Big Ten baseball looking to playing games in the summer which could cause all teams to miss NCAA Tournament
The dean of Big Ten baseball coaches says the league should move the season to summer, which would likely leave its teams out of the NCAA tournament.
Minnesota's John Anderson said the Big Ten would benefit from playing April to August when the weather is better. He says cold and snow, along with Big Ten recruiting rules, make it difficult for the conference to compete on equal footing with power programs.
Big Ten deputy commissioner Brad Traviolia said Anderson's idea is worth considering.
Traviolia said the Big Ten is working on a proposal that would allow teams across the nation to play up to 14 non-conference games in the fall. The results would carry over to the spring and be used in the NCAA tournament selection process. I am sorry this may be one of the worst ideas ever that I can think of.
February 29th, 2012 at 3:42 PM ^
They think not being eligible for the NCAA tounrey will help recruiting? Who would we be competitive with? Ourselves?
But where does it state that this will leave us out of those considerations? It seems obvious, but maybe it is allowed.
February 29th, 2012 at 3:45 PM ^
Good theory, overall horrible idea
February 29th, 2012 at 3:46 PM ^
we will be playing our heart of the Big Ten games during when the tournament would be going on. Then later it said they would only have 14 OOC games to show as a resume to get in. Which when other teams play 55-70 games 14 OOC games aren't gonna show up enough to make the NCAA Tournament anyway. Just sounds pretty dumb, I guess baseball isn't a money sport or this wouls never fly.
February 29th, 2012 at 4:00 PM ^
"..... Here in Cleveland? I didn't know we still had a team!"
"Yeah, we've got uniforms and everything."
February 29th, 2012 at 7:13 PM ^
Hello forces of reality. I managed to block you out there for about five minutes. And then you come roaring back. Ah well, time to eat.
February 29th, 2012 at 4:04 PM ^
Why don't they move the tourney and seasons of everyone back, so everyone is on equal playing ground? Until the season's coincide with southern / western schools, the B1G will always be a few steps behind, and will never be able to compete.
February 29th, 2012 at 4:46 PM ^
Summer Leagues. They are a big deal for college baseball players and decent to really good money makers for small towns across the U.S. It's a chance for players to improve their game by playing more than the scheduled 56 games, which compared to MLB, isn't very many games (1/3). If they move back the schedule to start in April and end in September, it likely means less games and no more summer leagues. Then, we wouldn't get movies like Summer Catch.
side note: This is exactly the reason why I think that Nebraska baseball will take a big hit from going to the B1G. They have always been able to land guys from southern (west) states because they were part of a southern(west) conference. They will always have their fanbase in baseball, but the quality of ball in Lincoln will diminish.
I'm in favor of a split season as someone else suggested. Play some games in the fall then start a little later in the spring. It would be wierd but it would also be one step towards leveling the playing field and players would be able to play in the the summer leagues. Although I dont think many coaches would like their players having to compete at a high level during the fall after playing 60 some games in the summer. Like I noted above, pushing the schedule back is a great idea in theory and probably the best way to make things more even and probably make the college sport more popular, but summer leagues would take a hit and for the most part everyone likes summer leagues.
February 29th, 2012 at 4:06 PM ^
Wow, this is quite possible the worst idea the Big Ten has had since.... well legends and leaders but you guys get the point
February 29th, 2012 at 4:07 PM ^
What's dumb is that half of the college baseball season is played before April, which kills its popularity in cold weather states.
I lived in Ann Arbor for a couple years after graduation and finally made it to a baseball game once. But it was in like May and was already maybe the second-to-last game of the season.
I really enjoyed it and would have loved to have made a habit of going to games all summer long. Ann Arbor can be a bit boring in the summer (although the weather is nice) and I suspect that a baseball team could be a very popular draw.
February 29th, 2012 at 4:09 PM ^
I wish there were a link for this; do you have one? There seems to be the seed of a great idea in there, if I am reading it right.
