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D1Baseball Top 25 Chat: April 1
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Owen D
1:00
LSU played a really complete series this weekend vs Mississippi st.  Do you see the tigers as past their early woes and evolving into the number two team y’all projected them to be or was this series just a fluke?
Kendall Rogers
1:00
Well, the Tigers have had plenty of success against the Bulldogs -- they just have their number. But I did see some encouraging things, from the way the offense responded the last two days to the way Eric Walker pitched in the series finale. The Tigers stepped up with their backs against the wall. That's encouraging, but they must continue that consistency this weekend against A&M. Still, a big, big step forward for LSU.
JD
1:02
With Kevin Abel Soon to Return to the Beavers starting rotation do you keep Gambrell in rotation and move Eisert back to the pen or Keep Eisert in Rotation most likely as Sunday Starter?
Kendall Rogers
1:02
I think I keep Eisert in the weekend rotation. He's a premier arm and he's proven he can be a very very successful starting pitcher. OSU has plenty of weapons in the bullpen with Christian Chamberlain and Jake Mulholland, among others, so putting Eisert back in the pen only gives him less innings, which I think it a mistake considering how good he is. He's been terrific.
DaddyMc
1:04
Texas A&M’s pitching kept the Aggies in all 3 games versus Missouri, but their bats really cooled. Thoughts? Asa Lacy was outstanding again going 7 2/3 shutout with 12 Ks. How much has he improved his stock? Thank you.
Kendall Rogers
1:04
Well, Missouri shut down a very good Ole Miss lineup last weekend in Columbia, so it's not that surprising they had success against the Aggies, too. But the Aggies were also dealing with some injuries in the final two games. Keep an eye on Mizzou -- they can pitch with absolutely anyone. As for Lacy, we already had him 11 in the college class for 2020 -- he could get up a couple of spots, but that's a pretty high ranking for him. He's been terrific.
Tex
1:05
Kendall - I saw you indicated Baylor is sniffing the top 25.  Assume they were close.  Soon they will have their chance to prove worthiness with series vs. Texas, OU, Texas Tech and TCU.  Quite the murders row.  How do you rate the Bears at this point?
Kendall Rogers
1:05
Baylor was definitely in the discussion, and I'm pretty impressed with what they've done without ace Cody Bradford. Not easy to bounce back from not only his injury, but also that Nebraska series. I'm intrigued to see what BU does against the better teams in the league, but Jon Strauss has done an amazing job in Bradford's absence with that pitching staff. BU was very close to being ranked -- it was squarely in the discussion this week.
Jim
1:07
After a big sweep over rival UAB, what does Louisiana Tech’s at-large chances look like?
Kendall Rogers
1:07
We will have our first projections this week, and right now, La Tech would definitely be out with an RPI of 61 in that league. I do think the Bulldogs are solid, but they'll need to be very good the second half of the season to get into at-large territory, IMO.
Clemson Curious
1:07
Can y'all provide a little justification for Clemson's ranking? Are they just a victim of poll mechanics to this point? They have a top 15 RPI, 7-0 against RPI Top 50. 22-6 overall and tied with #10 Louisville at 9-3 in ACC play one game behind #3 NC State. Louisville has the impressive midweek sweep of Ole Miss and State is 27-2. Don't get me wrong those two teams deserve to be where they are. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of measurable separation between what Clemson has done thus far and what others rankings staples like ECU, UNC, Coastal, UC Irvine, UConn have done thus far. If Clemson goes 2-2 this week against UGa and Louisville, are they still not a top 20 team? Thanks!
(Also, I fat fingered the enter key about 3 times so apologies for the multiple accidental submissions!)
