Latest / College Baseball Now / Previewing Conference Tournaments | Ep. 037

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Previewing Conference Tournaments | Ep. 037 · College Baseball Now

0:01
Speaker 1: The regular season has concluded, and now we've got our
0:04
odds a fix to two things. One the brackets for
0:07
a raucous and exciting postseason to play, and two are
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television sets. Because tournament time has finally, finally come, we're
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making our picks for eight tournaments and discussing action from
0:17
the final weekend of the regular season on this episode
0:20
of College Baseball.
0:21
Speaker 2: Now, yeah, there ain't no problems, no problems that don't want prom.
0:34
Speaker 3: Yeah, let me tut to the chat. They know what
0:38
was going for Maney hit the bu B When did
0:40
grab a couple of wins with a dadf's even know
0:42
the kid. I had to do a big news looking
0:44
never beat average, and they want to problem with the point.
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They don't want no statics count need so coach son
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run a week. God, I want to test that title
0:51
the standing to control run the game.
0:53
Speaker 1: Best believe you shining.
0:55
Speaker 4: Ducks counting them my wins.
0:57
Speaker 3: Yeah, I love it when they count me y out
0:59
counting such shame.
1:01
Speaker 1: Why men believe I run again?
1:07
Speaker 3: Magic skin that knock him out?
1:19
Speaker 1: They really don't want to stand it. We are back
1:34
and we're glad to have you here with us for
1:37
the thirty seventh episode of College Baseball. Now today we
1:40
are previewing conference tournaments. It's gonna be an exciting episode,
1:44
a bit of a different twist on our standard episode,
1:46
but we're gonna have a good time. Regardless who is
1:49
we you may be asking, well, we starts with me,
1:51
your friend, your host, your boy. Drew Wheeler, director of
1:54
amateur Scouting at Prospects Live, so glad to be here
1:57
with you today. You may not be able to see
1:58
my torso, but I swear it is here. It is
2:02
here joining me are my friends? Andrews started with the
2:06
man in the middle. And that's not just because he
2:08
plays the middle. That's not just because he's indecisive. That's
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literally because he's the man on the middle of your screen.
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It's josh Catlet Joshua. Pleasure to see you, buddy.
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Speaker 5: Pleasure to see you too. I don't find myself very indecisive,
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but you know what, I don't. I don't know where
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that came from, but.
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Speaker 1: It's sometimes I just say things, you know.
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Speaker 5: Look, look, being decisive got me. I mean we might
2:29
we might address this later, but.
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Speaker 1: No, go ahead, go ahead, you're already there.
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Speaker 5: We're gonna fix some conference tournaments. You know who are
2:36
gonna give their flowers for finally one in this pick
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him this year? You know, being decisive what got me
2:41
that title?
2:42
Speaker 1: Allow allow me to be the first to say, Josh,
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you had to have a cheaved No, I'm kidding. Congratulations,
2:48
great work. Uh final score two games up? Is that right?
2:53
Speaker 5: Uh? Should have been? I didn't. I knew I I won,
2:56
So I stopped Oregon one, so I knew I Actually
3:04
I think I won my four games. Actually I think
3:09
I can figure that out while you're talking to Jake.
3:11
But I think I won my four games.
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Speaker 1: Or you could not. Just a curious suggestion. You have
3:16
a trip coming up this week. I know you're excited
3:18
about it.
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Speaker 4: I do am.
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Speaker 5: I headed to Charlotte at at the crack of dawn
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whenever this is posted, I will be probably on the road.
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Speaker 4: Yeah.
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Speaker 5: Looking forward to it. Fifteen games of baseball in six days. Yeah,
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looking forward to lots of good teams, lots of bubble teams,
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lots of hosts. Should be fun.
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Speaker 1: We'll get to talk a lot more about it in
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just a few moments, but before we do that, I
3:39
got to talk to my man, coach, Jake Bargery. Coach
3:42
good to see you, Palt nice hat. You got the
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cream colors hoodie on. You're looking solid.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, I appreciate it. I've been, U I've been. I've
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been debating all day which HOODI with Tudio I wanted
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to wear. I'm glad you appreciate the color that I
3:58
went with. But uh, yeah, I've been. I've been watching
4:02
some IVY League baseball today. A couple of really huge
4:04
games there. Shout out to shout out to Yale and
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Jack Omen and the boys got it done for Yale
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win in the IVY League tournament. I had a lot
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of fun watching those. Todays came in to close it
4:14
there at the end. That was pretty cool.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely, I appreciate you keeping me updated on the
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IVY League tournament today. I was not near the television,
4:22
but I could definitely see the messages in the old
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GC and Jake kept me up on what was going
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on with Jack Omen shoving today, as he is known
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to do. Jake Josh lots to discuss. We're gonna pick
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eight conference tournaments today and as we're doing that, we'll
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work our way through some of the results from the
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weekend as well. It's gonna be a good episode. Gonna be,
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like I said earlier, Bee, a bit of a different episode,
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maybe a different look at college baseball now if you will.
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But we're gonna have a good time with it. Hopefully
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you have fun at home. Let's get into it right
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off the rip. Josh, you're gonna be there talking ACC tournament. Josh,
5:01
We'll start with you then, right off the rip. I
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think looking at kind of the introductory round, these this
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nine through sixteen seats in this tournament, there are some
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teams that I think early in the season we said
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not through sixteen, are you nuts? And yet somebody's got
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to be there, and yet there are some really quality
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teams here too.
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Speaker 4: Yeah.
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Speaker 5: I mean, I could go down the loophole of why
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I'm excited to watch each of these games, and I've been.
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I've been diving into all this a SEC prep stuff,
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looking forward to it. Lots of prospects for this year
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and honestly a lot of next year too that I'm
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excited to get an eye on. But the bubble is
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really relevant on that first day and the ACC NC
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state right on that borderline. Pittsburgh I think might be
5:50
out of it at this point, but they think they
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might have a shot teams like Clemson. The RPI is
5:54
not terrible like some one of these teams can make
5:56
a run and make some really uncomfortable conversations and the
6:00
room when picking the bracket on Sunday night, whenever it
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is they do it.
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Speaker 1: I don't know.
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Speaker 5: I think that you know, Cal Stanford rivalry series and
6:10
Stanford ups, I mean call ups at Stanford this past weekend.
6:12
That'll be a fun rematch in the first round. But
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I think the big story here would be in C
6:18
State trying to solidify themselves in the tournament, because if
6:21
they do drop one the Duke in the first day,
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it gets really interesting. Duke's RPI is down an eighty fourth.
6:28
That definitely wouldn't help in C State for the time being.
6:30
If he states at forty two, which is kind of
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right on that cusp. It's fifty Cows at fifty five,
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both kind of in that range where you can convince
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yourselves you've got a shot. Yeah, yeah, it'll be uh,
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it'll be fun to see what happens if there's no
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big upsets, and I think some teams will punch their ticket,
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but later on in the tournament, so we'll be fighting
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for two season host spots and whatnot.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's gonna certainly get a little bit more interesting
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as we go along. Jake, I want to talk to
6:57
you about the teams that are going to get introduced
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to the Knicks on May t So that's gonna be
7:01
Wednesday's teams. We're talking about the eight seed University of
7:04
Virginia again, thinking about the beginning of this year, Man,
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Virginia as the eight seed seems raw.
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Speaker 4: Uh.
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Speaker 1: University of Miami is gonna be the five seed in
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this one, Virginia Tech at the seven, wake Forest at
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the six Jake, My question to you is which one
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of those teams do you think maybe has the toughest path. Now,
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obviously they're skipping playing on Tuesday, but whose potential opponents
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on Wednesday themselves could maybe spell defeat for these teams.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, just just looking at like some of
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these matchups, I think it's probably I mean it's probably Virginia.
7:39
I think I like in c State the most out
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of the first group of teams, and I think they're
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you know, if we can assume that they can that
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they're gonna beat Duke uh in that first game. If
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if Virginia starts. You know, if they if they start
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out their tournament run with a game against m C State,
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it's probably not what they were necessarily hoping to do,
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is probably not you know when they or the tournament,
8:00
they weren't they probably weren't hoping to see NC State
8:03
there out of these bottom you know, eight teams of
8:06
potential matchup for them. And then if they do, uh
8:09
get past NC State, they have to play Georgia Tech
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right after, so that's also not another not a fun
8:14
matchup for him there either. But yeah, Virginia Tech, I
8:19
mean Clemson, they are what they are in terms of
8:22
the standings, but like Clemson, like they have talent on
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their team, depending on like depending on what pitchers they
8:29
use and all that kind of stuff. I would assume
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that would be a Canog versus Raddell if they're both
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ready to go this early. Actually when I say that
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out loud, they might not be. I don't know, pitch
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count wise and everything, But that would be a fun matchup.
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And then Virginia Tech could just have to play either
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of those teams with their aces if they can't go
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in that first game. So that's another tough one to
8:50
and then Wake Forest going against Louisville or Pitt, both
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of those, both of those teams can hit. The pitching
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I think has kind of been, what's more, let them
8:58
down the most. But those offenses on into Wake Forest
9:01
and maybe, uh maybe facing facing off against like a
9:03
Lavonas or one of those other Wake Forest arms is
9:06
gonna be a lot of fun too.
9:07
Speaker 1: Certainly not a matchup we may not have discussed it,
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but I mean Louisville uh took two games over in
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Virginia obviously, you know you said in a minute ago,
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Virginia is kind of the team you're most worried about
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because you do like n C State, and I think
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that's something that media and Josh would both agree with
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as well. In C State's quality team. Louisville kind of
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looming on that Tuesday set. I mean, Pit not a
9:30
pushover by any stretch of the imagination, but a Louisville
9:33
Wake series could be kind of interesting, like you said,
9:36
coming into Wednesday. So that's one I'm gonna have kind
9:39
of circled in my brain for sure, Josh. Obviously we've
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moved forward into the twenty first, get into that Thursday
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set of games. You're introducing some of the heavy hitters
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BC and Georgia Tech. Obviously they just had this weekend series.
9:52
Georgia tack swept them boys three games, and yet both
9:56
of them were waiting to kind of see who's gonna
9:58
stumble down the pipeline. Is it go to be n
10:00
C State or Virginia. Is it gonna be you know,
10:03
Miami coming up to play BC? In your brain, I
10:08
guess considering Georgia Tech Boston College, is there a team
10:12
that you think matches them at all coming up from
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those Tuesday or Wednesday games? Or do you think this
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is kind of easy picking?
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Speaker 5: I mean, there's always gonna be game teams from those
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Tuesday Wednesday games that make runs. If we're being honest,
10:29
it's probably a team like Miami or a wake will
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be my best best because Miami didn't look bad this
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week past weekend as Florida State, regardless of if they lost.
10:38
I mean, I actually watched a lot of that series,
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part of it being that first game that went into
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like eleven innings. I think it was I watched a
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lot of them that they looked really good. Regardless of
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how it turned out. Wake Forest, I still have a
10:51
lot of faith then, But I think you'll see a
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lot more from these one through four seeds because they're
10:57
still fighting for something. These teams can convince themselves of
11:02
whether it's true or not. They can convince themselves to
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the next step up they can go to and seeding
11:06
in the postseason. Georgia Tech probably thinks they can be
11:09
one overall. North Carolina probably will be a top four
11:14
if I had to guess, or it's really close at least,
11:17
but that's my point. At least they'll convince themselves of it.
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Florida State thinks they can be a top eight. Boston
11:21
College thinks they can win this thing and be a host.
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So they have a lot to play for, and I
11:25
think they have the talent to do so we'll see.
11:28
I don't know which of these teams from like actually,
11:31
kind of to Jake's point, I think Clemson hasn't looked
11:34
great recently, but they still have the talent. They could
11:36
win like three straight games. It wouldn't shock me. I
11:38
think they've been going Dan Moehler, Matthew Sharman, and Den
11:43
Connock in order for pitching recently, so Kannock wouldn't be
11:46
ready for the Notre Dame game. But he would be
11:48
ready if they played like North Carolina on that third game,
11:51
So to Caro against Aiden Connock that before the season started,
11:54
that would have been way more fun than it is now.
