SPEAKER_01 0:01

Like the lighting, what up, people? This is the Lucky Finn inning show. We are hosting college baseball. My name is Kenny Hilliard. I'm with my boy Lucky Finn, aka Jason Id. Jason, we got some good week of college baseball, a little crazy in the ranking wise. Uh, but we are a day late and a dollar short, maybe. Uh, so we're gonna be dropping this on a Tuesday instead of normally on a Monday. Uh, I was out in San Diego and I was just too exhausted. So, and by the time I mean I got in late Saturday, so wasn't even gonna try. So, but we are here live. Jason, how are we feeling about this week?

SPEAKER_00 1:17

No, I'm just glad you got the extra rest to be able to, you know, kind of soak in everything that happened this weekend because it was a lot.

SPEAKER_01 1:26

Yeah, you were you were texting me as we were going, and I was like, I just I I can't. And you and I'm glad you were. I mean, it's not like you were annoying or anything, but it was great to see, and then the the and I'm kind of I'm kind of trying to follow along as I can. And uh, I mean, at one point I was when I was at that one baseball game, I was just sitting there looking at scores half the time. So, but uh man, it it's it's crazy. We're we're I think we're both trying to figure out, and it's not of just us, just D1 baseball, college baseball, every every ranking system there is. Like who how do you rank these teams? How do you rank these teams? And we'll we'll jump into that. But uh Jason, how do you think we did based on our predictions? You don't just off the top of your head, how do you think we did?

SPEAKER_00 2:18

I think we did okay. I think some of them we had a little stretch, maybe, and uh we may have gotten the series winner right, but maybe not the right, you know, 2-1 or 3-0. And I think that that that's fine.

SPEAKER_01 2:30

Yeah, I I mean, even the beginning when we started talking about it, I know I especially me, I was on the fence about a lot of them. So we'll see. I just checking it out, and oh got some red. Yeah, I see a lot of red, and you have most of the green, so I believe you are this week's winner. How about that? With with only two series dubs, but well, you know, we still surprise us.

SPEAKER_00 3:00

Uh some big ones. Uh the Georgia Tech North Carolina series. If we jump right into that, the real question is, Kenny, what does the series loss do to Georgia Tech?

SPEAKER_01 3:11

I really honestly I don't think it does to that much. I don't think it hurts them that much. Uh I mean, I don't think they dropped too much in this. I mean, how how how far did they drop off? I mean, RPI-wise, they're third.

SPEAKER_00 3:25

But I think I they they are they're four in baseball America, they're probably four in D1 too. Actually, it's funny. Uh I made the rankings for us before we actually even saw the rankings come out today. And I also have them at four, so this isn't surprising. I I assumed uh the top four, pretty, pretty straightforward.

SPEAKER_01 3:46

Yeah, I I I think it'll maybe hurt them a not not too much. I mean, uh it's more of a boost for North Carolina. Uh there, you know, there's still three, but we'll we'll get into how this is really looking for everybody. And but the I guess the one series that if if if we can, North Carolina.

SPEAKER_00 4:10

Here's the thing about them. Even their own, a lot of their own fans weren't sure about this team and like how they were going to do going into this. So it's really cool to see them get this series. Here's the other key thing to think about Georgia Tech's starting pitching only threw for seven innings in these three games, giving up 14 runs. North Carolina struck them for three runs in the game one inning one, three runs in game two, inning one, and one run in game three inning one. They were off getting after the starting pitching staff of Georgia Tech, and this is a good pitching staff for Georgia Tech. Yeah, and so it's really interesting that North Carolina was able to put the bat on the ball right out the gate. They know that Georgia Tech offense is really strong, so they probably knew hey, Forbes was probably saying we need to get on them early, and they did exactly that, and that's actually what led them to winning the series.

SPEAKER_01 5:00

Yeah, that's what I was reading a lot about how they were just so smart up at the plate. And a team like Georgia Tech, like you got to get the runs in. And credit to a huge credit to North Carolina's pitching staff to keep their team in the game. Like, you if your bats are hot and your your pitching's not, that's so much more pressure on your bats. And to keep the bats going, and a matter of fact, that while your pitching staff is is doing great, that's great to go in. I mean, we're in week 10. So excuse me, we still got a lot of baseball to go, and North Carolina's got high point, really good team. And then they got uh they're at Duke, and then uh you know the following week they got Carolina, excuse me. So there's some there's some there's some tests there.

SPEAKER_02 5:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

Next, if we think about it, so we had Florida sweeping, Kenny, and then Auburn comes in to Florida and goes to Gainesville and wins the series. Kind of a shock, not gonna lie. But I think for me, it kind of speaks a lot about Auburn, but it also says a lot about Florida. What do you make out of this series?

SPEAKER_01 6:16

Uh it's I even I you know, our first couple episodes, I was even saying Auburn, I still think Auburn's good, like they're they're a good team, they just don't have these parts here and there. Florida's almost the same thing, it's it's so inconsistent to a point where you just don't know. And that's why I believe some of these people still have Florida up high at points like this.

