Michigan Softball moves up in polls, gets a first place vote

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March 29th, 2011 at 10:57 PM
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MGoSoftball
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Michigan Softball moves up in polls, gets a first place vote

The Michigan Softball team gained 1 first place vote in the USA Today/Coaches poll released today.  Although we did not move up in rank, we picked up more points.  Last week Georgia was #4 but they jumped over us by a convincing win against #2 Florida.  This is the first time in a very long time that a PAC-10 School is not rated in the top 3.

Our 2 wins against a very good Northwestern squad proved huge.  Many pick NW to finish 2nd in the B1G conference.  The voters must have realized that, coupled with Georgia's leap-frog of us.  Alabama finished #1 in the poll.

We play Bowling Green tomorrow and Indiana this weekend, all in A2.  This should be 3 nice wins.  Alabama, Georgia and Florida all play baby seals.

 

http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/softball/d1/espncomusa_softball

From the Red Cedar Message Board:  "God hates us."  Yes He does Lil Bro, yes he does.  Everyone hates you.

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March 29th, 2011 at 11:00 PM | Baby seals (Score:1)
maizeman3
Joined: 01/27/2011
MGoPoints: 81

I enjoy using baby seals instead of cupcakes. Hopefully that catches on! And way to go girls!!

"we've officially gone full retard" - University of Tennessee blogger

March 29th, 2011 at 11:03 PM | I like the updates on the top (Score:1)
BlueDragon
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Joined: 11/14/2010
MGoPoints: 16726

I like the updates on the softball rankings.  It helps me get a little perspective on how M is doing WRT the other top softball schools.

Abort, Retry, Fail?

March 29th, 2011 at 11:09 PM | Hey Blue Dragon, (Score:1)
MGoSoftball
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Joined: 10/18/2010
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you might want to reach into  your bag of yakety sax clips.  I think you will need them starting tomorrow and into this weekend.

From the Red Cedar Message Board:  "God hates us."  Yes He does Lil Bro, yes he does.  Everyone hates you.

March 29th, 2011 at 11:44 PM | Yakety Sax is on tap.  I'll (Score:1)
BlueDragon
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Joined: 11/14/2010
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Yakety Sax is on tap.  I'll be watching.

Abort, Retry, Fail?

March 29th, 2011 at 11:21 PM | Dorian Shaw takes the lead in Lowe's Senior CLASS Award vote (Score:1)
m1817
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Joined: 01/15/2011
MGoPoints: 572

Dorian Shaw took over the lead tonight.  She is in the ahead by 0.7%.

Vote early, vote often!

http://www.seniorclassaward.com/vote/softball_2011/

-------------------------
 
For those who may not know, U-M softball first baseman Dorian Shaw has been named a finalist for the Lowe's Senior CLASS award for notable achievements in four areas of excellence - classroom, character, community and competition. 
 
 
Fan voting will count for one-third of the selection.  Support Dorian with your votes.
 
You may vote once a day between now and May 10.
March 29th, 2011 at 11:24 PM | Great news! (Score:1)
no joke its hoke
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Joined: 01/13/2011
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Hey Mgosoftball,who do you believe will give Michigan the most trouble the rest of the season? (Not including the playoffs)

Vice.com

March 30th, 2011 at 1:20 AM | Well my (Score:1)
MGoSoftball
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Joined: 10/18/2010
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original prediction still holds true.  The conference standings will be:

1) Us

2) NW

3) tosu

4) Purdue/Iowa

So we got NW out of the way early.  We should breeze through the next couple of weeks.  Here is the link to my post for the Big Ten Preview.

http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/big-ten-preview-softball

From the Red Cedar Message Board:  "God hates us."  Yes He does Lil Bro, yes he does.  Everyone hates you.

March 30th, 2011 at 12:27 AM | This team is putting together (Score:1)
South Bend Wolverine
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This team is putting together a really impressive run.  NW is always one of the tougher teams in the Big Ten, so starting off with a couple hard-fought wins against them in the cold is solid stuff.  Should have a chance to rattle off a few nice Ws before we run into stiff competition again.  I sure do like where this team is going!

Now with 100% less South Bend, 100% more Washington DC.

March 30th, 2011 at 1:21 AM | Hi South Bend Wolverine (Score:1)
MGoSoftball
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how the hell have you been?   We have been wondering where you have been hiding.

From the Red Cedar Message Board:  "God hates us."  Yes He does Lil Bro, yes he does.  Everyone hates you.

March 30th, 2011 at 9:55 AM | Been pretty good - life and (Score:1)
South Bend Wolverine
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Been pretty good - life and final papers have conspired to chew away a lot of my free time.  One of the nicest things about the semester ending will be the fact that it happens right when softball season is hitting the playoffs, so I will then be able to devote my full attention to our run!

Now with 100% less South Bend, 100% more Washington DC.

March 31st, 2011 at 12:04 PM | Awesome (Score:1)
MGoSoftball
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if you get the chance to come back to A2, hit me up. I will buy you one at the Packard Pub.

From the Red Cedar Message Board:  "God hates us."  Yes He does Lil Bro, yes he does.  Everyone hates you.

March 30th, 2011 at 12:32 AM | No Pac 10 School in top 3? (Score:1)
zguy517
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Joined: 03/18/2010
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Sounds like we might have to win the title to keep our "only school east of the Mississippi to win the title" alive

March 30th, 2011 at 1:31 AM | This is true (Score:1)
MGoSoftball
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especially this year.  The PAC10 teams have had a slow start this year.  There might be only two, maybe three teams East of the Mississippi going to the W/S.