11:56
I'll put it to you that way.
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Speaker 1: But would have been some marquee stuff, right right.
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Speaker 5: I mean, like, it's a team like that can make
12:03
a run. It wouldn't fully shock me. I think Pitt
12:04
has the ability to. But ultimately one of these four
12:06
teams probably will come away with it because they'll be
12:09
more arrested, they have more talent, and they have more motivator.
12:12
All these teams have motivation, don't get me wrong, but
12:14
they have something they really feel like they can fight for,
12:16
like a definitive line that means a lot.
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Speaker 1: I think that makes a lot of sense. Jake, I
12:20
have a really Jake centric question. It is a selfish
12:24
question for you, but I know it's gonna be one
12:26
you really like. Here, let's just say, hypothetically Boston College takes.
12:31
Speaker 4: This thing.
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Speaker 1: If they're hosting, how hype does coach Jake Marjorie.
12:37
Speaker 4: You know I don't being up here in Pennsylvania, I
12:40
never I never go into any season with the expectations
12:43
of there being a host. I mean, I'm rooting for
12:45
Boston College. I want them to get up as high
12:47
in that high in that RPI as they can. And
12:49
I think i'man an ACC Tournament champion. If they're you know,
12:54
in that range, I'd like to think they could get
12:56
some favoritism from the from the committee there. But uh,
13:00
I mean, I mean just I would be super high.
13:02
I'd be making that trip to Boston, uh next weekend
13:05
in a hurry.
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Speaker 1: I believe you completely. I know I know you would,
13:09
I know you would. All right, guys, coming into this one,
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here's what I'm kind of thinking. I think we should
13:14
give a a one like maybe just maybe just an
13:18
answer with no back. Let's do a sentence like you know,
13:21
less than ten words of why give your dark horse?
13:25
And then we'll take your official pick for the ACC tournament.
13:28
Jake will start with you.
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Speaker 4: Dark horse? What are we are we calling a dark horse?
13:37
Can I call wake Forest a dark horse? Is that
13:40
far enough down?
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Speaker 1: I would say not a top four seed?
13:43
Speaker 4: Yeah, I agree, Okay, then I'll pike wake Forest. I
13:46
like the way they've been playing. I like the way
13:48
especially you know, you have that reliable starter in Lavonas
13:51
and the rest of that staff can can get going.
13:54
I think if I think they have a path, I mean,
13:56
they have to go through Florida State, but they won't
13:58
have to play Georgia Tech until the championship game in
14:01
that scenario, So I mean, I guess the dark horse
14:04
would be wake Force and.
14:06
Speaker 1: Your official picka.
14:08
Speaker 4: Oh sorry, my pick. No, let's think I'm gonna pick.
14:13
I think I want to pick North Carolina. Like, I
14:16
like that, I like the path that they have. They
14:20
have to you know, they're they're gonna get you know,
14:21
one of Notre Dame, Clemson Virginia Tech, and then it
14:25
would be you know, if Florida State comes out of it.
14:28
But the same point I made just with wake Forest,
14:30
like they wouldn't have to face Georgia Tech until the
14:32
championship and they've already won a series against Georgia Tech
14:36
this year, and they're playing at a shot form one
14:38
of these top four seeds. I think they have a
14:40
little bit extra motivation where Georgia Tech's kind of already
14:42
got it locked up a little bit. So, uh, I
14:44
think I'll pick North Carolina.
14:47
Speaker 1: Very interesting, all right, Josh, I'd love it if you
14:50
could give me your dark horse for this tournament, and
14:52
then also I would love your pick for the winner.
14:56
Speaker 5: Yeah, I'll go I'll go super dark horse. I know
14:58
Drew's gonna enjoy this. I'll go Stanford is like my
15:01
super dark horse.
15:04
Speaker 1: What you do, No, that's fine, I'll think I'm messing
15:07
with you.
15:08
Speaker 5: I like the path Miami into DC, like Georgia. Tech's tough.
15:12
Don't get me wrong, but I mean, like those first
15:13
two it could be way worse. I think that's favorable
15:16
in terms of what you could expect. That offense is
15:20
still super talented, and Tarissaki, Charlie Bates, Teddy Tonkine has
15:23
been awesome this year. I've been talking to Dodge about
15:25
him a lot recently. Jimmy and t Eric geon like
15:29
they got a lot of guys. That's it's a talented offense.
15:31
They could string together two three wins. I guess they'd
15:34
have to string together four. It would be technically five.
15:38
I think, I don't know. Regardless, that's like my super
15:41
like long shot dark horse to win. In general, I
15:46
think all in with their pitching staffs in these tournaments.
15:51
So I think I'm gonna try to stick with the
15:53
teams to offense whose offense. Is I trust the most
15:55
in these winner predictions. If I'm trying to go with
15:59
that pick might be the easiest on the board. Georgia
16:02
Tech led the ACC in average ops, hits, doubles, and
16:09
They've drawn a lot of teams that I'm not that
16:11
high on, and wrote route to the championship game UVA
16:15
or NC State followed by like a BC or Miami
16:18
or Stanford isn't necessarily a cakewalk, but it kind of
16:22
feels like it for the team of the caliber of
16:24
Georgia Tech. So give me the Yellow Jackets word word.
16:28
Speaker 1: Okay, uh dark horse from Drew. I'm gonna say, Louisville.
16:32
I think that that's actually a super manageable path for Louisville,
16:36
particularly if their bats come to play. And now, granted
16:39
this has been a year long discussion of what are
16:42
Louisville's bats gonna be? You know, if they're hot, then
16:46
we've got a squad we're talking about here. What is
16:49
the pitching the bats? The bats is what we're focusing
16:53
on here. But I think again it's gonna be just
16:55
a slaughterhouse slugfest with Louisville pitt Miami. Then you have
17:00
Florida State, and I'm not convinced. I don't know. Louisville's
17:04
just a dark horse. I would I would watch out
17:05
for it, particularly if Florida State's pitching is looking a
17:08
little iffy. I think that Louisville has done themselves a
17:12
great deal of favor. And in terms of picks, you
17:15
guys took the two. I was torn between. I'll think
17:21
Georgia Tech I like. I like Josh's logic, and I
17:23
also feel like if we get picks from JB, he'll
17:26
go you and see, so that'll be a good split
17:28
on our board. But those are the two I think
17:31
you got to have with the bullet on there. I'm
17:34
interested in Florida State, particularly if they're if they can
17:37
get some of those weekend guys rolling quickish, I think
17:41
that would be pretty good for them. All Right, cool,
17:43
let's move on and talk about the American and Josh,
17:46
I'd love it if you could start us talking about
17:49
the American Conference tournament. Kind of what you're looking at
17:52
in that first couple of games.
17:55
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's one of those conferences where the bottom falls
18:00
out relatively quickly. We're really in general, it's only an
18:05
eighteen tournament because they cut off the bottom, like I
18:08
guess it would be two teams in this and this
18:10
conference has just been cannibalizing itself recently. I thought they
18:13
were gonna be a three big conference at one point.
18:16
They might not even get two. I think they will
18:18
if I had a guess, but they might not. It's
18:22
a very interesting conference. UTSA and ECU ended up splitting
18:25
the conference title for the regular season, but UTSA got
18:29
the tiebreaker do to I think head to head Rice
18:33
surge out of nowhere and they took the three seed.
18:37
UAB really really fell apart towards the end of the
18:39
year and they got the four seed. Those bottom eight
18:42
are finished out by Memphis, fau Wichita State, and Charlotte
18:46
in that order. Charlotte. We had a lot higher hopes
18:48
for this season, but things just really did not pan out.
18:51
USF didn't even make it. They were looking at like
18:53
A they were in the at large playoff picture at
18:56
a certain point, and they just they didn't. They didn't
18:58
even make the conference. They just really fumble the back.
19:02
But it'll be interesting to see which of these teams
19:04
can actually get back on their feet and which one
19:07
just keep stumbling and they look back at the season
19:09
and realize, you know, like like what happened. It's a
19:12
really weird format too. I know we talked beforehand about
19:15
some funky conference tournament formats another one that will really
19:19
get to later, but this one is like a it's honestly,
19:24
you know what, hold on, can we share my I'm
19:27
gonna try to share my screen on this one too,
19:28
just to kind of show because I think this one's
19:30
like worthy of a screen share for sure. Let me
19:33
let me pull it up real quick. All right, you
19:35
should be okay. Yeah, So if you're on audio, I apologize.
19:39
But this is one of those situations where the five
19:43
through eight seeds have one game and if you don't win,
19:47
you're out. And then the next game or the next
19:50
teams that play, they play the three in the four seeds,
19:52
and then from that point on out, it's double elimination
19:56
all the way out until the championship. But it's it's
20:00
it's laid out super funky. I don't know. Once again,
20:05
if you're not looking at this like, I'm sorry, All
20:07
the best explanation I can give is like there's a
20:10
pretty much view it as a sixteen tournament with a
20:13
play in last slots at first and then it's a
20:16
double elimination tournament. That's I guess the best way to
20:18
word it. Yes, super funky.
20:22
Speaker 1: Nonetheless it is it is gonna be an incredibly I
20:27
like the word funky honestly to describe that tournament. Josh,
20:30
you kind of hit the nail on the head, Jake,
20:32
want to go to you here, because we're talking about
20:34
again the American as Josh very eloquently put it, they've
20:37
been cannibalizing each other lately. Could have been I mean
20:42
just consider usf like that that was a team. But
20:46
we were kind of like, excuse me, I don't want
20:48
to put you guys in that conversation Early in the season,
20:50
I was like, man, should I ranked us? These guys
20:52
are kind of rolling right now? Not no more so
20:55
looking at this tournament, Jake, what do you think or
20:57
some of the things that jump out of you?
21:01
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, like so heading into it, like I think,
21:04
I mean, Josh already talked about like all the teams
21:06
like uts A is is is the likely is the
21:09
likely favorite heading into it? I mean they're the one seed.
21:12
Ec U certainly can be a scary team, and but
21:16
neither of them are really like, you know, riding super
21:18
high into the tournament. They both lost two of their
21:21
last three series. But UTSA, you know, best offensive team.
21:26
He's he's got the best pitching staff. And then you
21:29
get to like U A. B. They dropped a couple
21:32
of series in a row. Uh, they've they've they've kind
21:35
of fallen off a little bit. They they dropped, they
21:37
dropped on to Rice and Charlotte towards the end of
21:39
the year. They did, they did finish the year strong.
21:41
They took two three from uts A. But we've seen
21:44
we've seen them get going at times this season, and
21:46
you know they can be dangerous, but you know they're
21:49
they're kind of outside of this past weekend against UTSA,
21:52
they're kind of stumbling a little bit. And then Josh
21:54
talked about Rice. I mean, they're kind of the they
21:55
might be the hottest team right now in this in
21:58
this tournament. You know, they're nine and two in their
22:00
last eleven games. They got three conference series in a row. Uh,
22:03
they've been pitching the ball, uh really well. Ethan Sanders Brylan, Uh,
22:10
I do not know how to say. Urban check is
22:12
my best guess for him, but he is he's been
22:15
he's been really pitching well for them. Yeah, I mean
22:18
I like I like Rice right now that I think
22:20
there they could just be, uh the hottest team, but
22:23
they are one that needs to probably win at all.
22:26
I mean they're sitting at a seventy five RPI, U
22:28
A B at U, A B at sixty. ECU and
22:31
UTSA are kind of on that bubble range ECU at
22:34
forty sixth UTSA at fifty three, and like this is
22:38
it just looks more and more like a one big league.
22:39
You know, we had high hopes for it coming into
22:41
the year, thinking that, uh that this could potentially be
22:44
you know A two maybe three BED or four even
22:47
the way you, A B and USL were all playing well.