SPEAKER_00 6:44

So, yeah. Yeah, I think the big thing here is so last week Georgia gets home out homered by Florida 6-0. This week Auburn outhomers Florida 5-4, and all of Florida's four home runs came from Blake Sear, who had nine RBIs on the weekend. That kind of speaks volume to the Auburn pitching. It also speaks volume to the Florida starting pitching that didn't pitch as well this weekend. Uh, I would say game three wasn't really on the starting pitching, that's more on the bullpen. They had a meltdown in the ninth inning that gave up a lot of runs, and Auburn ended up taking the game, taking the series. But, you know, Florida's strong suit is their weekend starting staff. We talked about it during the midweek, their midweek staff struggles. We've seen them lose multiple midweek games this year. That's not a pitching staff in the when we think about uh going deep into the SEC tournament. We looked at the bracket uh after our last episode. It's like, you know, there's an opportunity there where you're gonna, if you're not a top four seed in the SEC, you're looking at playing four or four days straight to get towards the championship game. So Florida's gonna need to rely on a fourth pitcher and a bullpen that I don't know that that weekday that weekday staff can do. So they really need their starting staff to show up, and they got a big series against AM. Yeah, and they got it, they got them at home next week. So they really need that pitch starting staff to show up so that way they can hopefully stay in that mix for a top four in the SEC.

SPEAKER_01 8:11

What do you think Florida's outlook looks like? Um for the I'm gonna look up the rest of their schedule because I, you know, we keep seeing them put top six and then you know, again, we're we're we'll probably hit on it again. There a lot of like these rankings are relying on the RPI, and Florida's up there on that RPI to a point where I think they have wiggle room to kind of not do so hot. And that's the confusing thing about the this this ranking system is I mean, I feel like Florida should have dropped big time because Auburn is I mean they're high RPI too, but the both of them are just so inconsistent. What do you think? How do you how do you think they're looking?

SPEAKER_00 8:57

I think it's tough, dude, because Florida is right in that mix, I think. But at the same time, when I look at the RPIs, they're high in the RPIs, right? But so is Ole Miss. And Ole Miss is sitting at 22. Georgia is not high in the RPI, and they're sitting in the top 10. So I I don't really know. Who do they have after AM, right? I I don't know that they're gonna get by AM. AM's playing well.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

They're playing so well. Um, let me see. I'm almost at okay. Oklahoma is at Oklahoma.

SPEAKER_00 9:35

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 9:36

Um, yeah, I feel like that might, yeah. We'll we'll put it that way in opportunity, opportunity. North Florida. Who I've heard kind of a different conference, and then they in the season. No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_00 9:55

Oh, North Florida. I believe so, if I'm thinking of the right team. There's a lot of people.

SPEAKER_01 9:59

Yeah, I was listening to the guys earlier. And then they got Kentucky, and then they looks like do we end, they end with the LSU.

SPEAKER_00 10:08

So okay, so I would say Kentucky LSU, those are both chances for sweeps. Yeah. I think they've got a chance a lot of times. I think good. We've also discussed a lot of sometimes it seems like the rankings are a little bit of mix of what have you done for me lately and RPI. Yeah. And I think if you're Florida and you get can if you can split, maybe you lose the series day and in, maybe you win the series at Oklahoma 2-1, you lose the other one 2-1. But if you get if you can get two sweeps to end the season with LSU and Kentucky, who Kentucky's to Kentucky's gonna probably be a three-seed, two seed. Yeah. Um LSU's I don't even know. I I don't even know. Shouldn't even be in the tournament. Um, but uh you get you get series sweeps over those two in the last two weeks of the season. There's a good chance Florida jumps right back up, and I think they'll end up hosting a regional probably at that point. Uh but I think it's really good. Florida hosting. Florida could host if they if they get two sweeps to end the season and if they win one of the series between Oklahoma and Texas AM, who both in the RPI rankings are, I believe, are in the top 15. So I don't know. I yeah, I I Oklahoma's 17. AM is eight. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 11:26

So yeah, I don't I don't disagree with I don't think they should host. I don't think they've I really don't think they've earned it. I think there's teams who have definitely earned it. But um a team that has 100% earned it, and a conversation is will they play on Sundays? And that is BYU. BIU taking the series over Arizona State 2-1.

SPEAKER_00 11:57

No, they they lost the series over to Arizona State 2-1. Oh, I'm misreading it. No, you're fine. I was right on that one, had that one right.

SPEAKER_01 12:06

That's uh that's a surprise to me.

SPEAKER_00 12:08

I think that's the one I was I would say after that first game, it was yeah, it was really looking like is what Arizona State team was gonna show up this weekend. And uh turns out the next day they turn around and flip the script and give it right back to BYU. And then uh in that last game, it was uh run fest, and they end up taking the game. Uh this puts Arizona State tied for third in the Big 12 with UCF, and uh gets them a big opportunity to kind of keep strides with West Virginia and Kansas.

