Thomallister1291 No. 1 Share Posted June 22 I've seen quite a few people say that Big Ten baseball is not doing well right now, and that the four expansion members will unironically be among the best ones on the conference in 2025. Do y'all agree? Will Oregon advance very far on the next Big Ten tourney? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Washington Waddler Moderator No. 2 Share Posted June 22 Maybe, but how does moving down in the quality of competition advance the development of players or help in recruiting? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Administrator No. 3 Share Posted June 22 Yes, I've written about this a number of times here in the forum. The B1G had three of 14 teams in the NCAA Tournament, and none got to the Super-Regionals. One did get to a Regional final, so while there is some good baseball in the conference, there is no doubt that Oregon, USC and UCLA in particular will make waves with Oregon having a great chance to win the conference next year. We are a "cold-weather" team playing in a cold-weather conference, although our cold weather is not as bad as the mid-west, hence our recruiting in the mid-west could be uplifted from our presence in the conference. (Especially if we come in with a splash as we will in football) Having two of the teams in SoCal within the new B1G makes scheduling easier along with recruiting. The only downside is the Baseball reputation of the B1G conference that can be easily overcome by winning. I do believe that Waz will schedule tough OOC games to build a good RPI ranking, since Oregon will not get it within conference. This could be like Gonzaga in the WCC Basketball; the conference does not matter, but the team does. I think Oregon State will continue to flourish because of their long-term success regardless if they join a conference or remain independent beyond next year. (Another example of an individual team overcoming a conference) I also believe that we will have better access to Oregon Baseball on TV with the B1G Network, in addition to B1G+, their streaming service. Also, Waz coached in the B1G for three years already when he was at Purdue, so he knows the conference, the fields, etc. That helps. Waz Will Keep Winning... 2 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