22:50
Uh and they've kind of all just uh all just
22:52
kind of started losing, kind of beating up on each other,
22:54
and the RPIs are starting to reflect it a little bit.
22:58
Speaker 1: That's a great way to put it. Because of the cannibalization, Josh,
23:01
to come upon you, Jake, y'all y'all killed it this
23:04
episode with your great, great content, your great analogies. Jake
23:07
will keep it with you, man, give us your dark
23:09
horse and maybe a sentence as to why and then
23:11
give us your official pick as well.
23:14
Speaker 4: I guess, I mean, I guess my dark horse can
23:16
be Rice. Like I said, I mean, they're not they're
23:19
they're not one of the top like seeds, but you
23:22
know they're they're really hot right now. They're heading in
23:23
the tournament. They've won a lot of games in a row.
23:26
I like, I like what I'm seeing out of them.
23:28
It wouldn't be shocked if they they just kind of
23:30
kept it rolling with the other with the top two
23:31
kind of stumbling a little bit, and they they kind
23:34
of just went on to win the whole thing. But uh,
23:36
my official pick, I think it's gonna be U T
23:40
s A. They're just they're just the favorites. To me,
23:43
I think they're the best team right now. I like
23:46
the I mean, I like the way they hit. They there.
23:49
It's gonna take a lot to stop their bets. And
23:50
if and if ECU uses Norby, I would assume they'll
23:53
use in before they get to U T. S A.
23:56
I think I like Utsa's chances there.
23:59
Speaker 1: Were Josh, you want to go ahead and give me
24:01
yours or should not.
24:02
Speaker 5: Go I'll go ahead and going I guess my dark course,
24:07
is gonna be the dark horse. I'll say, Charlotte, that
24:10
offense is really good. That offense can mash. I think
24:12
they'll be able to hit with anybody in this tournament.
24:15
And I still think they're talented. They were doing really well.
24:17
At one point we alls kind of fell off. They
24:20
could stricken together for a few days straight. I believe
24:23
for my actual winner, I'm gonna one up Jake here
24:25
a little bit. I'm gonna go against everything that I
24:28
said in that last ACC breakdown talking about going with
24:32
the offenses, and I am actually going to take the
24:36
only team in this conference who's acted like they want
24:39
to win games right now. I'm gonna take them for
24:41
their pitching staff. I'm gonna take Jake's dark horse to
24:44
win as my actual winner and give me David Pierce's
24:46
Rice Owls may be the conference in Era A, and
24:50
they've been heating up lately, so I'll take them to
24:51
win their first conference tournament in nine years and be
24:54
the in my opinion, the one definitive bid Steeler in
24:58
these conference tournaments. So just sign out. I'm a big
25:02
fan of their Saturday starter freshman Ethan Sanders, but unfortunately
25:05
I think he's portal bound in the offseason, so hopefully
25:08
they can get the most out of him this week.
25:10
But yeah, I'll take you Rice to be the shocking
25:12
h one to steal someone's at large spot in the tournament.
25:16
Speaker 1: Hate that I was going to take Rice myself.
25:19
Speaker 5: Then do it? Join me?
25:21
Speaker 1: I cannot. I've already joined you and Georgia Tech.
25:24
Speaker 5: We're not competing. Well, you know what we can. We
25:26
can have the same picks and we can root together.
25:28
Speaker 1: Now that just feels so wrong. Josh, are you rooting
25:32
together after all this time? You can't.
25:34
Speaker 5: We'll have a pro season thing. We can root against
25:36
each other. This is this is an this is all
25:38
good fun.
25:39
Speaker 1: Uh. I want to throw out some dark horse love
25:42
for the University of Memphis. They've really kind of turned
25:45
it on, finished fifth in the conference, and they've got
25:48
they've got some dudes. Now, I will say Memphis does
25:51
kind of have that that you go as your stars
25:54
go problem on offense. If Michael Gupp did it and
25:57
play it well, I mean this and this is a guy.
25:59
Let me just shout out Michael Gopton really quick. I
26:01
gotta get some statistics on this man. All right, here
26:04
we go thirteen home runs on the season to go
26:08
along with I just had it, excuse me, sixteen stolen
26:13
bases in just about a ninety percent success rate on that,
26:17
slugging five to sixty four with the nine thirty four
26:20
ops Gupton can play. And then you look at a
26:22
guy last year who was drafted and James Smith right
26:25
there with him eleven home runs, only five stolen bases,
26:29
but I mean he himself slug in five forty. If
26:31
those two get hot, if those two can direct the direct,
26:34
the deal for Memphis could be something special. Their pitching
26:37
is very I think that's a great instance of saying
26:41
that they've cannibalized each other in terms of the American
26:45
But Memphis, I think Wichita Steak is a winnable game.
26:47
The way UAB has played, that's a winnable game. And
26:49
then you get to ECU and if that pitching is
26:51
looking kind of shifty, I don't know. I mean, we
26:55
could see Memphis in a in an American Final and
26:58
it would not shock me all that much. And I'm
27:02
stuck between the Texas teams on who I want to
27:04
take care. I think UTSA is the best team, but
27:06
Rice is the fun pick. I'll take UTSA, but I
27:11
do owe you one Josh to pick with you in
27:13
the future. All Right, Jake, I'm gonna go to you here.
27:16
I'm gonna let you break us down as we start
27:19
the conversation about the Big Ten Tournament getting into one
27:22
of the no pun intended bigger tournaments that I think
27:26
people are gonna be watching. Obviously, you've got your eyes
27:29
on several teams who are not gonna be making their
27:32
tournament debut until Friday, but there's still some interesting baseball
27:36
to be played in the early rounds. Man, what do
27:38
you look at at this bracket and see jump out
27:40
of the jew j.
27:43
Speaker 4: Yeah. I mean there's obviously the clear top four at
27:46
the top. I mean obviously, I mean there's UCLA at
27:48
the top, Oregon, Nebraska, USC. You know, we've talked on
27:51
here a few times now, and I think we've asked
27:54
the question more than, you know, more than three or
27:56
four times at this point. Who's like the second best
27:58
team in this conference. I think we've kind of got
28:01
an answer. I think it's Oregon. You know, they have
28:03
that series over Nebraska they've gave they gave u c
28:06
l A its first of now two big ten losses
28:08
is that was a crazy one. They lost to Washington,
28:11
but uh, and then they just beat you know, USC.
28:14
What has to be in the conversation for at least
28:16
one of the most fun series of the year, because
28:19
that last game alone was was was awesome as long
28:21
as it was and as you know, we kind of
28:23
started getting tired a little bit there towards the end,
28:25
but that ending the squeeze from from maybe it's there
28:28
to to bring home Jackson at the end. That was
28:30
just it was just that was just awesome. But I
28:34
do I do like I do like Oregon obviously. Then
28:37
U c l A. They lost that game to Washington.
28:40
Shout out Jackson Thomas and Gunnar Nichols. On the mound
28:42
for Washington, Coltain Bower had a huge game of the
28:45
play a couple of homers and doubling that one great
28:47
win for Washington. And then Nebraska they they they just
28:51
swept on the road against Minnesota and what was a
28:53
closer series than what the win column suggests that it was.
28:57
Game one was a five run win for Nebraska, but
28:59
the next two were one in three run margins. But
29:05
the other teams that kind of have things to play
29:08
for here is gonna be Michigan and Purdue Michigan. Michigan's
29:12
kind of tried to maneuver its schedule around late. They're
29:14
one of the more open teams about, you know, canceling
29:17
games and adding games here in there, but it hasn't
29:19
really worked out too well for them, as even though
29:21
they've they've done all this moving around, they their their
29:24
RPS at number fifty two right now, which is much
29:28
lower than what they probably hoped as they started adding
29:30
adding games there and then produce sitting right behind them
29:34
number fifty four. The resume of both might not end
29:37
up being strong enough in terms of like quad wins
29:39
or even just RPI or other metrics or whatever then
29:42
compared to some of the other Bubble teams. But those
29:44
two teams in particular are really hoping they get off
29:47
to a hot start in this tournament and can maybe
29:49
take one away from one of those top four as well.
29:52
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, without a doubt, I think you said
29:55
it those two specifically, when we're talking about teams that
29:58
are going to be playing on Tuesday, a lot to
30:00
play for Jake. That's a really good way to say that,
30:03
Josh want to go to you because like Jake said,
30:05
we've spent a lot of time discussing kind of this
30:08
upper crust of the Big ten, and I feel like
30:11
that's kind of where a lot of the attention is
30:13
going to be. So let's let's give that its attention.
30:17
I think it's supremely interesting that you're gonna have, potentially
30:21
on Saturday, a Ucla Oregon rematch and then you're gonna
30:26
have a Nebraska USC rematch. I think Nebraska in my brain.
30:29
If I'm not taking your corrept me here, Josh, what's
30:31
kind of the first real trip for USC where we
30:35
were like, Okay, we can't blame the weather, we can't
30:37
blame the trip. This is just USC might be fraudulent.
30:41
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean you could count the Ucla series, I guess,
30:44
but they didn't have to travel for that, and we
30:46
still kind of chunk that one up to Ucla as
30:49
just UCLA and USC held their own. Like USC looked
30:51
good in that. I think also after this weekend, Jake
30:55
kind of touched on a little bit. I think we
30:57
have to give USC the flowers. I mean, that was
31:01
the home team won two to one, and every game
31:04
was close. In the last game was fourteen innings long,
31:07
like it was about a split of a series as possible. Now, granted,
31:10
some people still aren't very high on Oregon. I think
31:13
both teams just look good. Like it went to show
31:15
the bullpen depth, honestly, the fact that on Sunday you're
31:18
going five innings deep into extras and not allowing a run.
31:22
I I'm trying to remember. I watched that entire game,
31:26
but I'm trying to remember if when the score became
31:30
five to five, it might have been like seven innings
31:32
if I remember correctly. At the point being, the bullpens
31:34
are all very deep, and I kind of it's comforting
31:36
to see going into regionals for those teams. Yeah, I mean,
31:41
it'll be interesting to see these rematches if they do
31:43
get there. I think talent wise, those teams are the
31:46
next level above all the ones in days prior. But
31:49
the teams that are starting on Tuesday, you know, have
31:53
showed that they can hold their own with these higher
31:55
teams earlier in this year. And I mean, look, it's
31:58
not like it's a seriousest time. It's just a one
31:59
game sample, so it's baseball. Who knows what could happen,
32:02
Anything theoretically could happen. Josh, I'd love it if you
32:06
would give us your dark horse for the Big Ten
32:09
tournament as well as your selection, sir, Yeah, my dark course.
32:13
I'm gonna go with Perdue because they really need this
32:18
for RPI's sake. They're fifty four right now. Their offense
32:20
is one of the better ones in the conference, maybe
32:23
the top three ish for being honest offense in the conference.
32:29
They got Purdue game one. I wear Illinois game two.
32:32
That's very serviceable my actual pick. I mean, I'd love
32:39
to go contrarian here, but I'm trying to rack up
32:41
at least someone's so I'll take the layup pick with
32:44
UCLA for some I guess, like some betting tips, because
32:49
these lines are out for like you know, for the
32:51
conference tournaments. If you want some value if you're a
32:53
gambling person, Oregon is plus five hundred and fourth and
32:57
odds in the conference to win, which I feel like
33:00
DraftKings is usually and Fandel whoever it is no free ads.
33:05
They typically are really good about not just going based
33:08
on rankings and conference standings, but it seems like they
33:11
mostly did that with these conference tournaments, like in terms
33:15
of who is the most likely chance to win in
33:18
the big ten that goes UCLA, then Nebraska, then usc
33:21
An Oregon, which doesn't even really feel right for a
33:23
power ranking standpoint, although like two through four is close,
33:28
and also Ohio State's like fifth, which we don't I
33:31
don't think agree with. If you're looking for real value,
33:33
Perdue in Michigan or tied for seventh with the seventh
33:36
best odds plus twenty eight hundred. So if you really
33:38
want some value, I think that might be the spot
33:41
to look, although I will say I didn't mention it earlier.