SPEAKER_01 12:42

Uh that that's a huge that's a huge good series win for Arizona State and how they've been.

SPEAKER_00 12:48

And I think I'm what I feel like that was one of the games last last week I was saying I was still on the fence about, but I think you were, but I think you I think you went with BYU because they were the home team probably in that mountain range.

SPEAKER_01 12:59

You know, we like the mountain range in the I mean how much how am I supposed to hit well when this beautiful mountain's behind me? Like that's that's impossible.

SPEAKER_00 13:09

You can't even point up and like do the whole Babe Ruth thing. Like you don't want to hit the mountain. No, no, I'm gonna call some I know me.

SPEAKER_01 13:19

I'm gonna cause some kind of rock avalanche and all the Mormons are gonna run away.

SPEAKER_00 13:24

Oh my gosh, not the Mormons. Well, uh, I think the other thing to note here is Arizona State gets Baylor at home next weekend, so it's an opportunity for them to get a sweep. Uh Baylor's not very great. Yeah. Uh Arizona State's looking to continue to keep strides, so that'll be interesting.

SPEAKER_01 13:42

Yeah, I Arizona seems like they'll definitely be third, second seed of a regional. Um that's good for them to be on the come up again. So all right, Jason. I think we'll wrap up our predictions here. Let's talk about the uh Trojan corn game in Nebraska and uh USC. Jason, how we're both wrong, but I feel like I think we're okay to be wrong here, huh?

SPEAKER_00 14:15

I think we are. I we talked about this in a midweek. We said we're picking USC, but both of us were saying we could also see Nebraska winning this series, and we were gonna be happy if they did. And I am very happy to see Nebraska win the series and not just win it with a sweep, especially after the opening day game. Because that game was insane. They get five runs in the eighth and ninth, end up winning in the in the tenth. And this is a big win because Mason Edwards is the nation's leading strikeout, uh leading the nation, yeah, in strikeouts. But he also leads the Big Ten in ERA at 1.49. He pitched an outstanding game for seven innings. Bullpen let him down, Kenny. What do you say? Like, what do you say to your starting pitcher in that moment?

SPEAKER_01 15:02

Uh it is what it is. I mean, yeah apparently the the crowd over there was absolutely insane. And I I believe in a sport like college baseball, a crowd really does do do wonders. I mean, like I like when I realized over here in San Diego, like just that little bit of noise can put you in a place. And I think if Nebraska's a tough place to play, then hell yeah. Um so I I mean I I give I give USC a little bit of benefit of it out here, being out of ruckus crowd that you probably didn't think would be so ruckus at the beginning of the year. So and you aren't too sure maybe about Nebraska. So uh I mean what what do you what do you think this means for what do you think this means for Nebraska? Does this hurt you? Because I believe they've had some tough little midweek games here and there. And or does it I yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:59

I th I think it does hurt USC because um you know, going into that UCLA series a few weeks ago, this was a team that we were like, hey, this is a top 10 team. Are they gonna be hosting in the top eight in the supers? And then they get swept by UCLA, they go to their next best team, Nebraska, and get swept again. If I look at the RPI, I still think they're sitting 15.

SPEAKER_01 16:23

Yeah, so it's Nebraska 14. So they're they're they're right there. Yeah, they're right there, they're next to each other.

SPEAKER_00 16:31

But but I think it says a lot about Nebraska, yeah, as a whole, and in terms of you know, not giving up and not giving up, staying in games. You got two great hitters, Mac Moyer and Dylan Carey, a fourth, fourth and sixth in the in batting average in the Big Ten. Uh, both of them are hitting just under 400. Carey had a great performance this weekend, eight for 14 with two home runs. But here's the thing that game, that first game when USC blew it, run in the ninth came on a wild pitch, run in the tenth came on a fielding error. That that tells the whole story of the game. That is the difference between you winning and losing, and it just I think it says a lot when your defense is defense can't execute in those kind of crucial moments. Yeah, because sometimes it's you know, football they say it's a game of inches. Well, sometimes in baseball it's a game of inches as well. And sometimes messing up, yeah. Sometimes messing up and not making a good throw in a crucial moment is literally going to be the difference in your team winning and losing.

SPEAKER_01 17:30

So yeah. Uh and let's hit it this first. Let's just hit it this too. USC has Purdue. Who would have thought Purdue would be here? Yeah, that's crazy. Nebraska is heading to Kansas for a midweek. So those they already played that remember. Yeah, the revenge. So important game for Nebraska. USC, I think that'd be a great test for USC, and even more important game for Purdue. Because that's that's that's you going to a regional for sure. I'm sure they they deserve.

