This Super Regional is ridiculous

[CajunAmos]

Brian, with that being said, would the only way for the Cajuns to improve their stock (seeding) be to schedule as many bigger conference out of conference games. Do they need to try to drop all of the Alcorn State's etc that is possible and replace with a Big-12, CUSA, etc type team?

I am just wondering if they may have maxed their potential seeding; I don't see them improving on their record, other than going undefeated.

So we need to figure out a way to get the committee to change their selection criteria.

You may have missed it earlier, but we had the #1 RPI out-of-conference. We had another game scheduled against Tulsa rained out, as well as one against North Carolina, but it's tough to schedule that many top 25 teams (10+) out of conference without a lot larger travel/expense budget than we currently have. We already attend the two of the three largest pre-conference tournaments in the country. I know there are times when some of those folks don't want to play us in those tournament as well.

[CajunAmos]

No, they won't cause any kind of uproar. As the #7 team IN AMERICA a few years ago, we were sent to Arizona as the NUMBER 5 SEED in an 8 TEAM regional.

Read that again if you weren't following the program then. We weren't even seeded in the top HALF of the country, even though we were ranked in the top 10.

What happened? The NUMBER 5 REGIONAL SEED shocked AZ and everyone else. Won the whole cotton - picken thing and went to the College World Series. Uproar? Hardly. Nobody gives a crap outside of Lafayette, and that's a shame.

With all that said, I expect the Cajuns to win easily this Thursday and Friday. Maybe I'm losing my mind. But this isn't even going to be close.

Actually, to be completely correct, we didn't go to the world series that year. We came through the losers bracket and beat Oklahoma 12-4 in the first game on championship Sunday, but lost the "if-necessary" next game 15-0 when Brooke ran out of gas.

[Just1More]

Hey he told this to Jay Walker not me. He does not need to throw a fit to say I would have been more comfortable at one or two seeds better, but bla, bla, bla. No he said they got it RIGHT. His motivation is my speculation. If he thinks they got it right I question his intellect. I have quit giving him a pass, he is a proven liar, he has contradicted himself multiple times about he CUSA issue, and is not smart enough to quit lying. Why should I believe him on this issue, or his motivation.

I wasn't questioning you. I was questioning Scott. I can see in that post where you thought I was questioning you. No, I was questioning Scott thinking we deserved a "14".

As I understand it, Scott isn't allowed in the room while they do the selection process. I was just thinking it would look odd for the chairperson to moan about their own team's seeding. But, I don't like it that he seems to think we got what we deserved. I sure hope we prove to ASU that we are more an equal than a 14 seed versus a 3 seed.

[Just1More]

nm

[Turbine]

Actually, to be completely correct, we didn't go to the world series that year. We came through the losers bracket and beat Oklahoma 12-4 in the first game on championship Sunday, but lost the "if-necessary" next game 15-0 when Brooke ran out of gas.

Wasn't that the last year of the old format?

If so, what Brooke Mitchell did was amazing.

[CajunAmos]

Wasn't that the last year of the old format?

If so, what Brooke Mitchell did was amazing.

It was actually the first year of the new 64 team tournament, and they thought 8 regional's of 8 teams would be a good idea. Arizona didn't think so as referenced by the quote below.

UA coach Larry Ray called UL's seeding "a joke. If they were going to be in this region it should be as a two seed. They're a World Series-caliber type team, and to play them in the second round. … We'd have to play them some time, but I think they've been misplaced."

[Turbine]

It was actually the first year of the new 64 team tournament, and they thought 8 regional's of 8 teams would be a good idea. Arizona didn't think so as referenced by the quote below.

UA coach Larry Ray called UL's seeding "a joke. If they were going to be in this region it should be as a two seed. They're a World Series-caliber type team, and to play them in the second round. … We'd have to play them some time, but I think they've been misplaced."

Thanks

The more things change . . .

[GoneGolfin]

Brian, with that being said, would the only way for the Cajuns to improve their stock (seeding) be to schedule as many bigger conference out of conference games. Do they need to try to drop all of the Alcorn State's etc that is possible and replace with a Big-12, CUSA, etc type team?

I am just wondering if they may have maxed their potential seeding; I don't see them improving on their record, other than going undefeated.

You mention removing weaker schools as an example. Schools with poor winning percentages (damaging our OWP) was a serious RPI problem in 2011. It was the reason the Cajuns could not break the RPI Top 16 ... and in fact did not come close. It was not a problem in 2012. I made sure that Coach Mike understood how detrimental that portion of the schedule was to their 2011 RPI. He listened ... made the extra effort to schedule smart ... and you can see the result. And to be clear, while going 25-0 in non-conference certainly helps, had the Cajuns gone undefeated with last year's non-conference schedule, it only would have been good enough for a #30 non-conference ranking. The Cajuns could have gone 22-3 with this year's non-conference schedule and would have had a non-conference RPI ranking of #7.