33:44
Stanford's plus ten thousand to win the ACC. Look, you,
33:47
if they win two games, you can hedge out of that,
33:49
get a little bit of profit, just saying.
33:52
Speaker 1: We'll tell them, Drew Senchon, then send me five bucks, Jake.
33:55
I'd love your dark horse for this one, and i'd
33:58
love your actual selection as well.
34:02
Speaker 4: Well. The dark horse that I kinda that I came
34:06
into this wanting to pick I just I mean, they
34:08
didn't even make the tournament. I wanted to take Minnesota
34:10
as my dark horse just because Isaac Morton has been
34:14
so awesome this year and he's he's gonna get He's
34:16
earned himself a little bit of money. Going into the offseason,
34:19
I'm pretty sure. But uh, I guess I guess for
34:21
my dark horse now that I can't take Minnesota, I'll
34:23
go with I'll go with Iowa. I think they can
34:27
hit a little bit. Caleb wolf Gable Mitchell has been
34:30
a guy in that line up the last two or
34:32
three years for him. Ales Rizzley has been there for
34:34
a while. Cooper Shulty has been there for a while.
34:36
Like this, this is an experienced group. This lineup's played
34:39
together a lot. They made the tournament, you know, last
34:41
year with you know they had they had the better
34:43
pitchers last year, the three the three horses, they had
34:46
that kind of I think they all got drafted last year.
34:48
But uh this lineup's been together for a while. They
34:51
they know how to play together. And you know, if
34:52
I'm taking a dark horse team with some bats that
34:55
can get hot, I'll go with Iowa. But uh, I
34:58
am I am gonna be picking you see, I mean Oregon.
35:02
Oregon would probably be a close second pick, being that
35:06
the you know, they don't have to play UCLA into
35:08
the championship and all that, but just I mean, I
35:10
just can't pick against Ucla. I've picked him, and I
35:12
think every time they've been on our board this year,
35:15
they're forty eight and six. They haven't given me a
35:17
reason to go against them. So I'm going to UCLA.
35:20
Speaker 1: Twenty eight and two and the Big ten. Very few
35:22
reasons to go against them against this crop of teams too, right,
35:26
that's right, most boring selection. I'll take UCLA as well.
35:31
And uh, let me ask you guys a question, just
35:32
really quick. I expected one of you to talk about
35:34
this team as a as a dark horse. How good
35:37
do we think Michigan is on a scale of one
35:39
to ten? Just in terms of ten, is UCLA one?
35:42
Speaker 4: Is?
35:43
Speaker 1: You know, drew out there by himself on the dom?
35:46
Speaker 4: Uh?
35:48
Speaker 5: I mean if I don't, I don't really know what
35:51
if we're considering like where on the sky would you
35:54
consider to be like a at large bubble team?
35:57
Speaker 1: Okay, so out at that large bubble team as much.
35:59
Speaker 5: Right, whatever you put that number at Okay, I mean,
36:03
like I think Michigan is like going to say they
36:07
played by seed or are played to Seed. I guess
36:10
the way to say that in this tournament, and they
36:12
beat Rutgers but then they lost to Nebraska, Like if
36:16
that's what happened, I think they are. You when it's
36:19
selection Monday, a week from when this podcast releases, and
36:22
they show the last four and first four out graphic
36:25
on the TV, I would be willing to bet money
36:27
they are on that graphic somewhere.
36:29
Speaker 1: So Okay. My point in saying all that was, if
36:32
we think Michigan's a bubble team, then what do we
36:35
think about a team that swept them three to oh
36:37
my dark course, here is Ohio State. What if they're
36:40
coming in hot at the right time and they're gonna
36:42
have Washington a team they just three to oh skull
36:45
drug and then you come into Nebraska and you're in
36:48
I mean, you're in the quarters at that point. Stay hot, kids.
36:51
I don't know, and I'm not going to sit here
36:53
and act like Ohio State some Goliath by any stretch
36:56
of the imagination. Two starters who have done fine enough,
37:00
Gavin Kozniski, Pierce Aaron Barrock have done fired and then
37:04
you get to their offense. There's dudes there. Henry Kasmar
37:09
shout out the boy Lee Ellis that.
37:12
Speaker 5: Yeah.
37:13
Speaker 1: I just think I think Michigan, Ohio State that was
37:15
a very it was interesting outcomes, I'll say that much.
37:19
And I think Ohio State maybe a little hotter than
37:22
hotter than they are given credit. And I mean, shoot, Washington,
37:26
you know, I can't really look you can't really look
37:27
across Washington after the things they did. But anyhow, interesting
37:31
stuff for the Big ten tournament there, Josh, we will
37:35
we will be talking about now maybe the most controversial tournament, Jake,
37:40
potentially the most controversial tournament. It is Big twelve time,
37:44
the Big twelve enjoyer, Drew Wheeler. I am going to
37:47
pass the buck to you, though, Jake, I'd love it
37:49
if you'd walk us through the Big twelve tournament. Maybe
37:52
those kind of first couple of games, your overall thoughts
37:55
as we're getting into this one.
37:59
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean they're There has been a lot going
38:01
on in the Big twelve all season long. We've talked
38:04
about all these teams that's kind of beat up on
38:06
each other at that certain points and trying to decide
38:09
who the actual best team is. It seems seems like
38:11
it's kind of been just an impossible task. But in
38:14
terms of just like some implications from this tournament, like
38:19
the top probably seven teams, I would think have to
38:23
feel pretty good about making like making a regional like Kansas,
38:26
West Virginia and Cincinnati all have the potential at this
38:29
point to even host, Like Cincinnati's kind of more outside
38:32
of those in terms of the hosting conversation, but I
38:34
don't think it's completely out of the out of the
38:37
realm there that they could that they couldn't host a
38:39
regional at this point. But Oklahoma State, UCFTCU are also
38:43
kind of firmly in. Then you have Arizona State, who
38:46
we kind of feel like is potentially maybe still like
38:48
the even third or fourth best team in this conference,
38:51
but there are pis dropped recently. I mean, I still like,
38:54
I still like their chances as of right now to
38:56
get into the tournament, especially if they don't just go,
39:00
you know, want and done here. But you know, it's
39:02
worth noting that their RPI is in that in that
39:04
bubble range, and I don't think they're just a lot
39:07
to make it in despite how we feel about the
39:10
team as a whole. And then there's not really too
39:14
much else going on in terms of the bubble like
39:16
Kansas State, Baylor, BAYU, Utah, Texas Tech. Those are the
39:21
kind of the bottom five teams I feel like they're
39:23
gonna need to to kind of win this thing out right,
39:25
if they're wondering if they're gonna want to make it.
39:28
Speaker 1: I think that's a great point, Josh, kind of going
39:32
to you here. Looking at some of these teams playing
39:35
on Tuesday and Wednesday is a little bit baffling to me.
39:39
I think at certain points of the season, whether it's
39:41
pre season kind of fingers pointed at TCU in Texas Tech,
39:45
whether it's early season, fingers pointed at Kansas State, whether
39:49
it's mint season, you know, let's point at Baylor, or
39:52
late in the season Utah. There are some teams that
39:55
have played excellent baseball and have been really hot at times.
39:59
Playing in the the first two days of this tournament.
40:01
I think it's almost a microcosm of the Big Twelve
40:05
really just punching one another in the face over and
40:08
over and over and over.
40:10
Speaker 5: I took your rice pick earlier, and you just took
40:12
my word. I was gonna say the hell about how
40:14
that's all a microcosm of the conference as a whole
40:16
this year, and it's such an offensively driven conference. And
40:20
at a certain point when you have that many like
40:24
firepower filled lineups and there's so many big boppers come
40:28
up to the play every single game. It's just there's
40:31
bound to be variants that happens, and that's exactly what
40:35
happened in this conference. We got some weird standings at
40:38
the end of it. It'll be very fun to see
40:40
if these teams can make a push. I don't really
40:44
think there's any chance that this is one of the
40:47
only conference unless I'm forgetting someone, this might be the
40:50
only conference where I think, no matter what the result is,
40:53
besides one of the eight through twelve seeds winning the
40:57
conference tournament, I don't think there's a way that any
40:59
of the top seven teams could fall out of the
41:01
tournament or any of the other ones could move their
41:04
weight in without just winning the auto bid. So it's
41:06
interesting in that way. But there will be some jousting
41:08
for seeding within the top and some you know team
41:11
that I can guarantee you. I don't know who it's
41:12
gonna be, but I can I'll say my hot take,
41:16
and it's probably not even that hot. One of one
41:21
of the teams playing on Tuesday or Wednesday will be
41:24
in the semi finals. I don't know which, but it's
41:26
gonna happen because there's so many high like firepower field offenses.
41:30
Like I said, I think with the way that pitching
41:34
staffs are gonna be utilized for these better teams in
41:36
the tournament, trying not to waste their arms and burn
41:39
their arms in these tournaments, some of these offenses are
41:41
gonna take advantage. I just don't know who it's gonna be.
41:45
Speaker 1: I think you're absolutely right. I can point out, well,
41:48
we'll get to that moment.
41:50
Speaker 5: I'm probably gonna point out the same couple time.
41:52
Speaker 1: You're gonna you're gonna pick the team I want to pick.
41:55
I'm guaranteed, No.
41:56
Speaker 5: I'm not. I know, I know where you're going. But anyway,
41:59
keep talking.
42:00
Speaker 1: We'll find out. We'll find out. Jake, I'd love it
42:03
to hear your dark horse. Maybe you're thinking on the
42:06
same realm as me and I guarantee, Josh and then Buddy,
42:09
you've got the unenviable task, Jake, of being the first.
42:12
Speaker 5: One to pick who wins the Big twelve tournament.
42:16
Speaker 4: I mean a dark horse. I don't know how dark
42:19
horse you guys are thinking. I want to say. I
42:22
want to say Baylor is gonna be my dark horse team. Uh,
42:26
you know they're gonna face you know they're gonna face
42:29
one of either b Yu or Texas Tech, both which
42:32
you know we've talked about how the offense has kind
42:34
of start this conference this year. Neither of them have
42:36
really pitched the ball that well. If they win their
42:39
first game, you know they're going against Kansas. I know
42:42
Kansas still has a ton to play for, but they
42:44
haven't played each other this year yet, so Kansas doesn't
42:47
really know what they're gonna be going up against. Necessarily
42:49
with that Baylor team, they haven't played against him yet.
42:52
But Baylor they've won two of their last three Big
42:55
Twelve series, three of their last four games. Like, They've
42:58
also scored thirty six runs their last four games, So
43:01
the offense is heating up. So uh, I'll take you.
43:03
I'll take Baylor as my dark horse. And if I
43:06
was just gonna pick an outright winner, I guess I can. Uh,
43:10
I don't know. I'll go West Virginia. I like West Virginia.
43:13
They have the biggest wins. They they're kinda they're they're
43:16
playing good ball. Max Jail and the boys are gonna
43:18
win it.
43:19
Speaker 1: Love that love that Josh was Baylor your dark horse
43:23
as well?
43:24
Speaker 5: They were not. Actually I thought I thought you were
43:26
gonna say Kansas State.
43:28
Speaker 1: Oh, I love it, Okay, I love it off where you.
43:31
Speaker 5: Were going, But that's also not even my dark horse.
43:34
I just I thought about them for the sake of
43:37
the whole offense thing, because I think they have the
43:40
second how do I word this, of the dark horses,
43:43
they have the second best offense. My my actual pick
43:48
is going to be Texas Tech as the twelve seed.
43:50
I know this is the second twelve seed I've said
43:52
is gonna be my dark horse. But it's not just like, yes,
43:55
they got they got Logan Hughes and Caden Ferraro and
43:57
Connor Shouts and all of them. But I mean the
43:59
off as a whole has been just absolutely lethal this year.