SPEAKER_00 18:10

And so yep, and and then Nebraska gets Illinois, who just lost the series to Oregon. So um that's an opportunity for Nebraska to continue, continue their fight on. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:25

All right, Jason. Well, we'll do it really quick. We'll we will jump into our uh some of those midweek predictions that we had, if I can get it up. Lord have mercy. Where are my fingers? All right. Oh, I do got it up, do I? I sure do. I see some green. I see some green. I'll take some green. Uh we're you beat me. Clear as day, 22. And I got 16, but what do we see up here that we're loving or we're hating?

SPEAKER_00 18:56

So um the Cal Poly series is crazy. Uh, I don't know if you saw that last game, but uh UC San Diego walked it off.

SPEAKER_02 19:04

I saw them running on the field.

SPEAKER_00 19:06

Cal Poly had 24 hits in this game, so they outhit UC San Diego but couldn't get it done. Um, so it was cool to see us both get 2-1 on that. Uh, Liberty big series win over DBU. We talked about that a little bit. Uh the the thing here at the bottom, we get two sweeps, Southern Miss and Gonzaga. I'm not surprised by the sweep by Southern Miss. I'm actually not surprised by either sweep here. Gonzaga's coming in hot. I believe now they've won 10 in a row. Um, and we talked about them in the midweek. That's why I kind of had them this week. I just didn't see another sweep coming, but I love to see it. And the Southern Miss, I don't know why I didn't choose a sweep. I'd have to go back and watch the recording. But I even said, like, hey, you know, people are going to be having their drinks tailgating and getting ready for the series at home. They needed it, it was a big one, and they got it. So good for them. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:54

I and I think my pick was Texas State is I'm high, I'm always high on Texas State. And if they didn't come through, I I at least thought they would get one game. But um, we're looking good. So we'll we'll jump into uh Jesus Christ. Help me here, dude. The other notable series. All right. Other notable series. So we'll talk about the Georgia and Arkansas Spring Game on uh the Game Three spring game. Uh how do we think about Georgia's new quarterback? He looks pretty good.

SPEAKER_00 20:32

He was four team game. When I tell you, Kenny, in the fourth quarter, this guy came to play. Really? This offense came to play in the fourth quarter. They did not give up. They said, hey, it's time for us to score some runs. This game is not over. They've seen too many teams make big comebacks in the ninth inning. They said, nope, not gonna be us today and score 11. I mean, I I just I couldn't believe how many touchdowns they they scored. I was 11 runs in the nine. 11. I mean, Kenny, they scored and then went for two. They didn't even need to go for two, but they did. They should go.

SPEAKER_01 21:09

That's like less than they're gonna need with with the lead with eight minutes left.

SPEAKER_00 21:14

Yeah, this uh that game was crazy. And it was cool to see Georgia win the series. They needed this one, uh bounce back after that loss to Florida and on the road at Arkansas. That's a big one because Arkansas's another team that the RPI rankings love. So um, yeah, so we got oh no. Arkansas, yeah. Arkansas's sitting 32 in the rank in the RPI.

SPEAKER_01 21:38

Oh, they really, yeah. Arkansas, they've they've had some they're there, ish wins. Um so we got AM over LSU. That's kind of a given. I uh man, AM was treating this like they won the World Series. LSU is not that great of a team. Uh Purdue, great sweep over um Ohio. State, we talked about them being hot. Jacksonville State. Um, man, dude, I they gotta give them a host. Um, any other of these uh regionals? What happened to Oklahoma State, man? They used to be so great.

SPEAKER_00 22:13

Oklahoma State, I think just a few years ago, was in the supers. Yeah, they were so uh here's the thing that stands out here to me. You get a quote from Jay Johnson this week talking about how he made some mistakes. Quote I made some mistakes in constructing this team. It's a deep-rooted thing. We're off, and this will never happen again. It came from WAFB's so John Eats, I think is how you pronounce it.

SPEAKER_01 22:48

Oh, we love John Eats. Yeah, he's a he's a great, he's a great guy for LSU baseball. This uh and here's what here's what makes me happy about Jay Johnson. Compare, you know how LSU fans are with their head coach. Their head coach is not in a national championship every single year. They want him on the chopping block. Jay Johnson's a complete different story. Jay Johnson sounds just like, and you hear the the stories about Skip Burton. You've heard the hey, you didn't do bad. It's just it's not you, it's my fault for recruiting you. Telling guys on the mound. And I bet you, I bet you damn well Jay Johnson's on the mound telling them the same thing. When he is his pitcher throws four balls in a row and one of them did two bounces before it got to the plate. I bet you a hundred dollars he is up there telling them the same thing. And I it's great that Jay is taking the responsibility. You and I have talked about this roster multiple times, but they do not seem like baseball players, just period. Like yeah, Jay talked about their plate discipline, it's just like the running we running thing has been sorry, but sorry, go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 24:07

Yeah, no, I was just gonna add on. I agree. Uh this team's oh, this team, yeah. Jay Johnson talked about one of the things that is annoying, and he didn't say this quote for quote, but uh something to the lines of everybody wants to talk about exit velo, how many home runs did you hit, things like that, and not enough, just consistent hitting. And we have touched on that week in and week out on this podcast, uh arguing that's why the ACC it looks so fun to watch because those guys and the Big Ten too, they're both teams, uh, both a bunch of schools that are actually trying to just hit get base hits, line drives, bring in, get guys on the bases, bring guys in, and put the pressure on the pitcher. Again, we talk about home runs in the SEC, seems like a week in and week out thing, but you know who is hitting really well? Texas AM. They're not just singing for home runs, they're hitting very well, and that's why we keep talking about them, and that's why they keep jumping up in our rankings. So I think we're gonna see a lot of changes in Baton Rouge next year. Oh, a ton.

