erstad has to be willing to change however is his rescheduling or even scheduling of midweek games. We essentially play none the last few weeks of the season and those are the games that benefit the bullpen depth the most.

This tourney shows how important those games are and you run the risk of not getting that before you enter a regional. I’d rather take my lumps during the season than at regional time.

One thing that Erstad does that does benefit his pitching staff depth is allowing position players to pitch. I mean the ability to have a hidden couple innings in a Hallmark, or even a Schwellenbach (starring next season) is a hidden bonus. With a 25 man roster this essentially give you “30 players” so to speak when you have guys that can do multiple things.

Maximizing roster space is one thing I've liked about Erstad. Maximizing the regular season schedule is one thing I’ve hated.

GBR
 
My question is why is today's postponed game at 11am instead of 9am
It might have something to do with a change in when the selection committee needs the games finished. They used to announce host sites early on Sunday while games were still in progress or even yet to start. Now they wait until Sunday night so perhaps they’ve pushed back the whole process until later in the day, which is probably a good thing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: saluno22
Nonetheless, as much as it was mocked for the few years it existed in the Big 12 (2006-2010, 2013), I'm kind of longing for splitting the field into two 4-team round robin pools with 3 guaranteed games for each team and a single-game championship for the pool winners (if there was a 3-way tie at 2-1 in either pool, the championship qualifier defaulted to the higher seed; just once did this happen (2009)). 13 games total, no if necessary, and much less taxing on pitching staffs. Would still have the issue of playing 4 games each day, but they did put in an off day to account for weather delays. So max 4 games over 5 days rather than anywhere from 4 to 6 games over 5 days like currently.
I was never a fan of the format. It’s hardly a “tournament” if you play your games and then maybe you advance depending on what happens in other games. Plus it was Augie’s idea so I disliked it by default. ;)

It was sure nice for the fans, though, because you knew exactly when your team was going to play.
 
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest posts

ADVERTISEMENT