Right now, baseball season is mid-February to late May. If the season could be split into 2 segments, that would be a significant improvement in equality: Segment 1--mid-September to late October, and Segment 2--mid-March to late May.
In other words, have teams play 25 percent of their permitted schedule (14 games) in segment 1, and 75 percent (42 games) in segment 2. There would be 2 ways to approach it: either mandate that every team split its schedule into 2 segments, or permit teams to play segment 1 either in September/October or in February/March, whichever they prefer.
February 29th, 2012 at 4:13 PM ^
I just copied it word for word cause I can't figure out how to download a link. I got it from the front page of wolverine nation the espn page for the great Tom VH.
February 29th, 2012 at 4:16 PM ^
Okay; thanks.
It still seems like this could be a great idea, as long as it isn't just the Big Ten withdrawing from the NCAA in baseball (I hope it isn't). Having a 2-segment season would be a great idea, and would level the playing field.
February 29th, 2012 at 4:22 PM ^
but with the wording from this small article which I am sure doesn't say everything that they are thinking, but I read the Big Ten will let our resume be 14 OOC games if they make great if not no big deal? And it is hard enough to make it now cause the brass look down on the northern teams as it is, 14 games will never get a team in it IMO
February 29th, 2012 at 4:20 PM ^
You really aren't supposed to copy and paste entire articles from other sites. How do you think Brian would like it if one of his pieces was copied in its entirety and posted somewhere else?
Here's a longer AP article with quotes from several Big Ten coaches: Big Ten might take look at summer baseball
February 29th, 2012 at 4:24 PM ^
it was only paywalled stuff that we couldn't copy, I mean it was on a free site that the whole world can read. I will not do it again but really didn't think this was frowned upon, just thought paywalled was the only no go.
February 29th, 2012 at 5:28 PM ^
can you tell me how to turn that paragraph into a link? That way I know for next time and can change this one also?
February 29th, 2012 at 7:08 PM ^
On the bottom row of the toolbar for creating or editing a forum topic, there's a link button to the right of the two paragraph symbols. You can use that to create a link. FYI, to blockquote text, use the quote button, which is the right-most button on the third row of the toolbar.
By the way, the reason you shouldn't copy and paste entire articles is because of copyright laws. Are you familiar with "fair use"? It's OK to copy and paste a small portion of an article from another site--but not the whole thing. Your best bet with a very short article is to briefly paraphrase the gist of the article and provide a link to it.
February 29th, 2012 at 5:27 PM ^
has great history, and tradition here at U of M. Coach Rich Maloney has been here 10 years, has 3 Big Ten titles made the NCAA Tournament 4 times, and also won a post season Big Ten Tournament. We have won 40 or more games in 4 of his 10 season also. He has had a lot of talent playing in the MLB , Chris Getz, Clayton Richard, Jake Fox, Zach Putnam, plus 12 more players in the minor leagues. We have had 2 national titles, and 38 conference championships also. Ray Fisher is one of the greatest baseball coaches ever, which the field is named after he coached from 1921- 1958
February 29th, 2012 at 4:11 PM ^
lol,.. i argree with most as this has to be one of the dumbest ideas i have ever heard..
Go luck to any team trying to recruit for a nationally relevant program if this goes through.
Not that any B1G team has been that relevant in recent years, but some teams still would have a chance to upset some teams on the road to the world series
February 29th, 2012 at 4:15 PM ^
and Vanderbilt about how they fared against the U of M while being ranked #1 in the nation a few years back in the NCAA Reginals. We did pretty well. We can play with them just not every year.
February 29th, 2012 at 4:25 PM ^
Maybe the hope is that by taking this position other conferences in the North will follow suit. I personally do not have a good sense of conference makeup in college baseball, but if the Big Ten takes this position, and they get others to do the same, it might force the southern schools to move as well.
February 29th, 2012 at 4:30 PM ^
in baseball and Softball is put ALOT more weight on Road and neutral games seeing as SEC,ACC,PAC12 teams play almost all their nonconference games AT HOME and northern schools play their first 15-25 games AWAY...this is totally UNFAIR..OF COURSE those schools are going to have better records...