SPEAKER_01 25:18

A ton. And what what's looking good for LSU? I gotta take a positive out of it. Some of the pitching that it's not doing too bad. I've I've talked about uh Sheeran. He he gets down, but he he's doing good. But Jason, you got some arms to talk about this week. Or do we have a trivia question? No, you got some arms. We got some arms.

SPEAKER_00 25:42

We do have some arms.

SPEAKER_01 25:44

You want to heal the first crap. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:46

I'll talk about yeah. So the first one we got is David Lally Jr. from Michigan. Had a complete game one hitter on 104 pitches against Northwestern on Sunday. He improves to two and two. He's um the only run they scored was on an under on a pass ball in the fifth inning. So um, you know, gave up a run, but not a big deal. Then we got Caden Smith and Ethan Sutton for USF, a combined complete game shutout, nine strikeouts and a 1-0 win over UAB on Sunday. Uh Caden Smith is actually a sophomore that was formerly at TCU. Ethan Sutton's a former uh sophomore that was at Georgia um beforehand. So Kenny, two transfers here for the recognize that name.

SPEAKER_01 26:32

I recognize the name.

SPEAKER_00 26:33

That's really, really interesting. You know, it's something we always talk about is the transfer portal. So looking forward to talking about that when we get to the postseason. Um, and the run that didn't even come until the bottom of the eighth. So they had to pitch 0-0 ball for seven innings until the eighth inning. So um, oh I guess actually eight innings because they didn't hit until the bottom of the eighth. So uh good to see these two combine. Um, Alabama's Miles Upchurch and Ashton Crother. Uh Crother, sorry. Uh Upchurch is a true freshman, improved his ERA to 3.05, threw for five and a third, uh, only gave up one hit and threw 102 pitches, so that's why he was pulled, right? Only gave up one hit. But that's a big win for them against Texas because Texas had taken the first two in the series, and uh they really needed that one. The run came in the ninth inning, anyways. Uh so they were up 2-0 going into that, and it was on a uh, you know, at first they hit um Texas hit a double to open up the ninth and then ended up getting a run. Then we got uh our boy Ruger Rioas. We talked about Rio Rio. Ruger Rio. Rio. Real talked about him and his uh bullpen friends this week. Uh they combined for three hits and 11 strikeouts for Ruger, 19 total strikeouts as a team and a 3-1 win over Alabama on Saturday. Hey, Kenny, what does it say when your team gets 19 strikeouts as a whole? I mean, that means the not only is the starter on, the bullpen was on too. You like to see that.

SPEAKER_01 28:01

We love to hit. That gives me that gives me more time to hit, more comfortability for hitting. Uh I I can I can chase and I can go after balls that and I can power swing as long as I want to. I trust my pitching staff, and the defense behind them is good, then I'll I'll take it.

SPEAKER_00 28:18

Yeah, and I and you know what the crazy thing is, uh Ruhaus only threw for five innings in this game and got those 11 strikeouts. So, you know, and one of them was a four was a four strikeout inning because it was a um a wild pitch that got away. So he ended up getting a fourth strikeout. Uh he did that for fun. And then um the other thing that's to note is the five woolpen arms combined for those eight strikeouts and only three walks and gave up no hits in those bottom four innings. So that is awesome to see for the Texas bullpen. Uh, and it really tells you that they're they're playing a lot better than they did against AM. Big bounce back series for them against Alabama. And last is our AJ Colaruso. Uh I believe I said that right, but uh forgive me if I'm wrong. He threw a complete game, seven inning game, three hits, one only saw one over the minimum in the batting, uh, threw for 81 pitches in those seven innings. So that's under our 12 pitch, you know, outstanding performance per inning uh number that would have been at 84 and an 11-1 win over Duke on Friday. Big start to that series for Boston College, and Boston College, another team to watch out for as we continue moving on. Um, this was a big win for him as a senior left-hander. He had a very poor outing against Virginia Tech last week, giving up five runs and five innings. And so to see him bounce back is a is a great, great, great thing to see.

SPEAKER_01 29:38

You know what helped Boston College this weekend? Did you hear what they did in this game? I did. 14 stolen bases. And that is reading the scouting report. Yep. They and uh apparently it wasn't much on the catcher.