Aaron Fitt
1:07
Poll mechanics are part of it -- there are a bunch of teams ahead of Clemson that had winning weekends so there wasn't a ton of room to jump the Tigers up. But let's also not forget this team lost a home series to Notre Dame two weeks ago and also has a series loss to a South Carolina team that is really struggling, and there aren't a lot of teams in the Top 25 with two series losses. Credit Clemson for winning back to back road series, and that UNC sweep still looks nice, but right now I still think it's a back of the Top 25 resumé overall. A good week against Georgia and Louisville will certainly make the Tigers shoot up, I would think.
PG
1:10
ECU is 21-6 and is 6-0 to start AAC play. What are the strengths and weaknesses that you guys have seen so far in this team?
Aaron Fitt
1:10
I think the Pirates are just a really good, complete, balanced club, with no glaring weaknesses. Now that the lineup is healthy, it's very, very good, with star power and depth. The defense is excellent, led by two quality up the middle veterans in Turner Brown and Jake Washer. I like the bullpen with Burleson and Voliva as anchors, and the Agnos-Smith-Kuchmaner trio is a rock-solid rotation. Lots to like about that club.
Kevin
1:11
As an SEC fan who doesn't watch a ton of west coast baseball, I noticed UCLA and Stanford are leading the way at #1 and #2. Are these teams like the PAC-12 teams of "old," winning on pitching and defense, with timely manufactured runs (2013 UCLA comes to mind) or are they different?
Aaron Fitt
1:11
I think both UCLA and Stanford are much more physical and offensive than the kind of West Coast teams you're thinking of -- those are legitimate top-of-the-SEC-caliber lineups. And they both pitch and defend very well too. Really just two outstanding clubs all the way around.
Jay
1:12
How worried should us South Carolina fans be on a scale of 1 to 10 on making the postseason or not? Must win or sweep at Bama this weekend?
Kendall Rogers
1:12
The next two weeks are hugely important for South Carolina. The Gamecocks are in a massive hole at 2-7 in the league and are on the road the next two weekends against Alabama and Florida. Should the Gamecocks lose both series, I'm pretty confident in saying they'll surely miss the postseason. Take the Bama series and lose the Florida series -- that puts them at 5-12. Still makes it very very difficult.
Jack
1:13
For Texas Tech, are some of these losses to unranked teams (Nebraska, Stetson, k-state) going to come back to bite them, or can they afford it?
Aaron Fitt
1:13
Nothing to worry about there, the Red Raiders are sitting pretty at No. 5 in the RPI right now. The key is they've played just two games against teams outside the Top 200 in the RPI, so losing a few games against non-Top 25 teams is no big deal. I still think Tech is the team to beat in the Big 12.
Justin
1:13
All things considered, is there a better pitcher in the SEC than Isaiah Campbell?
Kendall Rogers
1:13
Justin -- I would go with Tanner Burns and perhaps Ethan Small over Campbell, but there's no doubt he's been very good. For me on Friday, he was 91-95 with his FB, along with a sharp SL, a CH and a typical good downer curve. I was really impressed with his composure in tight situations on Friday, too. That's something he's struggled with in the past.
Adam
1:16
With as bad as the pitching has been outside of BVB performance yesterday, do you still see the Canes making the Postseason & possibly making some noise when there?
Aaron Fitt
1:16
Weird weekend for Miami, I was quite surprised to see them give up so many runs in those first two games at Pitt. Ultimately I still like McKendry and McMahon in the rotation, those guys are too talented not to bounce back. Miami has some work to do -- just 5-7 in the ACC right now, with a huge series coming up against Florida State -- but I do think this team is good enough to make it into a regional when it's all said and done. I expect a good second half for Miami.
Colt
1:18
Hey guys, here we are again. DBU is now 21-6 overall and 19-3 on weekends. Starting to believe no matter what they do they won’t be ranked.
Aaron Fitt
1:18
Oh come now, Colt, we've ranked DBU plenty of times over the years. We like this club too, but sweeping Air Force and Valpo isn't exactly going to outweigh the quality series wins that other Top 25 contenders have. DBU lost the series against the best team it faced, Houston. Just need to get some more wins against better competition to break into the rankings, because there are a lot of good teams out there making noise against stronger opponents.
