re: Should LSU baseball host a regional more than 40% of the time?

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I just think in any meaningful sample size you aren’t going to win national titles in baseball without consistently being towards the top

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I think the way rosters are built now, the consistency aspect just isn't going to be as necessary, and the top programs aren't going to be as consistent.

That's just a symptom of almost being required to have some of your top end guys being one year guys. When you do that, it naturally leads to less development inside of the program. This year, given that we were dogshit, it allowed a bunch of young guys to play a ton and develop into what is hopefully the next core that brings us a national title.

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It’s like saying “I’d rather win 5 majors and miss the cut at every other major than consistently be top 5”. That’s not how it really works . The guys that win multiple majors do so by being in the top , always knocking at the door giving them chances to win more

I think Jay can figure it out but I don’t think it’s crazy to talk about it

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I get that, I just think modern college baseball is a little more nuanced. You obviously want to build a championship roster every season, but being in Omaha just objectively hurts you in that department, which is bullshite.

Like I said, I'd love more consistency. But if getting more time in the portal allows Jay to build a better roster, than I don't mind getting bounced early more often than we're used to.

The only way you break out of that cycle is if you just get extraordinarily lucky in the draft. If you get smoked like we did in 23 and 25, you'll end up with some down years, unless you truly hit on every portal addition, which just isn't really possible.

Here is a mild maniacal thought, stay with me, what if some people like Jay, want him to stay, but would like to see him improve with maintaining consistency?

If LSU wins it all next year, this year will be pretty much forgotten.

So you would rather 1 Natty in 19 years?



Whereas the other guy has 2 in the last 3.

What are we even talking about here?

By the way, Jay beat your Sully to win a Natty without even playing Skenes.

I thought Natties were the goal. I will happily take down years if it also means more Natties. It’s actually harder to win now than ever. Skip himself says what Jay has done in this era is more impressive.

It’s fine we went through all this same type of talk in 2024 and look what happened. I feel like Jay could win another Natty next season and if he followed with another down season people would be complaining. Sign me up for alternating Natties and down seasons all day long. Go big or go home!

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This speaks to the macro trends in college baseball of more schools actually trying, especially in the SEC.

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It blows my mind that people don’t realize this. Yes, there is a standard at LSU. This year’s team failed to meet it. But a ton of other teams have raised their standards too. NIL and the portal have brought an incredible amount of parity along the country. Especially in the SEC.

There’s not the huge gap in LSU standards/expectations and the next 5 or 6 best SEC programs. Like that idiot who said Jay took over the best program in the country. Wasn’t true at all. But compare the OP’s numbers between Jay’s 1st 5 seasons and Smoke’s. Smoke absolutely inherited the best program in college baseball by far. And there was a huge gap between us and 2nd place. Jay inherited the 4th or 5th best program in the SEC.

And the people that think LSU recruits itself. It probably did in the 90s. But it’s 2026, not 1996. Not only do several other teams have the money and resources to recruit on our level, but the kids today didn’t grow up seeing LSU be the dominant team in the sport. They weren’t alive to see the Warren Morris walk off in ‘’96. Or the ‘97 team just bomb their way to back to back in ‘97. They weren’t alive to see Skip’s last great team in 2000. They were small kids when we won with Paul in ‘09 and that was a 1-off when a bunch of different teams were winning.

And I don’t know how much this factors in, but it has to be some—I would use it as opposing
coaches. “Hey, you wanna come help Georgia win their 1st title since 1990? Or a&m’s 1st one ever. Or do you want to go to LSU and try to help them win their 9th? Which team would be more celebrated and remembered? You win here, and you’re a god forever. You win there and will be forgotten amongst all their other championship teams?”

Jay has had the most difficult job at LSU since
Skip’s early years. And winning 2 out of 5 is fricking incredible. Even if we haven’t hosted the other 3 years. Do I think hosting only 40% of the time is “acceptable?” No. And neither does Jay. But that’s mainly because hosting gives you the best chance to get to Omaha and make a run, which IS the LSU standard.
But it’s a means to an end, not the goal in and of itself.

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In the current format of the NCAA Tournament, LSU has hosted a regional 17 times as a #1 seed (excluding 1999 when we hosted as a 2 seed).

That's 17/27 seasons, good for 63% of the time.

So let's round up a bit and say that LSU should host a regional 2 out of every 3 seasons.

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I don’t disagree that we need to get to a place where we host 2 out of every 3 seasons is unreasonable. But using the last 27 years is either ignorant or intellectually dishonest. The past 5 years have been the most difficult in college baseball history. It’s not just the parity, it’s the ever changing landscape. It changes every single season now. In the last 5 years, we’ve seen Ole Miss, MSU, and Tennessee all win the CWS. Vandy and USce had both won 2 titles since we had last last won before Jay got here. We’ve added the 3rd best program in baseball history to the league in Texas. And A&M and Georgia have become powerhouses.
So has Florida. And Arkansas was probably the most consistently good program in the league, if not the county when Jay got here, despite them not ever being able to close it out and win a championship.

Your expectations can be your expectations.
Like I said, I don’t think hosting 2 out of every 3 seasons is unreasonable. But it’ll be harder than it ever has been. Especially if you’re talking about not justifying hosting a regional, but being a national seed. But you can’t use what happened 27 years ago and how the college baseball landscape was then to gauge your expectations on.

PIf you can’t concede it’s a much different sport now and that NIL, the portal, revenue share, the lack of the TOPS advantage, etc…prevent us from just accumulating all the top talent every year, that’s it’s much more difficult to not just win championships, but be consistently competitive, then your 2 out of 3 years hosting expectations—even if I agree with it—is based on unsound reasoning and should be ignored.

If we do wind up hosting 67% of the time, and you don’t see that as an incredible achievement rather than something that should just happen by default, because “we’re LSU,” then it’s hard to take people like you seriously.

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Why are y’all saying you can’t win titles and host regionals?

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No one is saying this.

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why can’t it be reasonable to expect “the Powerhouse” to be a top 16 team every year while competing for a national title every so often?

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Expectations are not always reality.

I guarantee that the expectation in the LSU dugout is higher than any fan here.

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Jack Daniel

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also just a friendly reminder

LINK

LINK

I’m honored