SPEAKER_00 29:56

I think the pitchers were just doing a lot of you know, giving up some reads and maybe, but he had also, I think, I think his success rate on throwing guys caught stealing was like is under five percent on the season. Oh y'all. At some point you have to look at the catcher.

SPEAKER_01 30:14

Well, uh, before we get into kind of our we'll talk, we'll we'll end the show on rankings and we'll probably go a little bit further than uh we normally do. Let's talk about national championships and we'll we'll have y'all answer during the midweek. Uh or you can honestly just answer in the comments um if I can get it up. Who was the last national champion to miss the postseason the next year? Wow, that sounds like a dog at uh the tigers.

SPEAKER_00 30:45

I mean, you know, we were talking about them, so I figured, you know what? Perfect time to bring it up. Kimmy, you have an idea? Don't you don't have to say it, but do you have an idea in your head? We'll discuss it after. Uh I I think so.

SPEAKER_01 30:59

Okay, yeah, yeah. We could discuss it after. I think it's probably in this in the same area, but but uh definitely. Uh what an embarrassment. Uh uh, I don't even want to talk about that. All right, Kitty. But so ranking roulette. Let's talk about roulette. How the hell do we rank teams now? This this is this is ours.

SPEAKER_00 31:26

This is our poll. Yeah, this is this is who we have in the top 16 right now.

SPEAKER_01 31:32

Well, let's do this. You read off, and I'm gonna read off the D1 post. But all right, all right. Yeah, so I'm gonna pull up.

SPEAKER_00 31:41

Am I gonna say so? Am I gonna say number one UCLA, and you're gonna say who's our who's who's their number one?

SPEAKER_01 31:50

Yeah, let's do that because D1 seems to be the one that everybody's going with. I don't want to do baseball America because at one point they shot up Florida all the way up to four.

SPEAKER_00 32:00

So Okay, that's fine. I I have them I have the RPIs and baseball America pulled up, but we can talk about that in another kind of storyline.

SPEAKER_02 32:07

Yeah, all right.

SPEAKER_00 32:08

You ready? Number one, we have UCLA at 36 and 3. Number two, we have North Carolina at 33, 7, and 1.

SPEAKER_01 32:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 32:19

Who do they have?

SPEAKER_01 32:20

They have North Carolina and then they flip the floor. Oh, okay. Okay, so we're the same. They flip flop number Texas and Georgia Tech.

SPEAKER_00 32:27

So they have Georgia Tech at three?

SPEAKER_01 32:29

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 32:30

Okay, so we have Texas at three at 38. I got Georgia Tech at 4, 32, and 7. I think that performance over Alabama was a big one for Texas. Huge. And um, you know, nothing against Georgia Tech, but I just, you know, wanted to push them up a little bit. Yeah, give them.

SPEAKER_01 32:47

You know, they watch this podcast.

SPEAKER_00 32:48

We gotta give them some like I want to see some bounce back next week, you know, and then we can move them right back up. This is a test. Fifth, we got Georgia at 32 and 9.

SPEAKER_01 33:01

Uh, they have, yes, they got Georgia.

SPEAKER_00 33:03

Okay. Number six, we have Texas AM.

SPEAKER_01 33:06

Who do you think they have at six? Oregon State. They have Oregon State at six.

SPEAKER_00 33:12

Yeah, they love Oregon State. That's another story to talk about, Kenny. Oregon State. Like, how do you even how do you even look at this team and really know what they're what they're showing? Because they're not playing a lot of big programs, so it's a little tougher to rank them. Um next we got Florida State at seven.

SPEAKER_01 33:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 33:31

I still think this is a good program.

SPEAKER_01 33:33

They have AM there, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:35

I I'm kind of shocked that most of the rankings Florida State's a little lower. Where do they have Florida State, Kenny? Let's just jump.

SPEAKER_01 33:41

I I just they have Florida, they have Florida State at eight.

SPEAKER_00 33:44

Oh, okay. So they're still right there. Okay. Baseball America that doesn't like them.

unknown 33:50

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 33:51

And then you have baseball America up. I do. Baseball America has Florida State at uh at 11. Oof.

unknown 33:59

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 33:59

So they're not too far off, but uh Florida State's right there. Uh we got Oregon State at 8. So still got to give love to them. They're still playing really well. Yeah. It's just they're just tough to rank. I have nothing against them. It's their schedule, it's the Pac-12 dissolving. It's a tough thing for Oregon State, but uh, it's just they're just tough to judge. Uh ninth, we got Virginia at 28 and 13. They're gonna have Coastal. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 34:27

10th, we have Auburn. They have Virginia. So it looks like we're kind of shipped in there. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 34:35

And then at 11, we have Coastal. Okay, they got Auburn. Okay, so those three are still 9, 10, and 11 on theirs. Yeah, take that as a win for us. Um, at 12, we have Kansas at 29 and 11.

SPEAKER_01 34:50

Okay, they have Virginia, West Virginia at 12. I think that's a little high. Ours, as I'm looking at it right now, ours is completely different for the rest. Besides Alabama. Besides Alabama.

