re: Baseball CWS Finals appearances since 2000.

And they got very lucky with Skip because I don't think any AD at LSU outside of Broadhead would have made that move.

Plus Bertman had many chances to leave LSU for both college and professional opportunities during the penny pinching Joe Dean era

It is time to move on from CPM and really for CPM to move on from LSU as well. I think both parties are just ready for the next thing, but Skip himself has said he wouldn’t be able to duplicate his success in today’s college baseball.

Of course he would have still done better than CPM. Skip is a top 2 or 3 coach in the history of the sport. He would more than likely do better at every major program in the country than the current coach.

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Better off, yes, just because he was great. How many more titles is a tough hypothetical given his age, the limited amount of time he was around the new format, etc. In two of his three years in the super regional format he lost to another SEC team and Tulane in the supers (and won #5 in the other). He also never coached in the current CWS finals format and bracket play was condensed into fewer days. And obviously that doesn’t even get into the new park or the way the game has changed in general (bats, roster/scholarship restrictions, etc.)

There’s no doubt he would have adapted and continued to win at a high clip, but it’s difficult to say how many finals appearances and championships that would translate to.

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All true.

Remember too in his heyday LSU could buy a home regional.
You can’t do that anymore,

Playing a six team regional at hone every year was a big advantage. If you won that you went to Omaha. It wasn’t easy, the competition was tough as was the losers bracket, but helped the home team.

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The scholarship limitations have hurt LSU's prior advantage

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what advantage did LSU ever have in this area?
most Skip ever had available was 13 schollys (same as everyone else in country).
and the 11.7 went into effect early 90s, so 4 of his titles were won under current limits.

The way those scholarships are divided up has definitely changed and roster limits were also implemented after he retired.

ETA: Bertman himself has mentioned the impact of this several times in the past, it isn’t just speculation.

Roster limits and no minimum gave coaches more flexibility. He took advantage of it better than anyone. But it was a rule for everyone not just LSU. Skip was very good at making the most out of what he was given whether it be the system or the players themselves.

Exactly

Everyone played under the same rules. These folks trying to rationalize mediocrity are sad

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It’s interesting that this is the narrative. There were plenty of schools who took baseball seriously before LSU won

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There were some who took baseball seriously, but there are way more now that millions have flowed into athletic departments from tv dollars.

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And he wasn’t the first to prove it could be a money making sport[/quotE

Who else made money?



[quote] There’s no reason a school could not have dominated college baseball the last two decades.

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Sure there’s a reason. College baseball lacks a Saban, and it also has a very big competitor for elite talent. Saban doesn’t recruit against the NFL. College baseball coaches have to compete against MLB for talent.

Think about it. To dominate you have to have elite talent, Coaching kids up can only get you do far. Finding diamonds in the tough can only get you do far. In football you can get the best of the best. You seldom do that in college baseball.

The chances a Saban emerges in college baseball are there, but even a Saban is not going to convince elite talent on a regular basis to forgo millions of dollars on a regular basis do he can stockpile talent like you can in football.

That is one readon that you don’t see a John Wooden in hoops. He didn’t compete with thd NBA for Alcindor, Goodrich and Walton.

But we all know PM isn’t a Saban, Skip or Wooden. No one else is either.

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Exactly

Everyone played under the same rules. These folks trying to rationalize mediocrity are sad

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All universities follow the same rules, but all sports don’t follow the same rules and that differentiates one sport from another.

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Roster limitations and only allowing you to give scholarships to 28 players is what created more parity in college baseball.

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This parity bullshite is way way overblown. I did a breakdown from the 80s, 90s, 00s, and 10s of teams that made it to the CWS.

To summarize:

80s (29 teams, 13 single appearance, 14 3+ appearances)
90s (30 teams, 12 single appearances, 15 3+ appearances)
00s (32 teams, 13 single appearances, 13 3+ appearances)
10s (35 teams, 16 single appearances, 15 3+ appearances)

So all of this crazy, unbelievable parity resulted in 6 more teams going to the CWS and everything else remaining nearly the same. A few more teams had just 1 appearance. And the number of teams making 3 or more appearances over a decade remained flat.

Here's the full list:

80s (29 teams, 13 single appearance)

Alabama - 1
Arizona - 3
Arizona State - 5
Arkansas - 3
California - 2
Cal State Fullerton - 3
Clemson - 1
Florida - 1
Florida State -4
Fresno State - 1
Georgia - 1
Hawaii - 1
Indiana State - 1
James Madison - 1
LSU - 3
Long Beach State - 1
Loyola Marymount - 1
Maine - 5
Miami - 8
Michigan - 4
Mississippi State -2
New Orleans - 1
North Carolina - 1
Oklahoma State - 7
South Carolina -3
Stanford - 5
St. John’s - 1
Texas - 7
Wichita State - 3

90s (30 teams, 12 single appearances)

Alabama - 3
Arizona State - 3
Auburn - 2
California - 1
Cal State Fullerton - 5
The Citadel - 1
Clemson - 3
Creighton - 1
Florida - 3
Florida State - 7
Fresno State - 1
Georgia - 1
Georgia Southern - 1
Georgia Tech - 1
Kansas - 1
Long Beach State - 3
LSU - 7
Miami - 7
Mississippi State - 3
Oklahoma - 3
Oklahoma State - 4
Pepperdine - 1
Rice - 2
Southern Cal - 2
Stanford - 4
Texas - 3
Texas A&M - 1
Tennessee - 1
UCLA - 1
Wichita State - 4

00s (32 teams, 13 single appearances)

Arizona - 1
Arizona State - 3
Arkansas - 2
Baylor - 1
Cal State Fullerton - 6
Clemson - 3
Florida - 1
Florida State - 2
Fresno State - 1
Georgia - 5
Georgia Tech - 2
ULL - 1
Louisville - 1
LSU - 5
Miami - 5
Mississippi State - 1
Nebraska - 3
North Carolina - 4
Notre Dame - 1
Oregon State - 3
Rice - 5
San Jose State - 1
South Carolina - 3
Southern Cal - 2
Southern Miss - 1
Southwest Missouri State - 1
Stanford - 5
Tennessee - 2
Texas - 6
Tulane - 2
UC Irvine - 1
Virginia - 1

10s (35 teams, 16 single appearances)

Arizona - 2
Arizona State - 1
Arkansas - 4
Auburn - 1
California - 1
Cal State Fullerton - 2
Clemson - 1
Coastal Carolina - 1
Florida - 7
Florida State - 4
Indiana - 1
Kent State - 1
Louisville - 3
LSU - 3
Miami - 2
Michigan - 1
Mississippi State - 3
North Carolina - 3
NC State - 1
Oklahoma - 1
Oklahoma State - 1
Ole Miss - 1
Oregon State - 3
South Carolina - 3
Stony Brook - 1
TCU - 5
Texas - 3
Texas A&M - 2
Texas Tech - 4
UC Irvine - 1
UCLA - 3
UC Santa Barbara - 1
Vanderbilt - 4
Virginia - 3
Washington - 1