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re: UConn baseball coach calling out the SEC Jay needs to add a 3 game series with Uconn

Posted on 5/27/25 at 2:21 pm to
Posted by More beer please
Member since Feb 2010
45761 posts
Posted on 5/27/25 at 2:21 pm to
quote:

“Most of [the SEC teams] won’t play us,” he said. “They don’t want to play us and I don’t blame them. I mean, you don’t want to have a series loss to Connecticut on your resume.


Oh so it has to be a series? Lets see what happened when they did play the big boys

vs SEC 1-1
vs Power Conference- 5-7
vs tourney field 6-10

Mizzou- loss
Stetson- loss (tourney team)
PSU- loss
USC- loss
UCLA- loss
Vandy- win...congrats
2/3 @ miami- not SEC
Duke- loss
UNC- win
BS- split
Northeastern- loss x2

Series losses to FAU-62, Campbell- 129, Xavier-39, Creighton- 46
Series wins- Miami-40, next best series win is... St Johns at 109
Posted by ProjectP2294
South St. Louis city
Member since May 2007
74031 posts
Posted on 5/27/25 at 2:24 pm to
quote:

Just figured you would be on board with what the UConn coach is saying.


No. I think he sounds like a bitch and should worry about winning the games already on his schedule instead of complaining.
Posted by lsu777
Lake Charles
Member since Jan 2004
34991 posts
Posted on 5/27/25 at 2:27 pm to
doubt he said that but if he did the real reason is because they want home and home series or they dont want to travel early because lack of field time

uconn is a great mid major program, but plenty of SEC schools would love to schedule them.
Posted by lsufball19
Franklin, TN
Member since Sep 2008
68973 posts
Posted on 5/27/25 at 2:27 pm to
This year, they played Vandy and Missouri
Last year they played a three game series against Auburn

They basically a 4 week window in February and March where playing an SEC school is remotely feasible. Most everyone is playing in at least 1 preseason weekend tournament full of good baseball teams. That leaves 3 weekend series for them to do it. There are 350 d1 programs. Why is UConn so special to say SEC teams should be playing them every year? We all already have a gauntlet of an SEC schedule for 10 weeks. It's not up to us to make their schedule more difficult.
This post was edited on 5/27/25 at 2:28 pm
Posted by More beer please
Member since Feb 2010
45761 posts
Posted on 5/27/25 at 2:33 pm to
quote:

The only way I see this as a bad statement on UConn is if the SEC tried to schedule them and UConn said no, and then coming out after selection show and publicly saying that the SEC wont schedule them.


They have played plenty of series with big power conference opponents and lost them all. The idea anyone is scared of them is bullshite

2024
got swept at Cal
lost series vs Auburn

2023
Split 4 games with Ohio state

2022
California road trip- good success

2021
Series loss at Virginia
Series loss at Southern Miss
Got swept at TTU (4 games)

Posted by misey94
Hernando, MS
Member since Jan 2007
28617 posts
Posted on 5/27/25 at 2:39 pm to
quote:

UConn got screwed, IMO, but not a good look here calling out the SEC.


If you are north of Mizzou and UK and want to play a decent OOC schedule, then you have to go on the road with no expectation of any return games. That, or enter multiple tournaments. It may not be fair, but that’s life.

Like someone above said about Oregon St, you can get it done if you’re motivated enough. If not, you will find yourself sitting at home some years.
This post was edited on 5/27/25 at 2:44 pm
Posted by Harry Morgan
Member since Sep 2019
9236 posts
Posted on 5/27/25 at 2:41 pm to
Posted by Tigergreg
Metairie
Member since Feb 2005
21690 posts
Posted on 5/27/25 at 2:41 pm to
quote:

No. I think he sounds like a bitch and should worry about winning the games already on his schedule instead of complaining.


It's a bold statement. He is baiting schools to schedule them. I don't fault him because they need a warmer place to play in February and he'll get a SOS boost. It's a win win for his school. If I were Jay, I'd get them on a future schedule. They are a decent team.
Posted by misey94
Hernando, MS
Member since Jan 2007
28617 posts
Posted on 5/27/25 at 2:42 pm to
quote:

Dump teams like Purdue Fort Wayne and Omaha and add UConn.


PFW was only on our schedule because another team backed out of a weekend series with us. You aren’t going to find any good team waiting around to fill in dates like that on short notice.
Posted by OpenlyGayDave
Denver
Member since May 2021
147 posts
Posted on 5/27/25 at 2:53 pm to
They’ve been pretty good for years.
Posted by AtlantaLSUfan
Baton Rouge
Member since Mar 2009
25190 posts
Posted on 5/27/25 at 3:20 pm to
quote:

eighth-year Xavier coach is searching for answers from this year’s selection committee about what more his team could have done. The Musketeers produced the No. 33 overall strength of schedule, the No. 4 non-conference strength of schedule, and finished the season ranked No. 39 in RPI, the highest of any team left out of the field of 64. O’Conner wants to understand the message not just from this year’s committee, but from the ones to come. What more must his program, and mid-majors like it, do to avoid this kind of heartbreak again? “Perfection is not attainable in this sport,” O’Conner told Baseball America just a few hours after the selection show. “So it’s like, I think that some of the frustration stems from like, ‘What is it?’ What goes into it? Because it feels like a moving target.” The Musketeers had all the résumé markers typically associated with selection: 16 combined Quad I and II wins—more than Kentucky (12), which made the field comfortably, and Southeastern Louisiana (eight), which didn’t make the tournament but was still listed ahead of Xavier on the “First Four Out.”


