"Great Dixie Disaster..."

[zipp]

Great Dixie Disaster Of 2016
By Mark Etheridge -
Jun 15, 2016

What the heck happened last weekend?

Only three of the eight national seeds are still alive. Out of 17 postseason teams from the two conferences that dominated the polls and ratings metrics all season, the SEC and ACC have just two members remaining in the elite eight. Many of the teams that ruled the draft last week, those talented clubs struggled over the weekend.

SEC champion Mississippi State — swept at home by Arizona.

SEC Tournament champion and offensive juggernaut Texas A&M — two-hit by TCU in a winner-take-all finale Sunday evening.

Uber-talented ACC member Louisville — the team with the 36-1 home record entering the weekend — walked off by a grand slam and swept on its own turf.

Surging SEC power LSU — one of the hottest teams in the sport — strands more men than a Southern snowstorm and gets swept at home by Coastal Carolina.

SEC power South Carolina came in hitting the ball all over the yard to win a regional from the losers bracket — and managed two total runs in a pair of losses to Oklahoma State.

And that doesn’t even account for teams like Clemson, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Virginia and NC State that hosted regionals they didn’t make it out of...

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This is subscription content. And if anyone is a subscriber and wants to paraphrase or quote the author in the remainder of the story, be my guest. You can probably gauge his opinion by the part that's posted for free.

I post this in response to the denial I see in many of our baseball fans about the wind-down of the ACC and SEC baseball seasons. We actually have fans willing to debate that these two conferences had disappointing finishes, in large part because it waters down the disappointment they have about the home team. And of course, some wanna point fingers.

For damn sure, "disaster" isn't an ambiguous word. I'm not researching it, but keep in mind that D1Baseball was probably eulogizing these two conferences the week before. Which doesn't exactly make them objective in their assessment today. Credit to them--and just a handful here--if you/they can say they overrated these teams before the tourney...

 

[Senore2006]

Over rated is a term totally over used in tournament baseball. Having a 3 Seed win an NC in baseball is the equivalent of an 8 seed winning in hoops. But, from Fresno State to OSU to Virginia, this has happened at a fascinating pace. The inability of the press to fathom this, just like that of fans, to come to grips with baseball's relentless parity leaves large groups of people struggling in a battle they lost when they asked the question.

 

[nccardfan]

Why does baseball have so many different rankings? Because unlike football and basketball, there is not enough TV coverage to see a lot of the team's especially west coast teams. Baseball also has a demanding schedule that doesn't allow you to spend time scouting other teams because he'll you never know who you are going to face. You just worry about the team you're facing that day or the weekend which doesn't give you a lot of time to prepare.

 

[Senore2006]

Actually, baseball is increasing its TV time all the time. It is the equivalent of AA baseball anyway, just with younger people competing - many of whom we get early looks at who will be starring in the bigs in due time. The coaches stay put, the teaching gets better and the bodies far more amenable to the rigors of long seasons. So not only has it become good sporting TV, it also presents more than ample scouting possibilities. With the advent of conference media, this grows exponentially now.

Having said all that, I am sure no one wanted to scout Louisville this season, lol. We were doing pretty much everything right. That would have been a horror show.

Face to face, put a hot pitcher on the mound and you have a chance in every ballgame, scouted or not scouted. That is baseball's essential parity.

 

[zipp]

Over rated is a term totally over used in tournament baseball. Having a 3 Seed win an NC in baseball is the equivalent of an 8 seed winning in hoops. But, from Fresno State to OSU to Virginia, this has happened at a fascinating pace. The inability of the press to fathom this, just like that of fans, to come to grips with baseball's relentless parity leaves large groups of people struggling in a battle they lost when they asked the question.

I don't disagree. But recognizing parity is IMO the same thing as saying we weren't as good as predicted. Or that many other teams were AS good. Since it's all relative, it really doesn't matter. Are we all up here--holding a hand up high--or down there?

No one can conclude much from a lower seed beating a higher seed. But when that happens repeatedly and involving teams from a certain conference/geography, the story is more complicated than "it's just baseball"...

 

[BPGhost]

Actually, baseball is increasing its TV time all the time. It is the equivalent of AA baseball anyway, just with younger people competing - many of whom we get early looks at who will be starring in the bigs in due time. The coaches stay put, the teaching gets better and the bodies far more amenable to the rigors of long seasons. So not only has it become good sporting TV, it also presents more than ample scouting possibilities. With the advent of conference media, this grows exponentially now.

Having said all that, I am sure no one wanted to scout Louisville this season, lol. We were doing pretty much everything right. That would have been a horror show.

Face to face, put a hot pitcher on the mound and you have a chance in every ballgame, scouted or not scouted. That is baseball's essential parity.

Your last paragraph sums it up - well at least for those that understand baseball. Those that don't can continue to deflect to try to make their after the fact conclusions seem relevant.

 

[Senore2006]

I don't disagree. But recognizing parity is IMO the same thing as saying we weren't as good as predicted. Or that many other teams were AS good. Since it's all relative, it really doesn't matter. Are we all up here--holding a hand up high--or down there?

No one can conclude much from a lower seed beating a higher seed. But when that happens repeatedly and involving teams from a certain conference/geography, the story is more complicated than "it's just baseball"...

You put the best team you can on the field.

Then baseball happens.

 

[nccardfan]

You put the best team you can on the field.

Then baseball happens.

This is usually the case but unlike softball, you can't put your best pitcher out there every game and there's no certainty when you put him out there if he's going 4 or 5 innings or 7 or 8. Also you have no control over who the opposing team puts on the mound, whether he has a 95+ fastball, a wicked curveball or an unhittable slider.
You can scout a team all you want but baseball is all about making game adjustments by batters, pitchers and coaches.