12thMan9 said:
Luke The Drifter said:
12thMan9 said:
The 12 game stretch from 3/14- 4/2 will be good baseball watching.
UH, lsu, Rice, UT, tu, & Ol' Miss. 3 of 6 preseason ranked.
Wonder if people will complain about our schedule........
Yes, because our non-conference schedule is a joke…and it only got worse with the Minute Maid tourney schedule changes.
Quit whining. Our schedule is not much different than anyone else's non conference matchups.
Wrong.
Opening weekend when we're hosting Seattle (University...not the Mariners), Arkansas is in a tourney playing Texas, TCU, and Oklahoma State. Auburn is playing Indiana. Kentucky is hitting the road to play Elon. Granted, Elon isn't powerful, but at UK isn't scared to leave home. Missouri is in the same tourney as Arkansas, playing oSu, Texas, and TCU. Tennessee is heading to the desert to play Arizona State, San Diego, and Grand Canyon. Vanderbilt is also in Arlington playing TCU, oSu, and Texas.
The next weekend, we are hosing Portland. Alabama is at Pepperdine. Auburn is at Southern Cal. LSU heads to Round Rock to play K-State, Iowa, and Sam Houston. Ole Miss hosts Maryland. Mississippi State hosts Arizona State. Missouri travels to Florida International. Vanderbilt hosts UCLA.
The 3rd weekend of the season, we're playing Louisville, Rice, and Texas Tech in Houston. Florida is hosting Miami (Fla.). Georgia is hosting Georgia Tech. Ole Miss will be in a tourney with Maryland, Minnesota, and Nebraska. Mississippi State will be at a tournament in Berkley playing Ohio State Oklahoma, and Cal. South Carolina is playing a split series with Clemson. Tennessee is hosting perennial regional contender Gonzaga. Vandy will be in the same tourney as Ole Miss playing Nebraska, Maryland, and Minnesota
The final weekend of non-conference play, A&M will be hosting Northern Kentucky. Arkansas will be hosting Louisiana Tech (who made a regional last year). Kentucky will be hitting the road to play a regional team in Southern Illinois. Ole Miss is hosting Purdue.
There are literally dozens of better non-conference games throughout the SEC better than almost anything we have the first 4 weekends of the year.
As far as mid-week match ups go, it's good that we host Texas and Texas State. Other SEC schools have:
Alabama - nothing real exciting
Arkansas - UNLV (x2), at Missouri State
Auburn - Georgia Tech (1 home, 1 away)
Florida - at South Florida, Jacksonville (1 home, 1 away), FAU (x2), Florida State (1 home, 1 away)
Georgia - Clemson (1 home, 1 away)
Kentucky - Indiana, at Western Kentucky, Louisville (1 home, 1 away)
LSU - at Texas, Tulane, UL-Lafayette
Mississippi - Louisiana Tech (x2), Southern Miss (x2), at Memphis, Mississippi State (non-conference game)
Mississippi State - Southern Miss, UL-Lafayette, Ole Miss (non-conference game), Memphis
Missouri - Kansas (x2), Illinois, Missouri State (1 home, 1 away)
South Carolina - at North Carolina
Tennessee - Boston College
Vanderbilt - Western Kentucky, at Louisville
So...of the 14 SEC baseball teams, I'd say we have about the 12th or 13th best non-conference schedule. We play a bunch of weak teams at home, and the only time we hit the road we go to Houston. That is weak, weak, weak when you compare it to our SEC brethren.
But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)