44:02
This issue is the pitching staff looks like, well, no,
44:06
that was gonna be mean. I wasn't gonna say. I'm
44:07
gonna say what I was gonna say. Anyway, the pitching
44:09
tav has been terrible, but I think the offense could
44:13
be good enough to overcome for a few games. Like
44:15
I mentioned, if I was going purely with the offense,
44:19
I might go with them, but you've got to have
44:21
a little balance in there. Arizona State is the next
44:24
best offense where you actually do find that balance. So
44:27
I'm gonna take Landon Harrison and the boys to lead
44:29
the Sun Devils for their first ever conference tournament title,
44:32
which sounds weird, but it's accurate. In West Virginia. Isn't
44:36
the easiest pat to the championship game at all, but
44:39
I'll take a shot here and hope for the best.
44:42
Speaker 1: So, Josh, I do want to call out something we
44:44
haven't had a chance to talk about yet. Cole Carlin
44:46
was pulled from his start with we heard velocity dip,
44:51
and my brain always goes to he's hurt, He's hurt,
44:54
He's hurt, panic immediate. Yeah, uh, theoretically if.
44:59
Speaker 5: We see col carlone, Yeah, I mean it sucks. It
45:06
was definitely an armed thing from what I heard. I
45:07
just don't know to what extent it is. I haven't
45:09
seen to what extent it is. No need if it's
45:13
anything drastic, that just really really stinks for them postseason purposes.
45:19
They're probably gonna end up a three seed regardless unless
45:21
they win this thame that could be a two. You
45:23
hate that for his draft stock if it's anything serious.
45:26
I hate this for Arizona State's chances as a team
45:28
if it's serious, But I don't know. We can hope
45:30
for the best. I really haven't heard anything. I have
45:32
no idea.
45:33
Speaker 1: Yeah. Likewise, can't find any information on it. Obviously, as
45:38
a Big twelve enjoyer, I'm hardly an expert anymore. We
45:41
established that several weeks ago. As a Big twelve enjoyer, though,
45:44
there are tons of tons of dark horses I could
45:46
plant to flag on I mean Baylor, of course, Kansas State,
45:49
as Josh called out, I'll tell you though, Utah lately
45:52
has looked really kind of crazy. They've put some solid
45:56
weekends together at play. We haven't talked about TCU. I'll
46:01
throw a dark horse nod at TCU though, as we
46:05
said for KSU, I mean TCU, if you if you
46:10
beat your first round, you're running into the buzz saw
46:13
that is West Virginia. It's just that's a tough row
46:17
to hoe for anybody. I'm gonna be really invested in
46:20
the Big twelve tournament. I think I'll go that far.
46:22
H You two took the picks I wanted to make
46:25
for champions. So, just for the interest of parody, I mean,
46:29
Kansas has looked insane at times this year, and I
46:33
think give it about maybe two weeks ago, I think
46:36
we would have said this is a kind of maybe
46:38
not even a dark horse national seed, but one of
46:41
the top eight. I think now we're certainly looking at
46:43
Kansas to host, barring some crazy work that happens in
46:48
this tournament. I mean, losing on Thursday, might you know,
46:52
might sell the farm there. But I'll take Kansas just
46:57
that's my three favorites, ASU, West, Virginia, Kansas. I'll take
47:00
Kansas just to be fun, all right, Josh, Conference USA,
47:06
the old the old CUSA. What to say about this tournament? Uh,
47:11
probably quite a bit. I'm curious where you're gonna start.
47:14
Speaker 5: Though, I'll start by saying, three big cusa, it's gonna happen.
47:19
Can we get a big steal and make it a
47:21
four big cusa? That's the question.
47:24
Speaker 3: We have.
47:25
Speaker 5: Six teams that have a chance of doing it. Maybe well, no,
47:30
some people think Latch has a chance to get it
47:32
as an at large. I don't. The RPI dropped to
47:35
seventy three this past weekend. It would take a lot,
47:37
but we could get four Conference USA teams in here.
47:40
All all the dominoes follow the right way really offensively
47:45
powered teams in this tournament, like Missouri State d W
47:49
really pitching driven squads like jack State Liberty. Some of
47:54
the teams at the bottom have been, you know, poke
47:58
poking at the top ones and give them a little
48:00
for their money in these series they've been playing. So,
48:02
like I said, it's a matter of can you have
48:05
a one game sample size that's good enough? Although actually
48:08
in this conference, now that I think about it, that
48:10
doesn't matter because it's another one of those weird conference formats.
48:14
It's a pod system, and actually I've been talking about
48:17
it wrong on the podcast. I thought it was a
48:19
twelve team pod format where it's like four different pods
48:23
of three teams, but it turns out it's three pods
48:26
of three teams, and I don't even like it's another
48:33
weird one where it's like one plays. I'm trying to
48:39
pull it up quickly so I don't forget. Yeah, it's
48:42
like one plays six and nine, two plays five and eight,
48:47
and three plays four and seven, and then there's four
48:52
teams that qualify. I think it's the winner of the pods,
48:54
and like the best other one from point differential, run differential.
48:59
Speaker 4: It's the next one is the best record in pool play,
49:03
and then if there's a tie there, it goes to
49:05
the highest seed left.
49:07
Speaker 1: Oh I like that.
49:08
Speaker 5: That's what the a SEC used to do. I think, yeah,
49:11
I'm pretty I think it's the a CC used to
49:13
do in the pool play. I like that actually, but
49:15
it's super funky. Should be fun, I guess is the word.
49:20
I don't know. We are hard to follow. Nonetheless, it's
49:25
I'm so glad that a CEC got rid of that
49:27
stupid format that used to do Conference USA. Please be next,
49:31
That's all I can say.
49:34
Speaker 1: All right, Uh, Jake will go to you first. I'm
49:39
not really sure with the way that this one was
49:40
set up if we can pick a dark horse, but
49:42
if you want to go ahead, and then i'd love
49:45
your full, full on selection as well.
49:49
Speaker 4: I don't pick a dark horse just because I just
49:51
got to look at my dark horse team this past
49:54
weekend Western Kentucky out there outside of those top five
49:58
teams there, they are the six seeds on and that's
50:00
kind of the highest I guess of the dark horse
50:02
that we can pick from. But uh, this is this
50:04
is a pretty solid team. The Austin Holler he's their
50:07
lead off guy he gets, he's really good. He does
50:10
really good job of getting on base. Reid Howard the
50:13
two guy, the two hitter, freshman shortstop, he really plays
50:17
a really good shortstop, also an on base guy. And
50:20
then uh Lana Roos. He's only got seven homers on
50:23
the year, but I saw him hit like three or
50:26
four doubles. He's got twenty four doubles on the season.
50:29
He just really got a knack for driving in runs.
50:31
And those guys at the top do a good job
50:32
of getting on for him. And then when I saw
50:35
him play, I saw Gavin Perry pitch that he's like
50:37
their Brad Guy's there. He's there, he's their second starter
50:40
usually uh four or six. He already seventy seven innings
50:44
though seventy seven k's strike thrower eighteen eighteen walks. I
50:48
think I was texting you guys while I was at
50:50
the game. He works fast. He only threw like I
50:53
think I counted four balls in the first like three
50:56
innings or something like that. Crazy, he was just filling
50:58
up his own off Speed's good fast balls up to
51:01
like like mid upper nineties at times. Like he's he's
51:05
a good pitcher. So I guess my dark horse would
51:07
be Western Kentucky. But my pick, I think it's just
51:11
gonna be Jack State. I'll take the favorites. I just
51:15
think they're going to finish the job. They've been at
51:17
the top of this conference all year long. They they
51:19
haven't lost many games at all. So give me, give
51:22
me Jack State. I think they're just gonna do it.
51:25
Speaker 1: Love it, Josh A dark horse question Mark and your selection.
51:31
Speaker 5: My dark horse is going to be the same exact
51:32
dark horse as Jake said, Western Kentucky. Uh No, notes
51:36
he made all my points for me. Unless you would
51:40
you consider DVU a dark horse.
51:46
Speaker 1: No, but I get what you're getting at and I
51:48
appreciate it, So go ahead and.
51:50
Speaker 5: Yeah, No, I mean like I'll stick with Western Kentucky then,
51:52
because I mean, if we can count DVU, then I
51:54
would go with them because they're not technically like a
51:57
favorite in any of the pods. They have the fourth
51:59
best size to one the whole thing. Yeah, from my
52:01
actual winner, I'm tended to pick a bid steal here
52:04
with THEBU but I think this is unfortunately the year
52:07
their postseason streak ends. My pick here is the embodiment
52:12
of what I am trying to do here taking the
52:14
best offenses. Jack State and Liberty are known for their
52:17
electric pitching staffs, but the other team hosting one of
52:20
these pods is known for their bats. So I'll take
52:23
Curry Sutherland and the Boys to win their fourth Missouri
52:26
Valley Conference tournament and summit themselves the two seed in
52:29
the process. Okay, oh, name, that's Missouri state. For people,
52:38
I should say the name I get.
52:39
Speaker 1: Yeah, if you missed that at Helme, it's Missouri State.
52:44
You guys talked about Western Kentucky. Who are who are?
52:47
You know a quality one. I'll shout out the alma
52:50
mater really quickly and give a plug to the Blue
52:52
Raiders in the middle Tennessee State. You know that's a
52:57
baseball team that exists in the state of Tennessee. I've
52:59
kind of got us parking him in some regard, right.
53:01
They pushed Liberty this weekend though, Boys uh two to
53:06
one nearly one h nearly one on Saturday, Cooper Clapp
53:10
playing some solid baseball for them. I don't expect him
53:13
TSU to win, but I mean, what if something cool
53:16
happened and they managed to Uh. He's an infielder from
53:20
Old Hardin County high school. Jake school, you'll be familiar with,
53:24
so shout out to him either way for my pick
53:29
in the CUSA. I think I kind of to echo
53:33
what Josh said before he ran away. Up there he
53:36
is before he ran away, Josh said that DBU was
53:39
a I think the streak's gonna end it up. I'm
53:41
gonna I'm gonna echo that it is sad. I do
53:44
think that streak will end. But Jake, I think you
53:47
you nailed it. This is Jack State's tournament to lose.
53:51
I'm tempted to be interesting in pick Liberty, but I'm
53:56
gonna go Jack State. I'll be a boring boy and
53:58
take Jack State. I thought, like, I think it's their
54:00
to lose. Man without a doubt. All right, another of
54:04
the big ones, and we're gonna get right into it
54:06
because we're talking SEC SEC tournament. Jake. We have got
54:10
uh the bracket drop today. I know I studied it
54:13
a little bit. I think no matter which way you look,
54:15
you're facing down a buzzsaw in every single round mostly, uh, Jake.
54:22
My question to you to start off with is which
54:26
team that's gonna be playing on excuse me, on the
54:30
first day. Who do you think has the best shot
54:33
of propelling themselves towards a quarterfinal, semifinal. Birth If you
54:37
had to pick.
54:37
Speaker 4: One teams playing in that first round, while you're thinking no, no,
54:48
you go ahead. If you have something else, no please,
54:52
I think I'll say I think I'll say Kentucky is
54:55
the one that I think is my favorite there that
54:58
they get Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt has been up and down that
55:00
they're actually behind Vanderbilt in terms of seating, but Vanderbilt
55:04
has been disappointing this year, just just just to put
55:07
it that way. Kentucky also, I mean, they haven't just
55:10
been lighting the world on fire, but they've they've they've
55:12
played good ball, and I think they have a chance
55:14
at beating Kentucky and then going into Florida in that
55:17
second round. I mean, we say it that, we say
55:20
it every every time we talk about Florida. What version
55:22
of Florida are we gonna get? What version of Leam
55:25
Peterson are we gonna get? I would assume it could
55:27
be well, I don't know if it'd be Haden King
55:29
on a Wednesday or not, but you know, you know
55:31
what I'm saying. Whatever, when you're going up against Florida,
55:33
you don't know what you're gonna get. And then if
55:35
they do get past Florida, they get Alabama. And we've
55:38
we've we've talked about the Justin Lebron thing on a
55:42
hundred times at this point, but it is for real.
