NCAA Baseball Top 25 Rankings Chat (4/26/21)

Image credit: (Photo courtesy of Texas Baseball)

Teddy Cahill: Welcome to this week’s college baseball chat. It was another fun weekend of action around the country and you have questions. Let’s get to it.

Tony (Fort Myers):

 Ole Miss at 17. Probably fair, but ouch.

Teddy Cahill: Ole Miss has played a really hard schedule and there’s no shame in losing series at Florida and Mississippi State and home to Arkansas, particularly when you don’t get swept in any of them. But these home series losses to UCF and LSU, two teams that haven’t lived up to preseason expectations, that’s harder to just wipe away. So, there the Rebs are at 17 with another really tough series coming up, as South Carolina comes to town this weekend.

Jim (Pittsburgh):

 Do you think missing the Louisville series and the Covid-pause will hurt Pitt’s hosting chances

Teddy Cahill: That’s a little complicated. It definitely goes down as a missed opportunity. A series win would have been a big boost to Pitt’s hosting chances. But if the Panthers had gone to Louisville and gotten swept, say, that’s not doing them any favors. I would have predicted Pitt go 1-2 on the weekend and that probably wouldn’t have moved the needle much either way. Pitt seems destined now to hang around the hosting bubble until the selections are made.

Tim (SLC):

 Do we know what day this week the regional hosts will be announced?

Teddy Cahill: It’s not for two more weeks. I don’t know precisely when to expect it the week of May 10, but likely it will be earlier than later in the week. It’s important to give the host sites as much time as possible to prepare their Covid-19 testing facilities.

:Guest (California):

 Can you go over potential Host sites in the west and how the current Pac 12 conference is playing out to determine host sites

Teddy Cahill: Arizona and Oregon are leading the pack, both in the Pac-12 standings and as potential hosts. They’re both in great shape with top-10 RPIs and holding the top spots in the Pac-12 standings. It may just be those two, but Oregon State and Stanford are still in the mix. The Beavers could have used another win over the weekend at UC Irvine, but with five more road games this week, they still have opportunities to boost their RPI. The Cardinal are right around the bubble but now are dealing with some uncertainty after Covid-19 forced the series against UW to be canceled. They’re scheduled for a tricky series at USC this weekend and then home to Arizona. Win those series and Stanford probably is in position to host.

Tommy Top Step (Florida):

 Remember FSU’s Catcher Mat Nelson? How’s he doing this week? He’s not only the best catcher in the ACC… he’s the best catcher in the country! Change my mind!

Teddy Cahill: Considering you asked essentially this same question last week, I’d say you’re pretty locked in on Mat Nelson as the best catcher in the ACC/nation. (I’m still taking Henry Davis, fwiw,)

Fairfield (MAAC):

 Thanks for the rankings but does 25-0 really count vs season openers every weekend?

Teddy Cahill: There are a lot of ways you can try to discredit Fairfield’s record. But, here’s the thing, the Stags have played the schedule they’ve been given and haven’t lost. They’ve literally done all they can do. So, yeah, 25-0 counts.

guest (cali):

 biggest surprise programs this year ? biggest disappointment programs this year ?

Teddy Cahill: Pitt has to qualify as the biggest surprise. I don’t think anyone could have expected the Panthers to be in the mix to host regionals. Oregon is up there as well – Pac-12 coaches voted the Ducks seventh in their preseason poll. On the flip side, LSU and Virginia have gone from the top 10 in the preseason to NCAA Tournament bubble teams.

Adam (Crown Point, IN):

 Good morning! So, here is a question, not referencing any particular player. If a guy goes to the Cape and does real well, then comes back to college the following year and maybe is slumping and therefore his stock starts going down, how come they don’t switch and use a wooden bat? Wouldn’t this make sense to switch? Or is it illegal to use wooden in college? Thank you!

Teddy Cahill: Setting aside whether a player could use wood (the rules allow for it, but would a school’s equipment contract? I have no idea), you’d have to be absolutely convinced that the bat was the only reason you hit better on the Cape. Because even the BBCOR bats are going to outperform wood. I know some players talk about being more comfortable with wood, but that wood bat just doesn’t perform as well. So, a player better be absolutely sure that putting a different bat in his hands is the only answer as to why he hit better in summer ball.

Mikey’s Bar and Grill (South Bend, IN):

 What are the odds teams get to host a regional where fans have not been able to attend all season?

Teddy Cahill: I don’t think attendance will have an impact on host site decisions. If the NCAA was concerned about maximizing attendance (and therefore money), it wouldn’t be capping attendance at 50% even if local regulations allow for more. If the schools are willing to bid and take on the costs associated with hosting a regional, I think that will be good enough for the selection committee.

Guest (cali):

 Is it still possible for UCLA to host or has that train left the station this past weekend ?

Teddy Cahill: Possible? Maybe. Run off like five wins over the next two weekends and the Bruins are going to climb in both RPI and the Pac-12 standings. Now, is that likely? UCLA hasn’t put together back-to-back weekends like that in a month. Further, UCLA has a series loss to Stanford, so it would really behoove it to get ahead of the Cardinal in the standings. Again, possible, but the Bruins will need to show more consistency than they have for a month to make it happen.

Teddy Cahill: That’ll do it for today. Thanks to everyone for the questions. We’ll be back here next week to do this again, as college baseball hits the stretch run.