SPEAKER_00 35:05

You know why that is? Kansas is 22 in RPI, and they don't like that.

SPEAKER_01 35:10

Oh, that's that's too low. That's too low.

SPEAKER_00 35:13

13 13. I uh we got Southern Miss. I think they uh they showed that they are still a good team with a big sweep this weekend. So I'll keep them around. Who do they have at 13?

SPEAKER_01 35:28

They have so they got I'm gonna I'm gonna wrap it off. I'm gonna wrap it off. They got Alabama at 13, Oklahoma 14, 15 is Mississippi State, which man, I don't know about that. I mean, again, these are regional hosts, these are top five, top top 16. But and then they got Kansas to end.

SPEAKER_00 35:54

So geez, it's very different. Yeah. Okay, so Alabama's still right there. Uh, but we have Oregon and Nebraska, and I'm kind of shocked. Uh Oregon is kind of getting left out, I guess, because their RPI is 26. They're not high on um, I don't even think baseball America has them in their top 25, which I don't even understand. Whatever, they're really just going off the rankings in the RPI. Uh but we have uh Nebraska rounding out. I think that sweep over USC kind of pushed USC out of the top 16, move Nebraska in. It's hard to leave them out. But I will say, right on the outside, to me, and you can I want to hear your thoughts. My right outside of this 16, and this would be that 17 to 21 range, um, in no particular order, I got Oklahoma, USC, Boston, College, Ole Miss, and West Virginia.

SPEAKER_01 36:48

Say it one more time. I don't I don't agree with Oklahoma. I think Oklahoma's a little bit further. Okay, so I got Oklahoma USC 100%.

SPEAKER_00 36:57

USC 100%. And I'm gonna I'm how about this? I'm gonna name the team and then I'm gonna tell you where their RPI is. Okay. So I have Oklahoma City on the outside. Oklahoma's RPI is 17. Okay. USC, whose RPI is 15, Boston College, whose RPI is 24. Old Miss, whose RPI is 6. And West Virginia, whose RPI is 27. Now let it be known, we made these rankings before the RP, the new RPIs came out uh yesterday. But um, since we're doing this late, we figured we'd just bounce everything off. Yeah, might as well.

SPEAKER_01 37:39

Definitely USC. Honestly, I would I think USC is on that that edge of hosting, and I believe they might give them a host because of location-wise, but maybe not because UCLA's over there. Um, I agree with um God, what was the other damn team? Boston College. They're good. Yeah, yeah, Boston College is good. I'll I'll I'll give them I'll give them on the edge. Um I wonder what other little sleeper team I'm seeing. I feel like they I feel like that's it, man. Like I feel like it's a it's a good little wrap-up. I mean, for D1, they've got Arkansas kind of at the top. I don't know, man. I don't think state will earn it. I don't think state will earn their their host.

SPEAKER_00 38:37

I'll I'll tell you this. Who knows? Baseball America has Oklahoma at nine. Oh my god. Uh and Mississippi State at Florida at 12, Auburn at 6. Uh here's the thing that's crazy to me on this. They got Arkansas and Alabama both ahead of Ole Miss Dell. I don't know. I don't I don't know what they're watching.

SPEAKER_01 39:06

So so do we need to get like a do we need the robo umpire out here again? Are we gonna rely on AI? Or how what is the calculation? Let's let's get into it. We'll we'll try to wrap it up. I mean, we got about five minutes left. Do we go hardcore on RBI? RPI, excuse me. Do we go hardcore on that? Or are we looking like win-loss? Like, I don't know how how we supposed to calculate because I'll I'll take because look, I'm bringing up really quick. Michigan's already rescheduling teams higher on the RPI list to maybe benefit them. I personally do not want to see that starting to happen because you're gonna screw up a ton of things. In the middle of the season? Oh, yeah, they so they're supposed to play, they were supposed to play Dayton, and they're gonna play now, they're playing Miami, Ohio, who is 50s, they're in the 50s, 57. I don't know where Dayton is. I don't feel like scrolling all the way down here, but I think that's gonna get ridiculous to me. But uh how do you how do you how do you see this working? I think from you're the stats guy, you're you're the numbers guy.

SPEAKER_00 40:19

What I do is I say this is about the time where RPI starts to come into play because at the at some point you have to look at it and say, all right, you're gonna do a lot of what have you done for me lately, but let's also not forget what has happened and how some of those teams have maybe performed as the season went along, right? You may have lost a series in the opening weekend against a team who didn't nobody thought was gonna be good, bumps you out of the rankings, but maybe that team is now you know has performed so well over the year, now that loss doesn't look too bad. So I think this is about the time where RPI starts to come into play a little more, but I think it maybe I'm not even gonna say it's a little over too much because it's yeah, I don't even know because baseball America doesn't have Ole Miss High, neither does D1, and Ole Miss is sixth in RPI. So, and they just had a sweep, right? Or they at least won their series. So it's like I I I think it's um I think you gotta do a lot of RPI to get a full picture of everything that's gone on all throughout the year up to this point. Then you look at what have you done for me lately, so that's how you're catching what's happening.

