We’re not an elite program at the moment. But I would still like to make the postseason and have a chance to get hot and make a run if possible.
Baseball has to go 9-6 down the stretch...
- Thread starter Xenomorph
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We’re not an elite program at the moment. But I would still like to make the postseason and have a chance to get hot and make a run if possible.
Exactly. Our administration has no balls to make any moves at all. Scared to spend money, scared to invest, scared to do anything. This is why we will never get to where we need to be. Our administration is terrible.
We haven’t been an elite program for any appreciable amount of time since the Reagan administration. Overall losing SEC record for the past quarter century. You can’t be that mediocre for that long and claim elite status for anything beyond whatever the current season is (if its a good one).
We've got to find a sweep somewhere. You can't take two of them and not get at least one back.
We were more elite from 2012 - 2021 than at any time in the 1980s.
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Not quite. From 2019-2021, maybe. Going back to 2012 though? I don’t think so. In 2015, we finished dead last in the SEC.
SEC winning percentage from 2012-2018 was 0.529. Two CWS appearances (one every 3.5 years), and one of those two teams - the 2018 team - wouldn’t have even made the NCAA tournament in the 1980’s. 1 SEC title in that period.
For the 1980’s decade (1981-1990), we had an SEC winning percentage of 0.640. Three CWS appearances (one every 3.33 years). Three SEC titles by either today’s metrics (best overall SEC record in regular season) or the metrics at the time (SEC tournament champion was recognized as the SEC champion until 1988).
How would 3-27 make you feel? A sweep of Mississippi state to end the season after starting 0-27****
Very different SEC in the 1980s vs the 2010s. SEC was nothing in the 1980s. Strongest conference in the country in 2010s. From 2011-2021, we went to 7 super regionals, 4 CWS, with a runner up and a championship. Missed the tournament once. From 1979-1990, we missed the tournament 3 times (barely snuck in by winning the SEC tournament after qualifying as the 6-seed on the last day of the season another time), had 4 CWS appearances, with only 1 better than 5th, and that was 3rd.
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You're supposed to say "Name checks out" Calling my shot - book it.
I generally agree although 2016-2021 was an elite 5-6 year stretch.
The SEC was still pretty damn good in the 80’s….albeit not nearly as dominant as they are now. Was only a 10-team league then, and MSU, Florida, LSU, and UGA all made the CWS….some of them multiple times. UGA capped off the decade with a natty. Bama was pretty good back then too, but didn’t break through to Omaha.
That’s kind of an apples and oranges comparison. In 1981, only 34 teams made the NCAA tournament. From 1982-1986, only 36 teams made it. 1987 - 38 teams. 1988 - 40 teams. 1989-1990 - 48 teams. Only missing the tournament 3 times in 12 years, when only between 34-40 teams made the field for 10 of those 12 years. That’s a hell of an accomplishment.
To make your comparison more appropriate, the 2011 and 2015 teams would not have made the field in most or all years of the 1980’s format. In 2020, there was no tournament. 2018, 2012, and 2017 teams may or may not have made it….depending on how many autobids were given out back then. So you would have had the 2013, 2014, 2016, 2019, and 2021 teams who would have made the 1980’s field. 5 teams in 10 years that there was actually a postseason that were equivalent to the 9 teams in 12 years we had from 1979-1990. 3 more maybes in ‘12, ‘17, and ‘18. Best case is probably 2 of those 3 making it and you have 7 of 10 teams being capable of being one of the top 10-12 at-large bids. That still pales in comparison to 9 teams in 12 years making a field that’s 48 teams or less every year.
And again, in 2021, if we get bounced from our own regional instead of winning it all, we aren’t even having this conversation. That takes me back to my original point….we can’t claim shít as far as “elite-ness” since the 1980’s for any period that is longer than 1 season. 25 continuous years of sub-.500 baseball in our own conference is pretty damned hard to ignore.
Knowing our luck, he'll win another Natty and we'll be stuck with him for another four years**
Dude, the SEC had a total of 8 CWS teams in the entire decade of the 1980s. It was not a good conference back then. And we wouldn't have made the tournament if it took 80 teams in 1980, 1982 or 1986.
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First point of order just to make sure we’re talking about the same thing - the 1980’s decade was 1981-1990. There was no Year 0. All decades start in the year ending in “1”.
In the decade above, the SEC sent 11 teams to the CWS. That was 2nd only to the PAC-10, who sent 14 teams to the CWS. College baseball was more dominated by individual programs moreso than conferences back then. As such, 11 of the 14 PAC-10 appearances were just 2 teams….Stanford (6) and Arizona State (5). So, that’s really just 2 dominant programs moreso than an entire league being dominant.
Now, the SEC was somewhat top-heavy too, but it sent more different programs (5) to the CWS in the 80’s than any other league. MSU, LSU, UGA, UF, and Alabama all made it. First 3 on that list had multiple appearances. I was wrong earlier about Bama not getting there. Next closest was PAC-10 with 4 different teams making it. No other conference sent more than 2 programs to the CWS in that decade.
So again, while it was not what it is today, in the 80’s the SEC was - at worst - the 2nd best league in the country. Top to bottom when looking at the whole league’s strength, it was the best league even then. Saying it “was not a good conference back then” isn’t accurate at all.
Technically correct, but nobody ever refers to 1990 as a part of the 1980s. Bottom line is, SEC sucked until about 1987, then started getting pretty good pretty quickly and was a good league from about the 87-88 time frame on. But it was awful prior to then with only 3 CWS teams in the first 6 years of the decade.
That would be a very winnable regional. Pretty bad #2 seed and a #1 that historically under-performs in the post-season (like most of the ACC other than Virginia).
if we find a sweep and win the other 2 series and go 3-3 against the barn and mississippi, doesn't that get us to 10-5 in the second half of season and 15-15 overall SEC?