Rebel Swag
1:19
Big turning point for Rebs this weekend. From what you see in SEC thus far, do you see there being any harder of a test for Ole Miss down the stretch? Also, at what point do you see us getting back into national seed discussion? I know we have work to do after dropping non conf games vs Louisville and ECU. Hotty Toddy
Kendall Rogers
1:19
Definitely a good weekend. I loved the offensive lineup the last couple of days. Dillard/Zabowski/Keenan are good and you can see why Olenek is having such a strong season. As for the rest of the season, there are definitely some stiff tests. If the Rebels can lose a series to Missouri on the road, I am confident they also can lose series to Auburn, LSU and Tennessee on the road. But if they play like this past weekend in all those series? I like their chances in at least a couple of them.
Sam
1:19
Arkansas State is legit!
Aaron Fitt
1:19
It sure seems like it! We've heard good reports on the Red Wolves, and that's a very loud road series win at Coastal, on the heels of good series wins over Troy and South Alabama. We'll touch base with Tommy Raffo soon and get a story up on Arkansas State, one of the neatest surprise stories in college baseball to this point.
Dave
1:23
At the midway point, it seems like a down year for the state of Florida. How many teams from the state do you ultimately expect to make the tournament?
Aaron Fitt
1:23
Not a great first half for the Sunshine State, you're right. Obviously Florida will be in the postseason, and I still think Miami and FSU will find their way in too, though FSU isn't starting the second half in great RPI position -- but that will change. I could see Jacksonville getting in out of the A-Sun, but right now my money's on Liberty, and I feel like that will likely be a one-bid league. I've been disappointed with USF and UCF, thought bout would be regional contenders, but bullpen injuries have just killed the Knights. Maybe Florida Atlantic will be the fourth Sunshine State team in regionals -- looking good right now at 8-1 in C-USA.
jo bob
1:24
where do you rank the big 12 as compared to the strength of the other conferences?
Kendall Rogers
1:24
Jo -- The SEC would certainly get the top spot in the conference department, and I'd go with the Pac 12 right behind the SEC. After that, I probably lean the ACC and then the Big 12, but it's a close race between the two. I like what the Big 12 has in the top half, and even at the bottom, teams like WVU are pretty solid. Should be another strong season for the conference as a whole.
Smitty
1:26
Is it possible that the Pac could get 4 national seeds when it’s all said and done?
Kendall Rogers
1:26
Smitty -- It could certainly happen. Oregon State, UCLA and Arizona State would be slam dunk national seeds as of today, and Stanford has a very very strong case as well. So, yep, I definitely think that's in play if the current trend continues.
ATXDude
1:26
Two things: First, at what point should we really actually start paying attention to RPI? Second, two conference series in, give me how you think the Big 12 conference standings will finish
Aaron Fitt
1:26
I'm starting to look at the RPI for the first time this week. We're still seeing a lot of dramatic shifts from day to day, so I still don't want to read too much into it, but it's useful to see what teams are in striking range of at-large position and what teams are buried as we head into the second half. At this point, if you're outside the top 200, you're not going to be an at-large team, but if you're inside the top 150 there's still time to make a move. As for the Big 12 -- what a race that's shaping up to be. I still like Texas Tech the best in the long run, but really I could envision those top six teams finishing in any order (Tech, Texas, Oklahoma State, Baylor, TCU and Oklahoma). It's going to be a bruising second half in that league.
Ben
1:27
Hey guys! Any indication that Kevin Abel’s injury is worse than originally noted, hence the move of Eisert to the rotation? Thanks!
Kendall Rogers
1:27
My understanding is that Abel has been doing bullpens for the last week and is progressing well. but the fact the Beavers (as usual) are being so secretive about it certainly makes me raise my antenna a little bit. I think we'll see him soon, but I'll check that out again this week.
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