55:45
If he's not going, they have some other guys that's
55:47
kind of stepped up. Uh. But I think I think
55:52
if I had to take a team that's playing on
55:54
that first day of the tournament to make it to
55:56
a quarter even even a semi, if they can get
55:58
past Alabama, I think it'd be Kentucky.
56:00
Speaker 1: It's gonna be an interesting one to see for sure.
56:04
Let's let's talk Josh about the second round teams, teams
56:07
who are gonna get in the mix and the second
56:09
day of the SEC tournament. Uh, And let's bar Florida
56:13
from that conversation, because Jake just kind of brought them
56:15
up as a potential upset alert team. Mississippi State, Arkansas, Auburn.
56:21
Who do you think has the greatest chance of losing
56:25
on that day? Who's on upset alert? From that group?
56:31
Speaker 5: This is a great podcasting by you, by the way,
56:34
setting Jake up like that. So it comes to me
56:36
to talk about Auburn on the second day. It's good stuff.
56:38
What do you mean, No, that wasn't sarcastic. I'm being serious. Honestly.
56:46
I think my answer is Auburn. And here's why. Wow,
56:50
I said something in the group chat yesterday that didn't
56:51
get a lot of traction, but I'm gonna say it
56:54
because I think, Sorry, it's true.
56:56
Speaker 1: That's really funny.
56:57
Speaker 5: I noticed it on my own. I've not to anybody
57:00
about this, but I noticed it. This is the second
57:03
year in a row that this exact thing has happened.
57:06
Auburn has been the number six overall seed in the
57:08
SEC Tournament and they have a chance to be matched
57:11
up against the number fourteen seed in the SEC Tournament
57:14
on the second day. That number fourteen seed was a
57:17
preseason number three, our top three team in the country.
57:20
Last year it was A and M. This year it
57:21
could be LSU. Last year ANM beat Auburn on that
57:25
first day the SEC Tournament when they were looking for
57:27
a way to fight back and sneak themselves into the tournament.
57:30
Same thing LSU was trying to do this year. So
57:33
I'll say that could happen again. Auburn was a number
57:35
four overall seed in the actual tournament last year after
57:38
that happened, so that'll probably be fine. I think they're
57:41
a national seed regardless, at the very very least like seven,
57:44
maybe eight, depending on what an M does in this tournament.
57:47
But because of that, I'll say Auburn very interesting.
57:51
Speaker 1: And yes, you're right, I gotta say, I'm sorry. Great
57:54
point to making the old GC. That's all me, man,
57:57
that's all me. You get a retroactive double exclamation emoji
58:02
the old you earned, that's all. That's the That's the
58:07
very least I can give you. All Right, boys, I'm curious, Josh,
58:11
let's keep it with you. Since we're here, a dark
58:14
horse of all dark horses. Who you going with and
58:17
who you're taking? It's the SEC tournament. It just means more.
58:21
Speaker 5: By god, I don't, I don't know. There are so
58:26
many options if we're going, Oh god, I I really
58:33
I really don't. Okay, you go, you go.
58:38
Speaker 1: Dark Horse Tennessee, go figure and then tournament tournament champion.
58:46
I think I learned my ultimate lesson in picking against
58:50
Texas A and M. But I'm gonna do it again.
58:54
I'm gonna take Georgia. I think Georgia just Is is
58:57
a crazy hot team. Considering you're gonna run into either
59:02
theoretically either Ole Miss or Mississippi State in your first game.
59:06
I think that's manageable, you get, I mean Florida's question
59:12
mark offense, Alabama's question mark offense. Maybe I like kind
59:17
of like Jake's scenario where Kentucky's just kind of, like,
59:20
you know, stealth knifing everybody on the way to a
59:23
Georgia semi. That'd be kind of really interesting to me,
59:27
because Kentucky's offense can bop guys, and they've got deceptively
59:30
good pitching too. Anyway, I think if the point is
59:33
is your first kind of wow, you know what, if
59:35
this Mississippi team anyway, George is gonna be my pick.
59:39
I do like Tennessee's odds. I don't think that Auburn's
59:42
got to worry about a fourteen. I think they're worried
59:43
about an eleven that's been playing like people with the
59:46
pants on fire lately. But that whole sector of the
59:50
bracket with Tennessee, LSU, Auburn, and A and M is
59:52
just a death march for whoever it makes it out like.
59:55
That's just.
1:00:00
Speaker 5: Isn't it? Isn't it Oklahoma LSU playing the eleven fourteen?
1:00:04
Speaker 1: I think so, No, that's you're correct, You're correct.
1:00:09
Speaker 5: Well, okay, to be fair, earlier I talked about Purdue
1:00:11
playing Minnesota, and they're just definitely playing Michigan State. It's
1:00:15
they're they're different. You got to go to the actual
1:00:17
like releases. That's why I was looking at eleven point
1:00:20
seven's website for a while and the ACC. I was
1:00:23
so confused, and then I got like, since I'm credentialed
1:00:26
for Charlotte, I got like sent an actual email from
1:00:28
the ACC like showing the bracket last night, And it
1:00:31
was such a relief because I was so tired of
1:00:33
trying to figure out the time breakers on my own.
1:00:36
Regardless of well you.
1:00:38
Speaker 1: Go, no, yeah, dude, you're right, eleven point seven you can.
1:00:42
You can send me a check for that mistake at
1:00:45
your leisure.
1:00:46
Speaker 4: Uh.
1:00:46
Speaker 1: Yeah, either way. A tough row to hoe for Auburn,
1:00:51
that's just a tough one. I'll take Georgia though, as
1:00:53
my official pick. Josh, go ahead to you now whenever
1:00:57
you are ready.
1:00:58
Speaker 5: Yeah, I've got all of my picks. I'm gonna take
1:01:00
dark dark Horse, kind of dark Corse and then winner.
1:01:04
I don't know why I didn't come up with this
1:01:06
at first. My dark dark horse is Vandy. Tim Corbyn's
1:01:09
teams always seem to play well and Hoover. I don't
1:01:11
know what it is, but they just they always do
1:01:14
so they always do tend to put things together really
1:01:16
well there. Their offense is also really solid, so I
1:01:19
think they can hit around enough for at least a
1:01:21
couple of days. My realistic ish dark horse in Mississippi State.
1:01:28
They are the eight seed, but like they're power rated
1:01:31
really well. Their offense looks really good. They have recently.
1:01:36
It's hard to say because they've lost three straight series. Sure,
1:01:40
but I still have a lot of promise in this team,
1:01:43
and the eye test tells me that this is still
1:01:45
a really good team. And with getting Ryan McPherson back,
1:01:49
he had some control issues this past week, he hasn't
1:01:51
looked his best, but it's gonna be a slow build
1:01:53
up and I still trust that pitching staff. My actual pick. Conveniently,
1:01:59
the team in this with that overpowering offense I've been
1:02:02
talking about is the one seed Georgia Bulldogs. They leave
1:02:05
the conference in average os, hits and home runs, so
1:02:10
banking on them to take advantage of pitching staffs who
1:02:12
aren't at full force seems relatively safe. Also, the draw
1:02:17
of one of the Mississippi schools followed by probably Bama
1:02:20
is a pretty favorable drawl in comparison to what they
1:02:23
could have gotten.
1:02:24
Speaker 1: Probably Bama. Who are you and what have you done with?
1:02:27
John Well?
1:02:28
Speaker 5: I don't know if we're gonna get mister Florida, Doctor
1:02:30
Florida or mister Gator in that four or five game,
1:02:32
so or I mean we could get actually compare like
1:02:35
like what I just said, we could get Vandy. It's
1:02:38
it's Hoover. There's gonna be there's gonna be a double
1:02:41
digit seed playing on Saturday. I just don't know.
1:02:44
Speaker 1: Guaranteed to fund out which team it is. Why it's Tennessee.
1:02:48
I think I'm predictable in that way. It's what makes
1:02:53
for good podcasting. It's familiarity with your host.
1:02:55
Speaker 4: Jake.
1:02:56
Speaker 1: Let's hear it from you man. Dark Horse tournament selection.
1:03:00
Speaker 4: You think, all right, I'll do it, dark Horse l
1:03:06
s U, dark Horse LS Listen, you get you get
1:03:11
L s U into the tournament. They have nine sec wins.
1:03:14
I don't care that they've lost six sec games in
1:03:18
a row. I'm not looking at the matchups of who
1:03:20
they've who they got in this tournament, who they're gonna
1:03:23
go up against. I know they got Auburn. Whatever give
1:03:25
me L s U. Give me j Johnson in this tournament.
1:03:28
He's in in in his soul. He's a winner. Even
1:03:31
though they haven't had the season that they wanted. Kate
1:03:34
Aaron Beattie eighteen bombs this year. Jake Brown's hitting over
1:03:37
three hundred as well, sixteen homers. Steven Mylins got double
1:03:40
digit homers. Who knows this team could get going at
1:03:45
any point in time. They obviously have the talent. They
1:03:47
were number one in the preseason for a reason. I'll
1:03:51
say super dark horse at this point would be L.
1:03:54
Speaker 5: S U.
1:03:54
Speaker 4: But uh my, my actual pick, I'm gonna go Texas.
1:03:59
I think they have an okay n okay path they get.
1:04:04
You know, if if they get if they get Tennessee,
1:04:06
it would be in Tennessee's third game at that point,
1:04:09
or they would get Arkansas and then I like, I
1:04:13
like that matchup for Texas e other the way, then
1:04:15
they have to face h A and M Who's you know,
1:04:19
the pitching staff hasn't been a very trustworthy asset for
1:04:21
an m this year and then they and then maybe
1:04:24
Georgia in the championship, which would be such an awesome game.
1:04:27
But uh, Texas has asked some extra motivation compete for
1:04:30
that top four c where it kind of looks like
1:04:31
Georgia maybe has locked it up already. But I think
1:04:35
that kind of gives me some hope that Texas can
1:04:37
get it done there, all right.
1:04:40
Speaker 1: I like that. I think Texas is a pretty good
1:04:42
safe pick to meet there as well. Like it, Jake,
1:04:45
I'm going to have you walk us through really quickly
1:04:48
kind of the highs and lows of the Soakon tournament.
1:04:51
This one we are kind of running up on time.
1:04:53
Love it if you'd run us through the like I said,
1:04:55
his and lows of this one really quick and then
1:04:57
now get your selection for the winner as well.
1:04:59
Speaker 4: M hm, yeah, I guess, just to keep it quick.
1:05:02
It's kind of It's kind of the top two teams
1:05:05
for me right now. It's Mercer Western Carolina. They're both
1:05:08
playing really good ball. Mercer got in front of them
1:05:10
and the standings this weekend. I'm pretty sure they jumped
1:05:12
them in the last in the last minute to turn
1:05:14
that number one seed, and I know Josh has some
1:05:18
points to make about this crazy bracket, so I'll leave
1:05:20
that for him. But I guess, just to keep it quick,
1:05:24
I think i'm gonna pick Mercer. They're playing, They're playing
1:05:27
so good right now. Titan Kamaka is awesome, and then
1:05:31
they got their they got their power. Guys. They have
1:05:32
Braden Cursey, who's sitting near with twenty jacks on the air.
1:05:35
Chris Katz has eighteen Eli Stevens, who's gonna be who's
1:05:38
gonna probably be an SEC player next year, seventeen homers.
1:05:43
Logan Shepherd has seventeen homers. It just keeps going. This
1:05:46
team hits for power and they're gonna outslow just about
1:05:49
any other team they're matched up with in this tournament.
1:05:51
So I'll take Mercer.
1:05:54
Speaker 1: Absolutely. Josh. I know that you are very eager to
1:05:58
talk about this tournament. I'd love it if you could
1:06:02
lead us into that and then give us your pick
1:06:03
as well.
