When I was in Alabama traveling home I caught the Paul Finebaum show. He had a guest on the show who was supposed to have baseball knowledge. He was talking about how much better the SEC was than the ACC in baseball. He said the disparity between the 2 leagues talent wise was huge in the favor of the SEC. I wonder what he is thinking today.
What happen to the SEC ha ha ha!!!
- Thread starter KozmasAgain
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I couldn’t agree with there being a huge disparity, but the SEC did have more MLB draft picks last year than the ACC did (26-20) and they do have 3 of the 8 finalists, more than any other conference, including the ACC and PAC-12, which have 2 each.
Both conferences are pretty good!
Both conferences are pretty good!
I think a large part of that is the press that Leiter and Rocker have gotten all season and could potentially be the first 2 pitchers selected in the draft. The SEC over ACC talk won’t change unless NC State or Virginia wins it all.
What’s happening again to the SEC? And it’s the ACC doing ‘em!
Virginia has been very impressive in this tournament. 6-0 win today over Tennessee.
Can giant killer NC State knock off Vandy tomorrow?
Can giant killer NC State knock off Vandy tomorrow?
I don’t always root for the ACC teams in every case. You spend all season long competing and hating the ACC teams but then are supposed to root for them when we are no longer in play. I don’t see we get any benefit (maybe a little satisfaction) that we have beaten both of the remaining ACC teams but it’s nothing you can hang your hat on. I’m still pulling for former asst coach Lemonis and Kyle Cheeseborough at Miss St.
Consider it as if it were a stock - even one that pays dividends annually. UofL has one of 14 full shares in the ACC, and the better the conference does, the more lucrative the dividends will be.
It’s less lucrative than basketball or football certainly, but it still has an effect.
Sure the school itself gets some benefit being a member of the conference but as a fan, there’s no benefit to me. If say NC state wins the CWS, I’m not going to brag to UK fans about it.
NC State just beat Vandy 1-0. They are playing some good ball post season.
Sure we won’t. But let the almighty SEC win it and no doubt some fool(s) from blue will use it. Can’t forget their second fav chant.
Sure, The benefit to you as a fan is indirect. Think in terms of what we’ve seen lately with the UofL athletic department, in terms of good assistant coaches leaving for other programs and head coaches being interviewed for other jobs. Tyra basically had to freeze some salaries and was unable to match other offers, due to the financial hit from the pandemic, the expenses of defending the program from the FBI scandal, and Petrino’s buyout.
An extra $500k in the budget can go a long way
to keep the assistant and head coaches we want.
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I have sufficient confidence in ACC baseball that does not require beating SEC teams in order to prove either superiority or equality, and I am not the least bit surprised to see NCST beating Arkansas and Vanderbilt.
My next observation is not to minimize the quality of SEC baseball, but rather to point out the obvious influence that ESPN has with the NCAA, particularly when it comes to advancing the SEC on tournament selection and hosting.
I seldom root for ND in anything, but they were discounted when sent to Starkville for their Super Regional. The Irish baseball team earned a Super host position.
My next observation is not to minimize the quality of SEC baseball, but rather to point out the obvious influence that ESPN has with the NCAA, particularly when it comes to advancing the SEC on tournament selection and hosting.
I seldom root for ND in anything, but they were discounted when sent to Starkville for their Super Regional. The Irish baseball team earned a Super host position.
MSU earned their way - no doubt. Vandy - meh, they had a helping hand - period.
I should be careful here, as UL has enjoyed some of the same favorable hosting selection as the SEC teams, but this year‘s selection was off the charts for them. MSU was most deserving, and their fans support was quite impressive. With that said, I have to wonder how it would have worked out if they had to travel to South Bend and beat ND twice in the Super Regional, instead of enjoying the advantage in Starkville.
I never pull for the Irish, and I doubted them most of the regular season; but they deserved hosting a Super Regional..
I never pull for the Irish, and I doubted them most of the regular season; but they deserved hosting a Super Regional..
I definitely think ND earned the right to host but I don’t think that means MSU shouldn’t have. You cannot argue with the fan base that they draw.
I simply didn’t like how ND ended our series with them this past spring. That showed zero class and there was no reasonable explanation. Other than that I normally root for conference brethren.
