Michigan finishes ranked #2; highest ranking in program history in Baseball America Top-25
Established in 1981, the Baseball America Poll is used by many when referring to Top-25 rankings much like the AP Poll is.
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper is the oldest poll around, established in 1959. It ranks up to 30 teams and has very........odd rankings. I specified in the title which poll I am referring to because college baseball is unlike any other college sport.
There aren't just two polls like Football & Basketball. There are FIVE different polls that put out a Top-25/30 each week.
We were ranked #20 in the preseason poll. The college baseball media knew this team would be good this year but we obviously fell out of the Top-25 eventually. It happened for good after the debacle that was the Indiana series at home that ultimately decided the B1G Championship.
For good until the final poll, which is the only one that matters. Michigan (50-22) finishes ranked #2 in the country. Here's where we've finished in every Baseball America Top-25 Final poll
- 1981- #12
- 1982- #17
- 1983- #3
- 1984- #20
- 1985- #9
- 1986- #16
- 1987- #19
- 1988- #24
- 1989- #19
- 1990- NR
- 1991- NR
- 1992- NR
- 1993- NR
- 1994- NR
- 1995- NR
- 1996- NR
- 1997- NR
- 1998- NR
- 1999- NR
- 2000- NR
- 2001- NR
- 2002- NR
- 2003- NR
- 2004- NR
- 2005- NR
- 2006- NR
- 2007- #19
- 2008- #22
- 2009- NR
- 2010- NR
- 2011- NR
- 2012- NR
- 2013- NR
- 2014- NR
- 2015- NR
- 2016- NR
- 2017- NR
- 2018- NR
- 2019- #2
THAT is how remarkable this run was.
Well earned. I think we're entering the new golden era of UM sports.
If we can hold onto Bakich and Juwan pans out then I agree. Hockey football and baseball are all trending nicely. Lacrosse teams have been improving too
Not to mention softball and all the non-rev sports. Michigan is a really great sports school.
But because we don't recruit kids playing polo at the Kincaid School, we won't ever beat Stanford in the Director's Cup.
And honestly, I'm okay with that. I'd rather us continue to be a public good for the world and draw in student-athletes that represent a kaleidoscope of our planet rather than create a wealthy enclave.
I think we have already entered the new Golden Era, baseball is just joining the ride.
Great season and tournament run.
They have to keep bringing in the big time arms to keep the success going. Also need to Fire Bakich!
Congrats M baseball.
Heck of a ride this year for all of us.
Go Blue.
Fucking awesome. Great run by that team. Love them.
Wow!!! That's a helluva run to end the season! I'm suspecting that the #2 ranking isn't necessarily just handed to the runner up? I mean, Michigan did some great work to get all the way to the last possible game - traveling out West to beat the defending champs in their own yard. Beating overall seed #1 UCLA in LA. Beating the crap out of the an entire CWS bracket. And playing overall seed #2 about as well as anyone other team was going to.
They earned this ranking! Congrats, boys, and continued good luck!!!
I agree with you. This wasn't a fluky "easy bracket" kind of run. They earned that CWS appearence with solid play over really good teams.
"But ITS nOt NuMbR 1" - goblue85
very nice. well done. let's do it again next year but win the whole damn thing. Go Blue!
The run from the Super Regional to the CWS finals was very entertaining! They took a great Vandy team to 3 games. Going from NR to #2 is quite an accomplishment. Great job, Michigan baseball!
According to the NCAA site, every poll has Vandy #1 and Michigan #2.
These include D1Baseball.com, the NCBWA, Collegiate Baseball, the USA Today Coaches Poll, and the aforementioned Baseball America poll.
The only ranking where Michigan is not #2 is the good ol' RPI, where Michigan ended the regular season at #39. According to the final RPI, which apparently is not updated after the CWS, Michigan knocked off #2 UCLA, #11 Texas Tech, #23 Creighton, #50 (!) Florida State, and #96 Cincinnati.
A guy named Warren Nolan does his version of the RPI and Michigan ends up #18 after the CWS.
Congrats to the men! Our sports are looking up.
Now I just want Warde to fix the football schedule. Skip a year vs MSU so it's corrected.
How do we skip a year vs. a division rival?
;)
He made no mention of Rutger
Hats off to the 2019 baseball team. They were fun to watch. Go Blue!
Hopefully, we see some more "Pay Bakich" threads now, of course....
When I think back to the first "Fire Bakich" thread about six weeks ago, and look at where we ended up, it's hard to believe people were that dejected that recently. Ah, sports....
Great ride. Fun to watch. And season tickets for next year are on sale for only $40. That's less than $2 per game. That might be the best deal in sports.
And if you care about “points” every year you get one (for $40), or you can give away $100 for a point, or pay $500+ for FB, your choice. Fill the Fish!!!
Wonderful. Hope they keep it going. The CWS was so much fun to watch
First, hats off to coach Bakich and UM for an awesome season. Getting to the CWS finals as a B1G team was against all odds.
There are two major hurdles that the B1G places on their teams that no other conferences do.
1. Inability to oversign. The huge issue here is in a sport where not only can RS Sophomores and Juniors leave your program to the MLB draft like Seniors, so can your high school kids. The B1G just recently changed the rules where teams can oversign by up to 1 scholarship spread over 2 players, but when every other conference can oversign by 6-8 players every year to protect them against the draft, we are still at a massive disadvantage. To simplify it, the B1G doesn't allow as much oversigning as every other conference.
2. Inability to replace players until they physically sign a contract. So a B1G coach can’t until the player actually signs his MLB contract.
Given these huge disadvantages in baseball that the B1G imposes on everyone, what advantages did Michigan give Coach Bakich that seem like game changers since they were in the CWS championship?
Michigan is able to sign more players by giving financial aid to their partial scholarship baseball players. In some instances, don't even have kids sign letters of intent because it's a full ride academically, thus preserving some of their 11.7 scholarships they are able to give for baseball.
Or as Chris Webb tweeted:
“Michigan has a great multitude of scholarships and grants for their students. More than other Big Ten universities they’ve been able to have their baseball players take advantage of it. They’re not doing anything wrong. Just how Michigan is structured to support students.
Credit the University of Michigan for allowing Bakich and staff to go to areas throughout the country and get kids everywhere. School has found ways to afford players supplemental aid. That matters in building depth and getting kids in places like Michigan.
And, then, when you have a staff that goes all over the country to find and evaluate talent, like they do, you're going to get guys. A tip of the cap to them, too, for their efforts and relentlessness on the trail.”