1:06:05
Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm gonna go ahead, and uh, I'm gonna go
1:06:07
ahead and share my screen real quick, just so the
1:06:10
people can see this. Now, what are we looking at, really,
1:06:17
Southern Conference executives, what are we looking at?
1:06:20
Speaker 1: You?
1:06:20
Speaker 5: Can be so simple here, but you decide to just
1:06:23
do this and make everyone lives so difficult. So I'm
1:06:28
gonna I'm gonna try and describe this for someone that
1:06:31
can't see it and just see if I can do
1:06:33
the best. So there's eight teams in this thing, right,
1:06:35
They're split up into two halves, and the best way
1:06:38
I can explain it is the five and eight are
1:06:41
playing on one side and the six and the seven
1:06:42
are playing on the other. That's an elimination game. Loser
1:06:45
is out. After that, it turns into like a three
1:06:49
team double elimination format, with the higher seed getting a bye,
1:06:54
and then the winner of those two separate double elimination
1:07:00
tournaments play in a championship game, just a one off
1:07:03
game on Saturday. No need for all this, it's just
1:07:07
so unnecessary. There's no need for all this. Just put
1:07:10
Mercer in Western Carolina in the championship game and let's
1:07:12
move on with our lives. That's what everyone wants to see.
1:07:15
I don't know, it's just it's just so unnecessary. But regardless,
1:07:20
it could be a fun tournament. There could be some
1:07:22
fun upsets. I think, my I know you didn't ask
1:07:26
me for this yet.
1:07:26
Speaker 1: But I guess please.
1:07:27
Speaker 5: I mean, like my dark horse would probably be waffered
1:07:29
in this Uh. They have a good offense live by
1:07:32
Ben Timblin and right field, he's been really good for him,
1:07:34
good power, speed guy, big dude. That they could string
1:07:39
together a win or two, and they could. I don't
1:07:42
know that they could end up beating someone like Mercer.
1:07:44
I guess in like an upset game, because you know,
1:07:46
Mercer's pitching does have off games where bad things tend
1:07:49
to happen sometimes. As for my actual pick, I am
1:07:54
gonna pick Mercer, though I do think it would it
1:07:59
would be more are fun from my perspective of Western Carolina.
1:08:03
One because I want to see what the committee would
1:08:05
do with Mercer in this situation, because they probably be
1:08:07
around thirty in the RPI, and I don't think the
1:08:10
committee's ever let the team that high and out of
1:08:12
the tournament. I think there's I said this all fair,
1:08:17
I'll say it on air. I think there's seven leagues
1:08:21
that I'm at least ninety five percent sure of that
1:08:23
are multi bid leagues, and two more being the MAC
1:08:26
and the SoCon that could be. So we'll see what
1:08:29
the committee does there with Miami of Ohio and Mercer
1:08:32
if they don't win, which is one of those first
1:08:34
seven conferences, like you have a chance. Those are the
1:08:36
ones that, like if you're watching for bid steals, if
1:08:39
you're a team on the bubble, that's the ones you
1:08:40
don't want a team to win that isn't already like
1:08:43
definitively in the field. You know, so con and MAC.
1:08:48
Maybe it just depends, but I mean, like, yeah, if
1:08:51
someone like Wafford or Sanford ends up winning this thing,
1:08:53
it can make it very interesting. I don't think Western
1:08:55
Carolina gets in within that larger Mercer very well. Could
1:08:58
at this point, they're like, what are they RPI right now?
1:09:00
Are they? I think it was somewhere else to look
1:09:02
because you know, I'm shadow band, I'm Warre and Nolan here,
1:09:06
I'll do it. Uh twenty six. There it is. I
1:09:08
got okay, No, I can go to a private browser
1:09:10
and see it. But I don't know. I don't know
1:09:11
what happened to I'm shadow band on what More and Nolan.
1:09:14
I don't know what I did.
1:09:15
Speaker 1: I shouldn't have been talking all that trash about him
1:09:17
on the podcast.
1:09:18
Speaker 5: I say, I love that website.
1:09:19
Speaker 1: I know you do. You I'm being silly, h Okay,
1:09:25
I'll be boring and picked Mercer. I do love what
1:09:27
you said, Josh, like Western winning would be supremely interesting,
1:09:30
because I mean, do we then get two bits o
1:09:32
comm because I mean, Mercer's gotta be in this tournament.
1:09:35
Speaker 5: In my brain, I think they gotta be in.
1:09:38
Speaker 1: This is just too good of a team.
1:09:41
Speaker 4: Uh.
1:09:41
Speaker 1: I'm gonna pick Mercer though, because I'm boring at my soul.
1:09:45
Uh dark horse man, shout out my man, Grayson Fitzwater.
1:09:50
He can hit really good double digit homers and steals
1:09:53
twenty one home runs. Man slug in seven forty seven
1:09:57
grays and Fitzwater. They'rret off the shoulder. That'll be my
1:10:00
dark horse. So what they'll do is they'll they'll blow
1:10:03
out Citadel, They'll beat Josh's dark horse in Watford to
1:10:06
take one from Mercer, then lose to Mercer, and then
1:10:09
somehow this Black Magic Tournament will put them on the
1:10:12
other side of the bracket. Because I don't understand how
1:10:14
it works either for all of you at all. So
1:10:17
there you go that Mercer's gonna win the tournament, right,
1:10:20
and Josh wrap us up, lead us through the conversation
1:10:23
about the Sun Belt Tournament. What's the major stories of
1:10:25
that one? And let's get your pick as well.
1:10:29
Speaker 5: Major. I mean, I think this is how I put this.
1:10:34
You can very well call this the most fun tournament
1:10:36
because there are four teams that could get in as
1:10:42
an at large. This thing could not. It's and what's
1:10:46
weird about it is I could talk forever about the
1:10:49
sunblt Tournament this year because for starters, the one two
1:10:53
seeds ended up flipping from what it was all season.
1:10:56
Southern has ended up getting the one seed over Coastal
1:11:00
tie but they wont the tiebreaker or sorry, no, they're
1:11:02
not tied. Southern miss is one up on them because
1:11:04
Coastal lost the series late in the year, which really
1:11:08
hurt them. Four through seven in this tournament could all
1:11:12
technically get into the tournament as an at large, and
1:11:15
they all think they can for sure. Four seed Troy
1:11:18
RPI of forty five. They have come fighting back from
1:11:20
out of nowhere to put themselves in this thing. South
1:11:23
Alabama fifty seven in the RPI, Texas State's forty four,
1:11:27
Louisiana's forty. They're all right there. If I had to guess,
1:11:32
I would say we do end up getting three Sun
1:11:35
Belt teams in the tournament, maybe a fourth depending on
1:11:39
how this thing plays out. Like the world in which
1:11:41
neither Southern miss or Coastals in the conference championship game
1:11:44
is low, But in a world in which that happens,
1:11:46
we could get four teams because like app State is
1:11:49
the three seed in this thing, but they have an
1:11:51
RPI of one O four because their non common was
1:11:53
so bad. So it's just so weird to look at,
1:11:56
but a lot of fun. There's gonna be a lot
1:11:58
of really weird stuff that goes on here. I would love, love,
1:12:02
love to see one of those four through seven seeds
1:12:04
actually end up winning this thing and like definitively get
1:12:07
us a three bid some Belt because they deserve it.
1:12:09
Like that conference, as chaotic as it's been, the teams
1:12:12
are really really good, and in terms of pure talent,
1:12:15
it is the fifth best conference in this country. They
1:12:17
deserve to have three teams.
1:12:19
Speaker 1: I love that, soapbox. I support that entirely. Jake, would
1:12:23
you agree fifth best conference baseball wise in the country.
1:12:27
Speaker 4: Some Belt, I do agree. I mean there's there's the
1:12:31
two teams at the top with you know, Southern missting Coastal.
1:12:34
But like there's like Josh mentioned all those other teams
1:12:36
like Appstate, Troy, South Alabama, Texas State, Louisiana. You can
1:12:42
kind of argue that any of those teams can belong
1:12:44
in like any order, and I would probably agree with
1:12:46
you at some point, Like those are all really good
1:12:49
teams and like for them to all be in the
1:12:51
same conference and this to be considered mid major, it's
1:12:54
it's it's it's it's fun to watch. Yeah, they're they're
1:12:57
they're the fifth best conference with that adult.
1:13:00
Speaker 1: All right, Well, that brings us to the last tournament
1:13:03
to pick. And Jake, I'm curious, man, You've been doing
1:13:06
the ranks all season long. Who is gonna take the
1:13:10
mid major's best tournament?
1:13:14
Speaker 4: I do want to I do want to say one
1:13:18
thing real quick though. Arkansas State did not make this tournament.
1:13:21
They were one of my favorite teams heading into the
1:13:23
season in this conference. They might have been like my
1:13:25
third or fourth favorite team heading into this conference and
1:13:28
in the beginning of the season, and like they beat
1:13:30
Southern Miss in a series earlier in the season, and
1:13:32
they've just gone completely ice cold down the stretch and
1:13:35
fell out of the top ten and just missed this tournament.
1:13:41
So a dark horse, I'll take South Alabama as a
1:13:45
dark horse. I mean they can they can swing it,
1:13:47
but they can really pitch. Mitchell here Daniel Gonzalez is
1:13:51
a really good duo and some really nice weapons to have,
1:13:54
especially in this tournament, tournament setting that they're heading into.
1:13:57
But for my pick, I'm gonna pick Southern Miss. I
1:14:01
haven't done my rankings this week, yet, but they're gonna
1:14:04
They're gonna probably, I mean not probably, they're gonna remain
1:14:07
at the top. My favorite thing about them though, is
1:14:10
like they they they've been They've been pitching the crap
1:14:13
out of the ball like they're the Graydon Harris, Camden Clark,
1:14:17
and Camden Sunstrom. They they have really been pitching the
1:14:19
ball that their eras in their last three starts, Graydon
1:14:23
Harris two seven six, Camden Clark one point zero zero,
1:14:28
and Sunstrom two point eight one. And that's not to
1:14:30
mention Kobe Allen's been coming out of the pen. He's
1:14:33
gone nine innings across those uh those last three weekends
1:14:36
and hasn't allowed a run at all. They also got
1:14:40
four guys with double digit homer six guys hitting over
1:14:43
three hundred, Kyle Morrison, Joey Arpin, Davis Gillespie, and uh
1:14:47
Matthew Russo leading the way. Then they're just heading in
1:14:51
a different direction than what Coastal's heading in right now.
1:14:54
So uh, I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go Southern miss Oh.
1:14:57
Speaker 1: I love it. That's a that's a good pick. That's
1:15:00
a good pick, and I like that you're sticking to
1:15:02
your rankings. Josh, curious, what are you thinking man as
1:15:05
we talk about the Sun Belt Tournament dark horse selection?
1:15:09
Speaker 5: First of all, I don't know if I just saw
1:15:11
me frantically looking around my room as Jake was picking
1:15:15
in south of Alabama, as in my mom's office. I
1:15:17
was looking around. There has to be something south in here.
1:15:20
There's a there's a mini helmet in my room. I
1:15:22
know of it's in there, but I found this. This
1:15:24
is my stepdad pitching for them in nineteen ninety two.
1:15:27
So that's cool. I it's the only South thing that
1:15:30
I can see, like in the Jimwa area. So go
1:15:32
Jacks regardless, my I don't I don't know what to
1:15:39
call a dark horse in this thing, because like, yeah,
1:15:42
there are six possible tournament teams like I don't. It's
1:15:46
it's weird, like technically app State would be like a
1:15:48
dark horse, know the three Steed, but I think my
1:15:53
tournament winter, my projection could be a dark horse, So
1:15:55
I'm just gonna I'll just go with that. I'd love
1:15:58
to go with get app State here to really wrenching things,
1:16:01
considering their ninth in the entire country in batting average,
1:16:05
but they haven't made anyone worth anything this entire year
1:16:08
besides Troy, so I just can't do that. I'm gonna
1:16:12
choose one of these bubble teams to get themselves out
1:16:14
of the at large debate by auto punching their ticket,
1:16:17
and it's gonna be the one that I like the
1:16:19
most in the preseason and seems to be getting hot
1:16:21
at the right time. The just mentioned Troy Trojans. All
1:16:26
their main guys have been putting it together lately, Jimmy Janicky,
1:16:29
Aaron Pyu, Seki, Stephen Meyer. I think those guys will
1:16:32
have enough firepower to pull off a couple upsets and
1:16:34
get the Trojans into the big dance. So give me Troy.