February 29th, 2012 at 4:29 PM ^
1) players would not be able to get internships during the summer, I had a required 9 week internship I could not do during school year to graduate.
2) graduating seniors would have to tell employers they couldn't start work before the end of season, potentially hurting their chances of getting certain jobs.
3) no Big Ten players would be able to play in the Cape Cod league, or other summer leagues which will crush their chances at getting drafted higher. Pro scouts want to see kids hitting with wood against elite pitchers day in and day out. I can't imagine a recruit, who thinks he has a shot at a high draft position, foregoing any chance to play in the Cape to face kids in the Big Ten.
February 29th, 2012 at 4:29 PM ^
if you pay someone for a job with no actual purpose, they have to find something to do to make themselves seem useful. so they come up with dipshit ideas like this.
(if there is actually a reason to have a dean of b1g baseball coaches, i'm all ears.)
February 29th, 2012 at 4:32 PM ^
"Dean of Baseball Coaches" isn't a separate job. It means the coach who has been in the Big Ten the longest (Minnesota's coach, John Anderson, who has been their coach for 27 years).
February 29th, 2012 at 10:29 PM ^
i'd blame OP but that was probably obvious to people who pay attention to college baseball. my bad.
...thinking that the "dean of B1G coaches" was an actual job. I had never thought of it that way before. Thanks for the laugh.
February 29th, 2012 at 4:31 PM ^
My question is, have the northern teams always gotten screwed by the NCAA schedule, or is this a more recent development? How did UM manage to win 2 nat'l championships when playing the first 2 months of its games on the road? If it hasn't always been like this (ie, it used to be more fair to the north), how in the world did the B1G let this happen??? How could an entire portion of the country and at last 1 power conference allow itself to be so handicapped??
February 29th, 2012 at 4:36 PM ^
NCAA Reginal in baseball is held at a school in the south, or out west. Now in softball it is a little different cause of teams like Michigan, Tennessee, Kentucky, Northwestern are all really good at softball. So the tide is changing a little in softball since U of M won the only NCAA championship east of the Mississippi ever in softball.
February 29th, 2012 at 4:42 PM ^
I think a lot of the problem has been the de-regionalization of the tournament, and the rest is national recruiting and the de-emphasis of high school baseball in the north.
Until 1975, the Great Lakes area (OH-MI-IN-IL-WI-MN-IA) was guaranteed 1 of the 8 spots in the College World Series. There would be a regional called "District 4" and then re-named the "Mid-East Regional" with the winner of the Big Ten, the winner of the MAC, and 2 other schools from those 7 states. That pretty much guaranteed that there would be a Big Ten school in the College World Series, unless Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, or Miami (Not That Miami) happened to be extra good that year. Obviously, with a guaranteed spot in the finals, it was a little easier to pull off the occasional win.
The de-regionalization, combined with recruiting becoming national rather than regional, and with the de-emphasis of baseball in high schools in the north compared with the sun belt, has hurt the Big Ten tremendously in the national picture. When Michigan was making the CWS in the 1970s and the 1980s, over half of its team was from Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. Eastern Michigan made the 1975 national championship game with a similar roster. A Wayne/Oakland/Macomb County all-star team probably wouldn't have a chance in Division I baseball any more, but it certainly did back then.
February 29th, 2012 at 4:48 PM ^
It baffles me how these wholesale changes or de-emphasis events happen regionally. High school football in Ohio: excellent. High school football in Michigan: decent. High school football in Indiana: not very good. Baseball becoming less popular in all of the midwest. It's weird how these sea changes happen, and frustrating that they don't often benefit UM. At least we have hockey, for now. My guess is that population shifts and economic changes have something to do with it. But beyond that, I'm not sure how these changes come to be.