Now, you are going to have a certain number of those bad games on your schedule (non-conference). Teams will have down years and surprise you in a bad way. UTEP, Nicholls State, and Winthrop hurt. But the important thing here is that we only played these schools once. Nicholls State came calling later in the year wanting to play more games. Coach Mike smartly told them no thanks ... it will hurt our RPI. It is also about managing your schedule during the season.

As far as scheduling more top opponents is concerned ... Adhering to the constraints of budget, there are only so many RPI Top 25 schools you are going to be able to get onto your schedule. Certainly adding these schools can enhance your RPI as well as make your "Nitty Gritty" sheet look better to the selection committee. The "Nitty Gritty" sheet has a number of things represented in a concise format. This includes Non-Conference record and Conference record, Adjusted RPI, Base RPI (Org. RPI), and Non-Conference RPI, etc. It also includes record against the RPI Top 25, 26->50, 51->100, 101->150 ... and vs. Top 100, Top 150, and Below 150. Record vs. the RPI Top 25 is one of the metrics the selection committees in both baseball and softball use when determining #1 seeds. So, more of such games is certainly helpful. But I question the committee's use of this metric when Georgia was 6-8 and Tennessee was 7-7 ... vs. 4-0 for UL. It should be about winning (including # of wins), not number of games played. But until the committee reevaluates this criteria, it is what it is.

So, as far as earning a Top 10 seed is concerned ... yes, it is going to be very difficult unless the Sun Belt can improve as a whole and get some more teams into the Top 25/50. The non-conference schedule is nearly maxed out under current budget.

Brian

[VObserver]

You mention removing weaker schools as an example. Schools with poor winning percentages (damaging our OWP) was a serious RPI problem in 2011. It was the reason the Cajuns could not break the RPI Top 16 ... and in fact did not come close. It was not a problem in 2012. I made sure that Coach Mike understood how detrimental that portion of the schedule was to their 2011 RPI. He listened ... made the extra effort to schedule smart ... and you can see the result. And to be clear, while going 25-0 in non-conference certainly helps, had the Cajuns gone undefeated with last year's non-conference schedule, it only would have been good enough for a #30 non-conference ranking. The Cajuns could have gone 22-3 with this year's non-conference schedule and would have had a non-conference RPI ranking of #7.

Now, you are going to have a certain number of those bad games on your schedule (non-conference). Teams will have down years and surprise you in a bad way. UTEP, Nicholls State, and Winthrop hurt. But the important thing here is that we only played these schools once. Nicholls State came calling later in the year wanting to play more games. Coach Mike smartly told them no thanks ... it will hurt our RPI. It is also about managing your schedule during the season.

As far as scheduling more top opponents is concerned ... Adhering to the constraints of budget, there are only so many RPI Top 25 schools you are going to be able to get onto your schedule. Certainly adding these schools can enhance your RPI as well as make your "Nitty Gritty" sheet look better to the selection committee. The "Nitty Gritty" sheet has a number of things represented in a concise format. This includes Non-Conference record and Conference record, Adjusted RPI, Base RPI (Org. RPI), and Non-Conference RPI, etc. It also includes record against the RPI Top 25, 26->50, 51->100, 101->150 ... and vs. Top 100, Top 150, and Below 150. Record vs. the RPI Top 25 is one of the metrics the selection committees in both baseball and softball use when determining #1 seeds. So, more of such games is certainly helpful. But I question the committee's use of this metric when Georgia was 6-8 and Tennessee was 7-7 ... vs. 4-0 for UL. It should be about winning (including # of wins), not number of games played. But until the committee reevaluates this criteria, it is what it is.

So, as far as earning a Top 10 seed is concerned ... yes, it is going to be very difficult unless the Sun Belt can improve as a whole and get some more teams into the Top 25/50. The non-conference schedule is nearly maxed out under current budget.

Brian

So, we need to get you to teach every coach in the Sun Belt how to schedule smarter OOC... helps them and helps us. Maybe do a clinic for them.

[jllanclos]

So, we need to get you to teach every coach in the Sun Belt how to schedule smarter OOC... helps them and helps us. Maybe do a clinic for them.

I doubt they care, though. That's the bummer.There are only a few schools in this conference that even care about "top shelf" softball.

[CajunRed]

I doubt they care, though. That's the bummer.There are only a few schools in this conference that even care about "top shelf" softball.

The schools may not, but I bet the coaches do.

[GoneGolfin]

So, we need to get you to teach every coach in the Sun Belt how to schedule smarter OOC... helps them and helps us. Maybe do a clinic for them.

No. This is where it becomes a little more complex. You do not want them to implement certain portions of my system ... because certain parts of the system, while it would help their RPI, would result in more losses and therefore more adversely affect our RPI. It all goes back to the weighting in the Base RPI formula. The teams that have legitimate chances to be Top 25 ... yes, we want to them schedule well enough to where they get there and help both our RPI in terms of RPI bonus and our record vs. the RPI Top 25. But the others ... you simply want them to win and raise your OWP. You care much less about where they are ranked.

I had this exact conversation with Coach Mike this weekend ... and told him that teams such as Mississippi Valley State and Jackson State are your friends. The MVSU coach got a good smile out of that. He seems like a really good guy.

Brian