1:16:37
Speaker 1: I love that pick. I was actually gonna take Troy.
1:16:40
Speaker 5: Ah stealing all your picks.
1:16:42
Speaker 1: That I you have. We're on the same page.
1:16:45
Speaker 5: Have fun here, all right, I might you know what,
1:16:49
here's what.
1:16:50
Speaker 1: We're gonna do. We're gonna take Coastal Carolina not happening.
1:16:53
I don't remember which one of you guys it was
1:16:55
earlier that said so Coastal's just done.
1:16:58
Speaker 5: I think it's Jake that said that.
1:17:00
Speaker 4: Take I said it. I said it in in question
1:17:04
for him.
1:17:08
Speaker 5: You said we can talk about on the pod, just
1:17:10
the time to talk about it. Do you mean done
1:17:12
in the sense of like, in the sense of what,
1:17:13
because I think I agree, I.
1:17:16
Speaker 4: Was just using I think I said the word dead,
1:17:18
not necessarily done. But uh sorry, they're just they're just heading.
1:17:25
They're just sitting it heading in the wrong direction. I mean, like,
1:17:27
you know, if there's one thing you can count on
1:17:29
for Coastal, it's that their pitching is going to be good,
1:17:31
and it just hasn't been. Like kem Fluki had a
1:17:34
good game this past weekend, but he was kind of
1:17:36
the only one these last couple of weeks that's had
1:17:38
a that's had a good start. You just want it
1:17:41
to be better.
1:17:42
Speaker 5: I think I think I would consider them to be
1:17:45
dead for like they will be a two seat somewhere,
1:17:47
and I don't have any faith in them coming out
1:17:49
of a regional. I will say I just thought about
1:17:52
this in real time, not to give myself more props
1:17:55
in this podcast, but I'm going to do it. I
1:17:58
remember during the preseason when everyone was trying to pick
1:18:03
their Omaha eights and making their rankings and all this
1:18:06
fun stuff, right, LSU and Coastal were on everybody's top
1:18:10
tens and whatnot, because you know, it looks really promising.
1:18:13
And I kept saying, his three shows, it's not gonna
1:18:16
happen because a defending champ has not returned to Omaha
1:18:19
in I think eight years, and a mid major has
1:18:22
not returned to Omaha, and back to back years in
1:18:24
eighteen years. LSU and Coastal look nowhere close to being
1:18:28
able to pull that off right now, So I stayed
1:18:30
away from them everywhere. So it's look, I say all
1:18:32
that to say, history repeats itself for a reason.
1:18:34
Speaker 4: There.
1:18:35
Speaker 5: I don't know what these trends like. I don't know
1:18:36
what the reason is for these trends, but it's a thing.
1:18:40
So just remember that for next year.
1:18:42
Speaker 1: Okay, Josh, I will uh thank you, coach. I appreciate
1:18:46
it as well. Uh, dark horse, I'm kind of tempted
1:18:50
to say Texas State just because we're talking about a
1:18:52
lot of quality teams here in the sun Belt, and
1:18:55
like South is a great selection, Troy is a great selection.
1:18:59
Texas States look really solid. I don't. I don't have
1:19:02
any faith in Coastal app State hits the ball really well,
1:19:06
but I again, I'm just not sure what that's going
1:19:09
to look like when you put them against you know,
1:19:11
capable opponents. I think the smart money is Southern Miss,
1:19:15
and I want to take Southern Miss, but I'd love
1:19:18
to be fun and take like South or Troy. I'll
1:19:20
take Southern Miss, but I think your dark horse just
1:19:23
pick pick your favorite team of the four through six
1:19:26
just because they're I think this is going to be
1:19:29
a deceptively good, good, good tournament, and I highly advise
1:19:33
all of you to watch that when you're not watching
1:19:36
not watching something else.
1:19:38
Speaker 4: Another one we haven't mentioned or we haven't talked about
1:19:40
very much, Louisiana. I hate that they're playing in that
1:19:45
like playing portion of this thing, because like they're they're
1:19:48
the lowest seed out of like the out of like
1:19:50
like this group of like these teams that are kind
1:19:52
of mixed together here, but they're the highest in the RPI.
1:19:55
They're at number forty r p I and they've really
1:19:57
finished the year strong. They wonder they won their last
1:20:00
four some belt series. Like I wish they didn't have
1:20:02
to play in that single elimination round before, you know,
1:20:06
having to go to Coastal even though they did just
1:20:08
beat Coastal And on this past weekend. But if Louisiana
1:20:12
was playing, probably if they didn't have to play that
1:20:15
extra game, i'd feel a little bit better about maybe
1:20:17
maybe picking them, taking them in a long shot. But
1:20:19
they have to play in that extra game. I just
1:20:21
don't like, I haven't use those pictures in that.
1:20:24
Speaker 1: You know, Jake imagining that that wasn't a you know,
1:20:27
playing and that that was just Louisiana there. I think
1:20:30
that path is really clear for Louisiana to kind of
1:20:34
make it to that winner's block final.
1:20:37
Speaker 4: Yeah, I agree, solid.
1:20:39
Speaker 1: Oh wow, that's a great point. That extra game may
1:20:42
cost them. We'll see though, I mean, Louisiana, if you're
1:20:44
looking again, if you're looking for some interesting money to
1:20:47
throw on a bet, not to jump your gig there, Josh.
1:20:51
But anyway, No, there's some interesting stuff to be had there,
1:20:54
interesting baseball to be watched all week long. I feel
1:20:58
like it's been long time coming to say, guys, keep
1:21:01
your eyes on the television at home, and obviously we
1:21:05
are excited to be talking about it with you as well. Jake,
1:21:10
let's go to you man. Tell the folks where they
1:21:12
can find you between our episodes of college baseball, Now
1:21:14
what's working on?
1:21:17
Speaker 4: You can follow me on Twitter at Jake Barge. The
1:21:20
mid major rankings are gonna be probably changing a little
1:21:23
bit after this after this weekend the regular season is done,
1:21:27
may have some you know whatever what mid major teams
1:21:30
you know, get into regionals and that kind of stuff.
1:21:32
Are probably gonna be the one that that are included
1:21:34
after this next one. Depending on how far teams go though,
1:21:38
they may move a little bit more drastically going into
1:21:40
the postseason. But uh, that'll be a lot of fun
1:21:43
to watch. But uh, I have have that coming out.
1:21:46
I do have another live looks that I am starting
1:21:48
to work on. It's gonna be h It's gonna be
1:21:51
the VCU Saint Joe's game and then the Western Kentucky
1:21:54
Delaware game that I just went to. So I am
1:21:59
gonna be working on that and then I guess just
1:22:01
what just watching a ton of conference conference tournaments this weekend.
1:22:04
Yale took the IVY League championship this past today. Actually
1:22:10
Jack Omen came in to close it out the Southland Tournament.
1:22:13
The first run of that's done. Lamar McNee is going
1:22:16
to be in that best two out of three series
1:22:18
starting Thursday, and then the Patriot League I think starts tomorrow.
1:22:21
Holy Crossing Bunk now, So who's gonna come out of
1:22:24
the Patriot League. So pre kind of some pre conference
1:22:27
tournament tournament things watching heading into the next couple of days.
1:22:32
Speaker 1: Yeah, Jake, you also have got your live looks checking
1:22:37
out UCLA, Michigan and Rutgers dropping tomorrow right after this
1:22:40
episode premiere. So that's gonna be awesome for people to read,
1:22:43
because that's a great article you've got. I think it's
1:22:45
like nearly four thousand words of excellent analysis on some believe.
1:22:50
Speaker 4: I appreciate it was a lot of fun just getting
1:22:52
to see those Just getting to see those UCLA bets
1:22:55
especially performs a lot of fun. You can see that
1:22:57
in person.
1:22:59
Speaker 1: When you get to Jake's first thoughts on Will Gasparino.
1:23:02
Just remember Drew Cinch because that's a funny line to read. Josh,
1:23:07
tell the folks at home where they can find you
1:23:09
between our episodes. They know they know you're gonna be
1:23:12
in Charlotte. Can we expect live tweeting? Can we expect video?
1:23:16
Can we expect in the moment analysis? Yeah?
1:23:19
Speaker 5: You can follow me on Twitter at Josh Catlet three.
1:23:21
I will be doing some content on Twitter. I've I
1:23:25
know what I'm doing for the site. I think Twitter
1:23:29
we're gonna see because there's obviously there's gonna be a
1:23:31
lot of media people there that I know that people
1:23:33
that listening to this know. Yes, it's just a matter
1:23:37
of figuring out what my niche is gonna be. How
1:23:39
I'm gonna be able to figure that out. Video. I
1:23:41
am probably gonna try and get out there for some
1:23:43
VP stuff or like some infield outfield depending on I
1:23:47
don't know. I'm probably gonna be writing articles or like
1:23:49
writing blurbs in between the games. We'll see how it
1:23:52
all goes ends up playing out at least like in
1:23:54
the morning. I know I'm gonna try and get out
1:23:55
there very early. Those nine am Eastern time games gonna
1:24:00
be brutal Tuesday Wednesday. But you know what, I'll be
1:24:03
out there. It'll be North Carolina State. Why not say
1:24:06
their government name right there? Good lord, n C State
1:24:09
Duke on I don't know what that was, m C
1:24:12
State Duke on Tuesday, and then the winner of that
1:24:15
playing Miami on Wednesday. So I'll get out there to
1:24:19
see some build out. I've been talking to Dodge recently
1:24:21
about some twenty twenty seven guys. Mikey Ryan's one. He's
1:24:25
gonna be a my guy, like really early on for
1:24:27
twenty twenty seven. Excited to see him take some some defense.
1:24:32
Uh on Tuesday morning, I guess it would be US
1:24:37
got Chris Maque tie Head season picked them VP. I've
1:24:39
already seen them in person this year against Georgia Tech,
1:24:42
but you know, seeing them another time doesn't hurt him.
1:24:43
Excited for all that, So yeah, stay tuned for all
1:24:46
those things.
1:24:47
Speaker 1: It's gonna be good stuff. Prospects Live has membership starting
1:24:50
as lewis seven dollars a month. You can get all
1:24:52
kinds of excellent content, including the piece that Josh is
1:24:55
teasing quinting Jake's Pieces is gonna drop tomorrow on the website,
1:24:58
right after. I mean, as you're listening to this, it's live.
1:25:01
It's live, pal, go check it out seven dollars and
1:25:03
you can pay Jake for his amazing work and going
1:25:05
to see all of these games. You can get some
1:25:07
for your fantasy team, your card collecting hobby, to see
1:25:10
the top prospects in your pro team. Of course, College
1:25:13
Baseball MLB draft stuff we got you covered as well.
1:25:17
If you want to follow me to an other episode,
1:25:18
you may do so at Drew is Okay on Twitter,
1:25:21
on Instagram, on Blue Sky. We've got some stuff coming out.
1:25:25
We've got some more lists coming out. We've got all
1:25:27
kinds of great content. The College Daily Sheet has continued
1:25:29
to be an excellent, excellent piece of content for my money,
1:25:33
and we're so thankful for you listening to this. Want
1:25:35
to remind you all at home, be nice to yourself,
1:25:37
be nice to each other. Third reminder, enjoy some conference
1:25:41
tournaments this week, because I know we will be for Josh,
1:25:45
for Jake, for JB still across the pond, but sending
1:25:48
his love to you, Gov. We will see you next
1:25:51
time on College Baseball Now