SPEAKER_01 41:26

I think that's a huge one. That's a big one, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:29

And and and how those teams are playing and performing, uh, whether it be at home or away. I think that I think that matters. And I that's where the eye test comes into play. So I think it's a combination of all three, but I look at them in that order. I look at the RPI, I want to see the whole picture for up to this point. Then how'd you do this past weekend? What how did the where's the team sitting at that you played against? All right, yeah. That's that's a good way to. I mean, that's how I took USC and Nebraska. Nebraska just swept USC. So, and I mean, granted, RPI there were 14 and 15, but I was gonna have Nebraska in over them because I can't put USC in at 16 and not have Nebraska in after Nebraska just swept them.

SPEAKER_01 42:08

So it's tough. The other factor is this you can't you can't numberize it, it's not a real factor, but it's college baseball. I mean it's baseball, baby. Uh Vander Vanderbilt get knocked out really quick last year. I mean as the number one overall C Mississippi State won the national championship, being the last one in. So, I mean, I don't want to that's why I really don't want to look too deep and think so hard on the rankings. Um but yeah, they I mean I I I think the RPI and everyone's kind of concerned about it really jumped when Florida beat whoever it was, and they jumped from not even ranked to big.

SPEAKER_00 42:57

When they beat Georgia.

SPEAKER_01 42:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:00

So yeah. You know what? You know what else? The other thing that I kind of want to touch on is we talk about RPI. Yeah. I want you to guess who is the top mid-major RPI ranking team outside of Southern Mist and Coastal Carolina. I'll give you a not a hint, but I'll tell you they're ranked 16th. They're 16th in RPI. So if we were going completely off of RPI, they would be the 16th regional host.

SPEAKER_01 43:33

They're mid-major, are they are they like a Sunbelt American or are they they down there?

SPEAKER_00 43:44

We've talked about them. There's three conferences. Is it is it is it Jacksonville State? No. That's the crazy thing. It's Missouri State. Jacksonville State is sitting at 30. Liberty is higher than just are we are we gonna ignore Missouri State?

SPEAKER_01 44:08

How have they been put we haven't talked about them in a while?

SPEAKER_00 44:11

But we haven't talked about them since they left. Yeah, and they're they're they have that had that went over Arkansas. We talked about them. We we did talk about it briefly this past week in the preview. We were talking about Liberty versus DBU and how Jacksonville State and Missouri State are one-two right there. And uh Jacksonville State gets a sweep. Uh Missouri State.

SPEAKER_01 44:33

I'm not gonna lie, I don't know how they're not good on they're not good on the road, but they're good at home. 17 and 1 at home. How'd they do this past weekend? Uh it they must have lost because they dropped in here.

SPEAKER_00 44:46

Hold on, I'll tell you real quick.

SPEAKER_01 44:48

Yeah, so uh yeah, why while you look it up? I mean 26, yeah, 26 and 11. They won the 17. Okay, yeah, so that someone up there must have kind of knocked me down.

SPEAKER_00 45:01

Yeah, they lost uh they get Arkansas at Arkansas this week. So there you go. They get another mid midweek game against Arkansas. And then here's the here's the here's here's what I'm looking forward to, Kenny. Conference USA 1-2 in two weeks. We get we get Missouri State at home against Jacksonville State for one-two matchup. They do not play Liberty anymore. I think they played Liberty actually. Dude, that's gonna be they beat Liberty in 2-1 in the series.

SPEAKER_01 45:37

So that's that's Jackson, that's Jacksonville State at Missouri State. At Missouri State.

SPEAKER_00 45:42

Are we are uh are we gonna show up in Springfield? I'll say we go to Springfield. I'll say we go to the I'll I'll watch it on ESPN plus.

SPEAKER_01 45:52

Oh all right, Jason, any final thoughts? Any final thoughts?

SPEAKER_00 45:57

Yeah, I think uh I'm I'm so looking forward to this this week's preview for for next week. I think the previews that we did was really fun, and also the rankings is just crazy right now. So looking forward to another week, Kenny, and uh another week of blowing up your phone.

SPEAKER_01 46:12

Oh, please do, please do, and I'll I'll be alert, guys. Listen up, please leave us a comment, leave us uh your thoughts, your opinions. Uh please give us a review. Uh they it really helps us out. Um, reach out to us if you have our number or you know, just message if on whatever platform we want, we really want to be better at this. Um, we don't want to be the comments of oh, podcast equipment too cheap.

SPEAKER_00 46:40

So I find a full glass on the screen.

SPEAKER_01 46:44

Look, we're we're we're just here to talk college baseball. We love college baseball. Um, but that's all for me. My name is Kenny Hilliard. This is Jason I, and we appreciate y'all watching. Thank you. Peace out. Can I play the outro? I can play the outro.