• The KillerFrogs

2022 College World Series Thread

BrewingFrog

Was I supposed to type something here?
How annoying...

I generally watch ESPN programming with the 'mute' activated, due to the incessant stupidity of the commentary. Tonight is no different. So, when the replay call was made just now, I turned on the sound to hopefully get a clue as to what the controversy was. The runner was clearly out, yet the ESPN booth commentators typically took sides defending the call and ignoring the clear evidence that the glove hit the fingers, hand, and wrist of the runner before he reached the bag. Of course, the replay people get it wrong and the "safe" call is upheld.

Screw it. I'm done.
 

froginmn

Full Member
How annoying...

I generally watch ESPN programming with the 'mute' activated, due to the incessant stupidity of the commentary. Tonight is no different. So, when the replay call was made just now, I turned on the sound to hopefully get a clue as to what the controversy was. The runner was clearly out, yet the ESPN booth commentators typically took sides defending the call and ignoring the clear evidence that the glove hit the fingers, hand, and wrist of the runner before he reached the bag. Of course, the replay people get it wrong and the "safe" call is upheld.

Screw it. I'm done.
He was not clearly out, if you're referring to the call at second where the batter stretched a single off of the 3B man's glove into a double. The glove might have touched the fingers but it was very unclear.
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
Wouldn't this thread be better if it got derailed by an argument about whether a team that went 14-16 in conference (Ole Miss) should be allowed in the postseason? That 64 teams is way too many and devalues the regular season? C'mon, @Wexahu, we count on you to keep things interesting.

I recall Fresno State winning it all a few years ago after being a 4 seed in regionals. Must mean that a pair of double-elimination tournaments plus a pair of best-of-three series is a terrible way to decide a national champ.
 

Wexahu

Full Member
Wouldn't this thread be better if it got derailed by an argument about whether a team that went 14-16 in conference (Ole Miss) should be allowed in the postseason? That 64 teams is way too many and devalues the regular season? C'mon, @Wexahu, we count on you to keep things interesting.

I recall Fresno State winning it all a few years ago after being a 4 seed in regionals. Must mean that a pair of double-elimination tournaments plus a pair of best-of-three series is a terrible way to decide a national champ.
I don't follow college baseball much, but if you think the fact that Ole Miss being in the CWS championship proves that my argument (that playoffs in most sports are too inclusive) is flawed, then you aren't understanding my argument. At all.

You either make a 50+ regular season game schedule in college baseball really mean something, or you don't.
 

Moose Stuff

Active Member
I don't follow college baseball much, but if you think the fact that Ole Miss being in the CWS championship proves that my argument (that playoffs in most sports are too inclusive) is flawed, then you aren't understanding my argument. At all.

You either make a 50+ regular season game schedule in college baseball really mean something, or you don't.
College baseball is the only sport where the last team in could actually win the title. I think the college baseball postseason is just about perfect and arguably the best and most exciting of any of the major college sports.
 

Wexahu

Full Member
College baseball is the only sport where the last team in could actually win the title. I think the college baseball postseason is just about perfect and arguably the best and most exciting of any of the major college sports.
Again, kind of missing the point.

I think it'd be just as exciting with half the number of teams involved. I don't know why it wouldn't be. I'd say the same thing for college basketball. And that would make the regular season much more compelling and meaningful.

You could make every regular season game an exhibition and just include every single team in a postseason playoff, and I bet the playoff would be exciting. But that would be pretty stupid.
 

Moose Stuff

Active Member
Again, kind of missing the point.

I think it'd be just as exciting with half the number of teams involved. I don't know why it wouldn't be. I'd say the same thing for college basketball. And that would make the regular season much more compelling and meaningful.

You could make every regular season game an exhibition and just include every single team in a postseason playoff, and I bet the playoff would be exciting. But that would be pretty stupid.
I was stating my opinion independent of that. Whatever point you’re trying to make isn’t something I’m concerned with.
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
I don't follow college baseball much, but if you think the fact that Ole Miss being in the CWS championship proves that my argument (that playoffs in most sports are too inclusive) is flawed, then you aren't understanding my argument. At all.

You either make a 50+ regular season game schedule in college baseball really mean something, or you don't.
I was mostly just stirring the pot. Appreciate your willingness to jump in.

I understand your argument (as it relates to football and hoops) to be based on 3 points:
1. Expansive playoff fields cheapen the regular season. So do autobids handed out via conference tournaments.
2. Small-conference teams are not legitimate championship contenders. It would be best to reduce the D1 pool to 100 schools or fewer; in lieu of that, the NCAA need not feel obligated to offer every D1 school a path to a national championship.
3. Single-elimination tournaments (especially in basketball) are not the best format to determine a legitimate national champ.

For reference, NCAA baseball has 290 D1 teams in 31 conferences.

Ole Miss 2022 doesn't invalidate any of the points above. It has survived a much more thorough post-season test than a 6-round single-elimination hoops tourney at neutral sites. But it's valid to argue that the 5th-place team in the SEC West shouldn't have made the post-season in the first place, even with the talent to run the table.

My issue (as we argued a few months ago) is not with points 1 or 3, but with point 2. And Ole Miss isn't an argument against that point, either. But Fresno State 2008 is. The Bulldogs were WAC regular season and tournament champs, but with a 37-27 record they were given a 4 seed by the committee. Given their placement in regionals, they were viewed in the band of teams ranked 49th-56th. They then won a four-team double-elimination regional on the road, won 2-of-3 at #3 Arizona State, and won 5 games in Omaha, all against teams ranked in the top 8.

@Moose Stuff was right to point out the quality of the post-season format in baseball. Teams have to be excellent to advance at each stage--and the best regular-season teams get home-field advantage until the final eight. It's hard to argue that Fresno State wasn't a deserving champ. And it won its D1 conference. But without an auto-bid, it would not have made a committee-selected field of 16, 24, 32 or 48.

Fresno State 2008 is why I think every D1 conference champ (preferably regular-season) gets a post-season bid, no matter the sport. And with 31 of those (32 in hoops), it's hard to justify a bracket with fewer than 48 teams. So, you fill out the field with at-large bids based on regular-season performance. And that's how you get Ole Miss (which played the 5th-strongest schedule in the country) one win away from a title. Which is OK by me.

I'm not asking you to agree with me.
 

Endless Purple

Full Member
So I guess they should let 128 teams in and make it twice as exciting. Or better yet, 256 teams and make it 4x as exciting. Yay!!!
To quote another post "kind of missing the point"

But lets ask a question, would you be just as interested once all of the 2 and 3 seeds were removed from each regional?
 
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