[A.G.]

#68 in this week's Boyd's RPI
http://www.boydsworld.com/baseball/rpi/currentrpi.html

SoS still 195--but you beat those teams, you move up!

[PAmedic]

Winthrop ranked #13
BSC #140
CCU #145
Chuck South #159
Radford #243 (keep working on those cartoons- hope you can make a living at it.)

[PAmedic]

everyone will be hap-hap-happy we are now #47! (according to this guy)

WU is 12th, UVa is 28th, and interestingly enough- this weekends opponent, Rutgers, is #70 (currently sporting a 3-9 record)

A few more win streaks, esp if we take down UVa and maybe we start drawing some looks come tourney time?

(oh BTW: BSC #146, VMI 147, CCU now #152, Chuck South 157, Radford UP to 223)

[PAmedic]

updated again. I don't think we can read TOO much into these- just found it interesting Marist is STILL ahead of us (at 4-7, no less) after we swept them, though we did move up to 45th.

UVa is ahead as well at #27. We'll find out how tough they really are on the 21st.

[PAmedic]

UVa 13
WU 20
LU 97

what the???

maybe the formula is a "little" off

[ATrain]

well we did drop 2 at home and our SoS is pretty weak, so I can see us being around that low...a win over UVA should change that.

[PAmedic]

dude, we dropped 50 spots in 3 days! We swept Marist and they moved UP!

[Sly Fox]

We're currently at #93 ... two slots behind CCU. WU is 26th.

[krh44]

Anyone else surprised that we dropped so much?

[Hold My Own]

Not at all, this is when SOS comes into play, and that is something AG and myself have been obnoxious about

My worry is if we'll even get a auto bid with 40 wins (40 being the standard for auto bid in baseball) but if this RPI is a sign of things to come there isn't a lot of justification for allowing a team a free pass that can barely fit into the top #100



you know a way to put all of this to rest??????????


WIN IT ALL BABY!!!!!!

[SuperJon]

The only way the Big South gets an at large bid is if Winthrop doesn't win the tournament. We HAVE to win the tournament to get in. If we don't, our boys will be playin summer ball early.

[Sly Fox]

I agree, SJ. We need to win the tourney.

[Hold My Own]

I agree as well, but like I said before I'm intersted to see if we'll get 40 wins b/c if we get 40 and dont make it then that REALLY says something

[SuperJon]

If we can win 2 of 3 in all of our series the rest of the season, and 2 of the 3 non conference games we'll get to 40.

[Sly Fox]

As of Monday we are now at #83.

[Hold My Own]

I was talking to a few of our key players last night and they said they feel even with 40 wins a auto bid wouldnt be likely......I'm getting to the point I wish I could fastforward a few weeks to see the outcome

[Sly Fox]

We need to win the conference tourney ... period. With our record we would probably earmn a 3 seed in a regional or possibly a 2 seed if we close out the rest of the way in strong fashion.

[Hold My Own]

I just always thought that 40 was the bench mark and you were in? I wonder how many times a year this happens to teams...it couldnt be much

[WinthropEagleFan]

I just always thought that 40 was the bench mark and you were in? I wonder how many times a year this happens to teams...it couldnt be much

Last year, UNCW and GW didn't make it with 40 or more wins...GW was 99th in the RPI, and UNCW was 50th (and regular season champs in the CAA)...40 wins is nice, and in alot of cases, a team w/ 40 wins will get in, but it isn't a guarantee (you still need a solid RPI and some good wins to back-up the 40 wins)...

And as for LU, I just don't see them getting an at-large, 40 wins or not. If LU had some big wins, I might think differently, but LU hasn't yet beat a team that currently sits in the top 50 of the RPI or a team that will likely make the NCAAs. At a minimum, LU needs to finish in first in the Big South regular season to have any shot of an at-large, but I'm not even sure that will help. I hope I'm wrong, but I just don't think LU can make it in without winning the Big South tourney.

[thesportscritic]

I agree with WEF. We have not played anybody to be noticed while our record is good it is not good enough in the eyes of the committee because of who we played. The only way to get into the NCAA tournament is winning the conference plain and simple.

[Chris Lang]

Yes to WEF and sportscritic.

The 40-win rule seems to be in place for power conference schools, but in leagues like the Big South and SoCon, you need to go above and beyond. Losing to a team that was 3-21 in the ACC doesn't help, nor does losing two to Rutgers or losing at awful Richmond. I thought there might have been an at-large shot had LU won the Big South regular-season title outright, but that's not going to happen now (save for a massive BSC choke job, which I don't see happening).

The Flames need to be more worried about getting Solbach right than an at-large bid. They need him if they want a chance in that tournament.

[SuperJon]

Sorry to gloat, but I've been saying all along the only way we get in is if we win the tournament.

[Hold My Own]

ohh come on, how many times have I said if we when 40 and dont make it, then that'll say all we need to know about our SOS....we both get credit, and AG falls somewhere in between

[A.G.]

Nope--Coach proved me wrong about the non-conference schedule dooming us for conference play. The talent we have is what it is--improved. Would we even be talking 40 wins with a Pastors-type schedule? Probably not, but perhaps 32-33 and a REAL shot at an at-large berth. I just hope Coach Royer will look at next year's schedule and play a better than Dogwood District slate.

[Chris Lang]

A.G. -- all due respect, but there is no way that any Liberty team with 32 wins would ever sniff an at-large bid to the NCAA baseball tournament. Nor Winthrop. Nor Coastal.

It's one thing to play that schedule, but it's quite another to win against it. With that young pitching staff, how wise would it have been to schedule up and play a schedule full of Clemson, Miami, Texas, Rice and Georgia Tech? Not wise at all.

Royer knew his pitching was going to be young and untested, and the only way to build confidence heading into conference season was to build a schedule with winnable games.

He knew his personnel and planned accordingly.