Baseball/Softball Schedules

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

Any insight on how these will work this year? We have Covid plus tight budgets.

 

[chonk]

Baseball.

Still up in the air. Coaches were working together on proposals to BIG last week.

Travel is the concern. Midweek games are in doubt. Could be most or all conf games. Stay tuned.

 

[2bagger22]

Baseball.

Still up in the air. Coaches were working together on proposals to BIG last week.

Travel is the concern. Midweek games are in doubt. Could be most or all conf games. Stay tuned.

Going back to the miserable days of 4 conferences games/weekend?

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

Baseball.

Still up in the air. Coaches were working together on proposals to BIG last week.

Travel is the concern. Midweek games are in doubt. Could be most or all conf games. Stay tuned.

I figured midweek games were out.

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

Going back to the miserable days of 4 conferences games/weekend?

Do weekend bubbles indoors at Minneapolis, Detroit, and Indianapolis in the non conference.

 

[chonk]

Yes, 4 game weekends are possible. Nobody excited about that.

 

[Row55]

Do weekend bubbles indoors at Minneapolis, Detroit, and Indianapolis in the non conference.

I'm not sure if Detroit & Indy can be converted for baseball (eg. the UNI Dome can just barely accomodate a softball diamond, baseball would not work at all). Mpls can, of course, and I'm guessing they will be very busy this spring. Milwaukee has the retractable roof, but I don't know what they can do about heat, if needed.

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

I'm not sure if Detroit & Indy can be converted for baseball (eg. the UNI Dome can just barely accomodate a softball diamond, baseball would not work at all). Mpls can, of course, and I'm guessing they will be very busy this spring. Milwaukee has the retractable roof, but I don't know what they can do about heat, if needed.

I'm just trying to think outside the box.

 

[Row55]

No prob, I get that. If Detroit/Indy have been built to accomodate baseball along with football, I'd like to know. As nasty as our springs can be up here, I'm always interested in indoor facilities.

 

[twindman]

So they are still in hunker down mode at 4 months in advance. Look back 4 months and compare to now. Huge changes, so why restrict it so far out?

 

[2bagger22]

So they are still in hunker down mode at 4 months in advance. Look back 4 months and compare to now. Huge changes, so why restrict it so far out?

I imagine their budgets will be much leaner than years past. Cutting five weekends to Florida and instead playing Evansville, et. al is more cost-effective.

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

I imagine their budgets will be much leaner than years past. Cutting five weekends to Florida and instead playing Evansville, et. al is more cost-effective.

I totally expect to see six games against Western Illinois.

 

[2bagger22]

I totally expect to see six games against Western Illinois.

Without Brownlee, at least we won’t see their ace six times. Each time I see Blake Treinen pitch I remember SDSU throwing him midweek for 6 innings.

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

Without Brownlee, at least we won’t see their ace six times. Each time I see Blake Treinen pitch I remember SDSU throwing him midweek for 6 innings.

Just went and pulled up the SDSU boxscore. Treinen threw into the 8th and Iowa actually had a 3-2 lead before blowing it.

 

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

I'll add my main concern with scheduling is the impact it'll have on RPI. If we aren't able to face ACC, Big 12, or decent west coast schools then we'd literally need to be near flawless.

 

[non-poster]

I imagine their budgets will be much leaner than years past. Cutting five weekends to Florida and instead playing Evansville, et. al is more cost-effective.

This is exactly right. Depending on what the health situation is across the nation 4 months from now, makes for a double whammy.

I have talked to multiple coaches in multiple conferences over the last month. What will likely happen is more regional scheduling. Bus trips instead of plane trips.

The possibility of 4 game weekend series is a safety valve for many administrators to help make up the difference in lost non-conference games. Many coaches I spoke with aren't exactly happy about it, as it would stretch pitching thin. As an example: Iowa would be better served to play Creighton, Illinois St., Bradley or Missouri for a midweek game (possibly a doubleheader) and keep a 3-game weekend conference slate than play a conference bottom feeder a 4th time on a Sunday.

I haven't heard anything specific about other Power 5 conferences, but The MAC has an interesting proposal on the table. They are strongly leaning toward keeping a 3-game weekend series---a Friday night game and then a doubleheader on Saturday. That would allow programs to keep their conference schedule in tact and cut down on hotel/meal costs at the same time. Plus from a health & safety angle it gets the players and coaches back home faster.

When the dust settles on this, no one should be surprised to see teams play closer to a 40-45 game schedule next spring. Although I'm sure The SEC will eventually do whatever they want.