February 29th, 2012 at 5:15 PM ^
So I went back and checked an old program I have from the 1976 Mideast Regional. In the regional finals, Michigan played Eastern Michigan for the right to go to Omaha and the College World Series. This would be called a super-regional today, it was 2 teams playing off for 1 spot in Omaha.
Of the 20 starting players on the 2 teams, 19 were from the state of Michigan. 8 were from Wayne County alone. Imagine 8 players from Wayne County on the top 16 teams in college baseball today? Never.
...that there is plenty of room for sand lot baseball fields in Detroit now...there's just not many people anymore.
Maybe the city should recruit more immigrants from latin america.
February 29th, 2012 at 4:39 PM ^
College Baseball should start in April and end in August. It would be a lot more popular.
February 29th, 2012 at 4:52 PM ^
However, the NCAA needs to change its rules governing regular and post-season baseball scheduling. They are antiquated and unfair and that is why the Big Ten is considering this scheduling change. I love watching schools like Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State have great seasons compared to deserving Big 10 schools, yet I know the primary cause is weather more than anything else. Weather permits the local players and teams to play year-round; its that simple. They get better than cold-weather kids and teams. The NCAA needs to stop ignoring this reality and to start accomodating northern players and their teams. I don't know what the solution is, but I'm sure it needs to take into account the needs of MLB, their minor league system and the MLB draft.
February 29th, 2012 at 4:54 PM ^
February 29th, 2012 at 5:06 PM ^
today fwiw.
February 29th, 2012 at 5:00 PM ^
There is no inequity in college baseball that global warming won't fix. Eventually.
February 29th, 2012 at 5:03 PM ^
Do you get season ticket credit for priority points for baseball season tickets?
February 29th, 2012 at 6:10 PM ^
This will not help big 10 baseball.....even if somehow it was still eligible for post season play. The reason big 10 baseball and the rest of midwest/east coast college baseball is terrible is because high school and youth baseball in these regions are all terrible compared to the Southeast, Texas, Arizona and California. Whenever 4 months of the year completely strip people from playing, the youth levels will never be competent, which will prevent the colleges from being national contenders. Sure you might get your superstar now and again get drafted out of high school from the region, but that is just a function of having a genetically gifted player who turned out to be one of the few that chose baseball. If that player doesn't go pro, he will likely find his way to a southern / western school where the coaching is infinitely better and he can practice adequately year around.
February 29th, 2012 at 11:26 PM ^
As a native Omahan, this is the worst idea ever. Watching Michigan play in Omaha would be a personal dream come true. It's a long shot, but you put together a good team, get hot at the right time, catch a few breaks, and you make it to Omaha.
Although, I wish I could've seen them in Rosenblatt. They were so close in 2007.
...I think it is a good idea to play the games in summer. Even if it means a lower quality of baseball.
Maybe it's time that the B1G/midwest teams simply accept the fact that larger trends are relegating them to second class status. But that need not be a bad thing. I'd rather have a good Triple A team playing on equal footing in town than have a doomed team failing to keep up with the major leagues.
The point of having a team is having something to rally around and otherwise support/represent the community. Under the current arrangement, our baseball is unable to maximize their ability to do that. The NCAA tournament and national championships are nice...but only if you have a realistic chance of competing for them.
It doesn't need to be a point of embarrassment to understand that a Michigan baseball team is as unlikely to be a national power as a Florida (or Alabama or Texas) hockey team would be. We should simply be participating within the realm of our competition and nothing more. It might not attract national televison, but I would think the a pennant race with a B1G championship to be won in August or September could be very popular and achieve cult worship status locally. It'f be fun and that's what playing games is really all about.
How much would it cost to put a roof over the field, or just build a new indoor ball park.
Isn't it interesting that the imbalance (though slighter) in football comes from the NCAA not enforcing a strict standard across all programs in regard to scholarships. In baseball, the imbalance (far more significant) comes from an enforced scheduling period due to the tournament.
Not sure what all that means, but it sure seems like certain football conferences should insist on a uniformity of governance before participating in a playoff.