Texas and Oklahoma will both be there.  Three or four PAC 10 teams will be there.  One or two teams east of Mississippi will be there.

From the Red Cedar Message Board:  "God hates us."  Yes He does Lil Bro, yes he does.  Everyone hates you.

March 30th, 2011 at 8:03 AM | I'm sorry (Score:1)
Kermits Blue Key
Joined: 09/04/2010
MGoPoints: 444

I'm sorry, but I'm confused by your last statement.  If the top 4 teams in the country right now are from the East, why would you only expect 1 or 2 total to make it to the W/S.  On the other hand, you said the PAC 10 got off to a slow start, but you expect 3 or 4 to make it.  Can you please elaborate?

March 30th, 2011 at 9:02 AM | West Coast teams in the tourney (Score:1)
JonSobel
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are notoriously tough to deal with.  For whatever reason, they just tend to win.  When the tourney gets to the super-regional rounds, it would not surprise me if more than half the teams left hail from West of the Mississippi.  That's why when Michigan won it all it was so huge.

"I figure if I can get two degrees from Ohio State, it might be close to Elliott’s undergraduate degree"  -- Brock

March 30th, 2011 at 9:43 AM | Thinking back (Score:1)
Kermits Blue Key
Joined: 09/04/2010
MGoPoints: 444

Thinking back, I guess it seems that teams like UCLA and Arizona are always involved.  However, besides Tennesse and Michigan, I can't really recall any Eastern teams ever even being there.  Thanks for the clarification.

March 30th, 2011 at 9:49 AM | Thanks to Jonsobel (Score:1)
MGoSoftball
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for the comment. I would also like to add this. The regional and super regional matchups are unlike any other sport. It is complicated but I will try to explain.

There are 64 teams that make the field, 30 automatic bids from conference winners and 34 at-large bids. The top 16 seeds are determined to be "national seeds". Each seeded team are assigned to a 4 team double elimination bracket.
The other 3 teams are not seeded. So no seeded teams are in the regional together.

The regional winner (16 teams) advances to the super regional. The super regional plays a best 2 of 3 with the winner advancing to the W/S.

So it is easy to see how 3 or 4 Pac10 teams can make it to the W/S because of the reional parings. There could be 4 or 5 Pac10 teams that are seeded. So they will not play against each other in the regionals. So it is possible that every Pac10 team that is seeded, makes the W/S.

From the Red Cedar Message Board:  "God hates us."  Yes He does Lil Bro, yes he does.  Everyone hates you.

March 30th, 2011 at 9:17 AM | Dear MGoSoftball (Score:1)
Hardware Sushi
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Seeing as how no one in the SEC has even won a national title, how are they getting all this poll respect for Bama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee?

I'm guessing they went out and owned some tournaments before conference play started but I don't see how they have 1, 2 and 5 without any actual success on the national stage. #2 Georgia and #5 Florida have the most losses of anyone in the top 6.

I mean, is it ESS EEE SEE SPEED? Does Bama have Carmen Newton pitching and hitting the team to victories? I wish I had a third joke to insert here? Care to share any thoughts?

Intensity is a lot of guys that run fast.

March 30th, 2011 at 10:03 AM | The SEC has been (Score:1)
MGoSoftball
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on the national stage for a few years now. They just have not received any serious press because they didnt win the W/S. For us "softball guys", the SEC is right up there with the PAC10 in terms of quality level. The Big Ten is dominated by us, NW and, to some extend, tosu.

In 2010 Bama was #1, Fla was #4, Ga was #6. In 2009 Fla was #1, Bama was #4 and Ga was #6. In 2008 Fla was #1 and Bama was #3.

This year, Bama, Georgia, Tennessee and Florida has been in the top 10 along with UCLA, Zona, ASU and Washington. We started the season out of the top 10.

From the Red Cedar Message Board:  "God hates us."  Yes He does Lil Bro, yes he does.  Everyone hates you.

March 31st, 2011 at 10:13 AM | Thanks for the insight.. (Score:1)
Hardware Sushi
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Thanks for the insight, as the extent of my college baseball/softball knowledge is pretty much walking from my house at State and Hoover to either the Fish or Alumni Field during Spring term afternoons in 06/07/08.

I have a follow-up question: I see we only played one SEC team, Arkansas, and mercied them in 5 (that's how I read it on mgoblue). Is there a particular reason we don't play SEC teams if they are our competition, along with the Pac-10 powers?

Intensity is a lot of guys that run fast.

March 31st, 2011 at 11:45 AM | Great questions (Score:1)
MGoSoftball
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Most of the early games (Feb/Mar) are D1 tourneys. In the past, tourneys were considered "pre-season". This is where a coach could juggle his/her line-up and try new kids at different postions. Those days are long gone. Now there is Fall Ball for this.

The Tourneys fill up fast. So most of the coaches return to the same tourneys they were in the previous years. So this does not give much opportunity to play in other tourneys with different teams.

We play in the Judi Garman Classic where it hosts major D1 teams including the top Pac 10 teams. These games have been interesting the past few years.

From the Red Cedar Message Board:  "God hates us."  Yes He does Lil Bro, yes he does.  Everyone hates you.

March 31st, 2011 at 11:55 AM | You have to watch out for (Score:1)
Soulfire21
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You have to watch out for baby seals... they blind you with cuteness and cause you to drop your club.

HAIL.

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