W said:

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also of note...

no private schools in the CWS

in fact it's been 3 years since a private school made it

(TCU, Wake, Stanford, and Oral Roberts all in 2023)

is this the NIL effect kicking in?

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Possibly, but with no scholarship limits, aren't they still allowed to report the inflated cost of attendance numbers? Or do they pay them out in the open now?

so the updated data on 9 thru 16 hosts reaching Omaha in the past 5 postseasons...

2022 --> 2
2023 --> 0
2024 --> 2
2025 --> 2
2026 --> 1

only 7 of 40 -- approximately 18%

four of the 7 did it by winning a road super-regional vs. top 8

so while it's nice to host...really need to be a top 8 to get to Omaha on a regular or expected basis

there were always questions / suspicion of how the private schools were handling academic vs. athletic scholarships. And it's easier for private school athletic departments to hide their business in that regard

now with NIL the big schools can outbid the privates for players no matter how the scholarships are designed

W said:

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there were always questions / suspicion of how the private schools were handling academic vs. athletic scholarships. And it's easier for private school athletic departments to hide their business in that regard

now with NIL the big schools can outbid the privates for players no matter how the scholarships are designed

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Amazing how teams like Baylor, Rice, Vanderbilt, TCU, Miami, etc. all of a sudden aren't strong programs like they used to be, isn't it?

Been a long time since Baylor could be considered a strong program. Since being a strike away from Omaha in 2012, they have only made three NCAA Tournaments winning a total of three games. Same for Rice although the they had a solid bounce back season this year under Price. While I don't think the Owls will ever return to being a major power, I do think Price will get them to a point where they'll be a team you don't want to see at your Regional.

NIL and schools now being able to give full scholarships up to 34 players has taken away recruiting advantages that private schools could exploit but IMO it is a bit premature write off Vandy, TCU, Miami, etc. Keep in mind despite their collapse in Regionals, USC was the wire to wire regular season #1, Vandy certainly had a down season this year that might have been caused by the new rules but many state schools also took a big step back this year.. I think all programs are still working through how to best build teams in the current college baseball landscape.

You meant UCLA, which is of course public. Other private schools who've have nice runs are Wake Forest and Duke, and Tulane in the early 2000's.

Stanford is the big one (private) that has disappeared

Yep UCLA and it is a state school so that part of my argument is null and void. Still I think it is too early to believe private schools will no longer be prominent in baseball. As stated win my post, all programs are figuring out how it is best to build teams with NIL new scholarships rules and roster sizes.

since the COVID...

private schools in Omaha:

2021 ---> 2
2022 ---> 2
2023 ---> 4
2024 ---> 0
2025 ---> 0
2026 ---> 0

NIL started in the summer of 2021

its first big impact on college baseball was probably the 2023 season (LSU)

W said:

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the sips were great at home this year

won 9 of 9 home series played at DF including the super-regional

throw in the regional...and they won all 10 of their home weekends

now on the road/neutral...the sips are very mortal

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They lost a few Tuesday games too.

And having one of the easiest regionals didn't hurt them either.

in the 21st century...

Vanderbilt, Miami, Stanford, Rice, and TCU have combined for 30 CWS appearances

that's not a small number

we'll see if the lack of privates is an anomaly or a trend

W said:

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and a tip of the cap to Skip Johnson

he's gotten the Sooners to Omaha for the second time as a 2-seed -- that's not easy to do

won 2 road regionals and 2 road super-regionals all against 1-seeds

did not get any upsets or breaks (a la West Virginia) to make the path easier

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The wins over GA TECH in the regional were very impressive, KU as Super Regional Host was "eh"

ColoradoMooseHerd said:

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W said:

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and a tip of the cap to Skip Johnson

he's gotten the Sooners to Omaha for the second time as a 2-seed -- that's not easy to do

won 2 road regionals and 2 road super-regionals all against 1-seeds

did not get any upsets or breaks (a la West Virginia) to make the path easier

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The wins over GA TECH in the regional were very impressive, KU as Super Regional Host was "eh"

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Exactly. KU would have finished about 12th in the SEC. What a lucky draw they got being paired with that regional. But beating Ga Tech twice at their place, they deserve it.

Faustus said:

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Iraq2xVeteran said:

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W said:

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the sips were great at home this year

won 9 of 9 home series played at DF including the super-regional

throw in the regional...and they won all 10 of their home weekends

now on the road/neutral...the sips are very mortal

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Yes, Texas went 34-4 (0.895) in home games, including 12-3 (0.800) in SEC home games. However, Texas went just 8-8 (.500) in true road games, including 7-7 (0.500) in SEC road games. If that third game of the Texas vs Texas A&M series had not been cancelled, we probably would have won it for a 3-0 sweep. That would have dropped Texas' SEC record to 19-11, overall road record to 8-9, and their SEC road record to 7-8. Indeed, the Sips are very beatable in road or neutral site games.

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Texas went 3-1 in neutral site games and Omaha isn't a "true road game."
If Georgia wins it's likely going to be because they were better rather than Texas not faring as well in an opponent's home park.

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I want to see the sips run Volantis out there against Ga. Dude has some wicked stuff, but I don't think there is a pitcher anywhere that can shut down Ga.

Yeah Texas is definitely the underdog heading into the game. But it's baseball so somewhat unpredictable and it wouldn't be an outlandish upset.

Looking forward to it.

W said:

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in the 21st century...

Vanderbilt, Miami, Stanford, Rice, and TCU have combined for 30 CWS appearances

that's not a small number

we'll see if the lack of privates is an anomaly or a trend

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Have we ever before had seven of the eight teams in the CWS that were representing, what some would call, their state's Flagship Universities?

the 2024 field was pretty close

with A&M, t.u., Florida, FSU, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, and N.C.State

2009 also -- one of the few all-public before the last 3 seasons

Arizona State, Arkansas, LSU, Virginia, North Carolina, t.u., Fullerton, and Southern Miss

W said:

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in the 21st century...

Vanderbilt, Miami, Stanford, Rice, and TCU have combined for 30 CWS appearances

that's not a small number

we'll see if the lack of privates is an anomaly or a trend

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I think we'll need to draw a line at the NIL/Full scholarship date and compare before and after in a few years.

I think we'll see that being able to provide 33 scholarships is a really important thing for roster construction. And it gave a decided advantage to the teams that weren't limited by it (most privates, LSU in-state recruits, etc)

Edit: I started reading bottom up and now see you guys have more of less already discussed this.