GO CARDS!!!
MSU definitely earned a Super Regional, that was never my intent to question their qualification; rather it was how a ND team with such an impressive ACC regular season record was denied one of the slots. Adding ”insult to injury” was moving the Irish from South Bend to Starkville.
Just to be clear, I am no fan of ND; and I join GOCARDS in condemnation over ND refusal to play the 3rd and deciding series game against our Kids on that one Sunday!
My issue now, and has always been with NCAA bias, and willingness to allow ESPN influencing a process that is tilted towards the SEC. Not just in baseball, but you see it with the selection of Bowl Game sites, largely selected in SEC venues. Understanding the huge fan support, it makes sense; but it comes at the expense of those opposing schools forced to travel long distances. With the exception of Omaha; Vanderbilt and MSU played every single tournament game in their respective home fields surrounded by their families and fans.
Just to be clear, I am no fan of ND; and I join GOCARDS in condemnation over ND refusal to play the 3rd and deciding series game against our Kids on that one Sunday!
My issue now, and has always been with NCAA bias, and willingness to allow ESPN influencing a process that is tilted towards the SEC. Not just in baseball, but you see it with the selection of Bowl Game sites, largely selected in SEC venues. Understanding the huge fan support, it makes sense; but it comes at the expense of those opposing schools forced to travel long distances. With the exception of Omaha; Vanderbilt and MSU played every single tournament game in their respective home fields surrounded by their families and fans.
Not saying it’s not but I think you thinking there is ESPN bias towards the SEC is overstated. There’s no doubt in football and baseball (look at the last CWS champions), that the SEC has really good teams, multiple teams that were worthy. Let’s not forget that NC St and Virginia both earned their way at neutral or non home sites.
Once again NC Card, you are advancing my point; hindsight here is 20/20. Teams like NCST and UVA that overcome significant disadvantages by making it to Omaha, serve as evidence that media ratings and NCAA selection process are not accurate barometers as to who is, or is not deserving of inclusion into the tournament, or more specifically worthy of hosting the games.
Obviously you and I do not agree on most anything related to this issue, as I remain convinced that despite our late season losses, UL was squally deserving of inclusion in this tournament, and I provided sufficient reasons as to why the Cards had a resume equivalent to Alabama. That however would go back to how much, or how little value is assigned to teams like Norte Dame and UVA, and to the ACC in general.
As stated above, hindsight is always 20/20, but looking back show me another team that can say they went 4-0 against this year’s Omaha Final Four? UL went undefeated against 2 of the four when beating NCST and Vanderbilt.
There are others, like yourself who assign weighted value to late season performance at the expense of the earlier portion of the season; placing emphasis on momentum. We see it more in NCAA Basketball, than for example Football. ESPN in the case of Baseball have an even larger influence, as they dominate both TV overage, their daily print and Internet opinions. I encourage you to look at ESPN’s internet coverage that is almost entirely devoted to SEC teams and their players for some understanding as to their level of bias. SEC baseball is extremely competitive and as good as any in the country, but ESPN’s discount of other teams explains why the SEC enjoys such an advantage over the rest of the field.
Obviously you and I do not agree on most anything related to this issue, as I remain convinced that despite our late season losses, UL was squally deserving of inclusion in this tournament, and I provided sufficient reasons as to why the Cards had a resume equivalent to Alabama. That however would go back to how much, or how little value is assigned to teams like Norte Dame and UVA, and to the ACC in general.
As stated above, hindsight is always 20/20, but looking back show me another team that can say they went 4-0 against this year’s Omaha Final Four? UL went undefeated against 2 of the four when beating NCST and Vanderbilt.
There are others, like yourself who assign weighted value to late season performance at the expense of the earlier portion of the season; placing emphasis on momentum. We see it more in NCAA Basketball, than for example Football. ESPN in the case of Baseball have an even larger influence, as they dominate both TV overage, their daily print and Internet opinions. I encourage you to look at ESPN’s internet coverage that is almost entirely devoted to SEC teams and their players for some understanding as to their level of bias. SEC baseball is extremely competitive and as good as any in the country, but ESPN’s discount of other teams explains why the SEC enjoys such an advantage over the rest of the field.
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