I feel sorry for this northern programs that can’t play at home until April. The sport has a problem and just keeps ignoring it.
quote:

“Our season was not perfect…we didn’t go 56-0, but we did what the committee has historically asked a program like ours to do, to give themselves a chance to be in the mix for an at-large berth. And I think we did it fairly well.” Penders echoed the sentiment. “You look at the schedule that we play and we crisscross the country and try to build up the RPI as much as possible,

#4 non-conference RPI, thousands spent on travel to impress the committee and they still got left out with 39 RPI. Brutal.
Posted by Bert Macklin FBI
Quantico
Member since May 2013
11110 posts
Posted on 5/27/25 at 3:33 pm to
quote:

To be fair, Vandy scheduled them and lost.


Mid week I assume since it was one game? Playing a one off against mid week pitching is not the same as playing 5 weekend series back to back against SEC teams and facing that caliber of pitching and lineups week after week. And 5 teams would be just HALF an SEC schedule.
Posted by NC_Tigah
Make Orwell Fiction Again
Member since Sep 2003
131343 posts
Posted on 5/27/25 at 3:33 pm to
quote:

Thanks for the link to that quote.

EDIT: I googled the quote you posted and the only link that google gives for that quote is to your post on the Rant. Hmmmm....???
Here you geaux ...
quote:

As such, it’s clearer than ever that programs like Xavier and UConn don’t have margin for error. And this year, the lesson they learned is even harsher: do everything right, and it still might not matter.

“If we are encouraging good teams to play good teams, that is great for the game of baseball,” O’Conner said. “If we are telling teams to just accumulate wins by any means necessary, that’s really bad for college baseball. That’s a bad product people are going to watch.”

Penders agreed, but highlighted the difficulties.

“Most of [the SEC teams] won’t play us,” he said. “They don’t want to play us and I don’t blame them. I mean, you don’t want to have a series loss to Connecticut on your resume. But what are we going to do? We got to keep marching on and try to find people that will play I think.”


That’s why this cuts so deeply. It’s not just about a tournament snub—it’s about how it feels to pour everything into the system and still walk away empty-handed and with far more questions than answers.

“There’s never going to be somebody that’s looking out for Xavier,” O’Conner said. “We’ve got to make it to a point where they can’t ignore us.”

Until then, he’ll keep scheduling the SEC powers. He’ll keep building the hardest possible non-conference gauntlets. He’ll keep believing that merit matters—even when the results suggest otherwise.

“We’re going to go down the same pathway again,” O’Conner said. “And we’ve got to get better. We’ve got to execute at a higher level. We’ve got to be ready for the challenges that are coming our way.”

Because there’s no other option. Not for Xavier, UConn or the rest of the mid-majors trying to do it the hard way and still hoping that it will be enough.

“It’s very difficult to look your guys in the eye and say, ‘We’re going to run through that brick wall, and then we’re going to do it again and again and again, and I promise you it’s going to work out,’” Penders said. “And then days like today make me feel a little bit like a liar.”

LINK
Posted by Tiger1988
Houston
Member since May 2016
28353 posts
Posted on 5/27/25 at 3:44 pm to
They beat Vandy
Posted by Tiger1988
Houston
Member since May 2016
28353 posts
Posted on 5/27/25 at 3:50 pm to
quote:

doubt he said that
LINK
He said it
Posted by Tammany Tom
Mandeville
Member since Jun 2004
4342 posts
Posted on 5/27/25 at 3:52 pm to
quote:

Thanks for the link to that quote. EDIT: I googled the quote you posted and the only link that google gives for that quote is to your post on the Rant. Hmmmm....???


It’s in an article from Baseball America

LINK
Posted by Mobiletiggah
Mobile Alabama
Member since Mar 2021
3263 posts
Posted on 5/27/25 at 4:44 pm to
What’s the context here? Did they get left out of the tournament?
Posted by Tigergreg
Metairie
Member since Feb 2005
21690 posts
Posted on 5/27/25 at 5:47 pm to
Yes They were left out of the tournament.
Posted by Tiger1988
Houston
Member since May 2016
28353 posts
Posted on 5/27/25 at 6:26 pm to
They got drug by decent teams and you left that out.
Oregon St showed them the path. Go on the road and get beat and the committee will give you an undeserving top 8 seed when they screwed Coastal Carolina.
Losing to P4 teams on the road is HOW YOU GET A HIGHER RPI
This post was edited on 5/27/25 at 6:29 pm
Posted by nitwit
Member since Oct 2007
12849 posts
Posted on 5/27/25 at 6:29 pm to
I think we should give them a couple of series with LSU - S and then revisit the merits of this complaint…
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