re: In 2024 we started 17-2 before going 13-17 in conference play

This team has a lot less questions than last year's team, in terms of pitching. That doesn't mean we will automatically be better. Schedule also matters, who you play, and more importantly, are you missing any of the better teams in league play, or are you playing them all. In baseball, we are missing playing 5 teams from the SEC. It could work to an advantage or disadvantage, depending on the schedule and how other teams within the conference are performing.