M Baseball is back! ... But in like Texas and stuff...

You are looking live at a post by some guy that used to be here all the time, but since has disappeared into the wilderness and thus returned only to probably disappear again!

Anyway, UM's baseball season is nigh upon us! In just one week, Coach Bakich continues his crusade "to catch that softball program" and return Michigan to the NCAA tournament.  This year's edition of the team is very similar to that of last year's, but now with more experience!

Eric Sorenson, my former idol and still current holder of my most coveted job I will never try to get, has posted his "Top 302 Teams of 2014" post for this year, and yes, he does rank and blurb each of the 302 teams in Division 1, and he has Michigan at #71:

71- MICHIGAN (29-27, 14-10)

2013 ISR: 138

Starters Returning: 7

Weekend Starters: 3

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (15+inns.): 4

Coach Erik Bakich was right, “a bunch of pissed-off Wolverines” turned the program around last year. Could be even more this year as 55 of the 56 starts on the mound come back, as does two-way talent Jacob Cronenworth (.320, 12SBs & 0-3, 1.93, 7svs). Plus, the future is sparkling for the Maize & Blue as the 20th-ranked recruiting class comes to campus.

For those interested, his B1G teams are ranked as such:

4. Indiana
48. Nebraska (*fixed after comment)
51. Illinois
71. Michigan
75. Michigan State
103. Minnesota
105. Ohio State
138. Iowa
191. Purdue
196. Northwestern
226. Penn State

Indiana is the clear favorite after making it all the way to the College World Series Last year. They return plenty and their coach is fantastic.  After that, it gets all B1G Baseball-y with any team from Illinois to probably Ohio State having a decent shot at being pretty good, but no one is really sure because this is 1) college baseball and 2) mid-major college baseball.

As for this year's schedule, it looks to have quite a few solid names on the docket.  The team starts with a Texas tour starting with a tournament in San Marcos with games against 2 of Sorenson's top 100 in Texas State and Washington.  Then it's a 3 game set at my current graduate school, the University of Houston.  Needless to say I will be attending at least one game in my Michigan jersey.  Not that I'll be in UH jerseys for the other three, but my mother and wife have the audacity to both have birthdays that weekend, so I won't have much time to enjoy the old ball field. 

From there is't a tournament hosted by Notre Dame in Cary, N.C.  Which... yeah, sure. But top 5 North Carolina State and top 20 UCLA will both be there, along with a double header with Appalachian State and Notre Dame sandwiched between the big two. After that its a swing through Florida for our nearly annual FGCU match up, a game at UCF, and a 4 game set against a probably hapless Princeton.

We finish the southern tour in Charleston to take on Appalachain State again, followed by two against College of Charleston ad Kent State.

That's a pretty solid opening stanza.  Of those teams, only Air Force and Princeton are terrible.  The rest are at least top 120-ish teams.

As for the B1G season, we start it in the hardest way possible, a 3 game set at Indiana.  Then its home against Iowa and Minnestoa, away to Illinois and Purdue, home against Nebraska, away to Northwestern, and then finish the season home against Ohio State.  Lastly, we have a bye week with a pair of games against Kansas, who projects to be a meh Big12 team.

B1G tournament is in Omaha this year, probably as a favor to Indiana.  Give them an extra couple practice games on their CWS warm up tour. 

I have no particular idea myself on how the season will go down.  I somewhat gave up following the team 3-4 years ago with school and work and wife and globe-trotting recently, so that's probably all I'll have on the team for a while.  I may post a summary of the game from Houston if I do make it out there. Maybe I'll even catch you out there.