D1Baseball Weekly Chat: Week Three • D1Baseball
Another week of college baseball action is in the books and our Aaron Fitt and Kendall Rogers take your burning questions.
Big Ten mentions listed below
Erik: 1. Is Iowa in trouble? 2. Nebraska has looked pretty impressive in the first two weeks, have they not?
Kendall Rogers: Erik -- I think Iowa will be just fine. The offense looks good and the starting pitching was actually pretty good over the weekend. The bullpen? Not so much. It was brutally bad down in Jacksonville. Fix the bullpen hiccups and Iowa will be what we thought it would be. No "major" concerns yet. I look at trends -- not just one weekend. As for Nebraska, not remotely surprised it had success against Grand Canyon. I wrote this last week, but Nebraska's offensive lineup showed promise at the Globe Life opening weekend, and I actually really liked some of the arms the Huskers had as well.
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FittsMagic: How desperately does the B1G need Iowa to win a series in Oxford this weekend? Feels like the season might be over for whichever team loses that one.....
Kendall Rogers: Definitely do not subscribe to the theory that Iowa definitely needs to win that series. It would obviously be very important, but the Big Ten has some real bright spots early this season -- some expected, such as Penn State taking a road series from Stanford. Nebraska has also looked good, and Indiana looks elite thus far. But yes -- that's a huge series for a multitude of reasons.
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Greg: Crazy weekend in Palo Alto. Is it time to push the panic button on Stanford? Will Penn State be a factor in the Big Ten?
Kendall Rogers: Greg -- We were not very high on Stanford coming into the season for a reason. Though it's still VERY early, the Cardinal lost so many key players and were going to rely on a ton of younger newcomers -- that is just a tough recipe for success. As for Penn State, what Mike Gambino is doing right now is pretty impressive. Give credit to guy slike JT Marr, who are off to a sizzling start at the plate. And how about Wake Forest transfer Adam Cecere? He's been a wrecking ball for the Nittany Lions. I've got my eye on them for sure.
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Jacob: What does it say about the state of college baseball today that there are only two West Coast teams in the Top 25? Anything?
Aaron Fitt: Unfortunately (as a long-time admirer of West Coast baseball), I think it's a reflection on the reality that the balance of power has shifted Eastward in a dramatic way. When you look at how many top California high school prospects are going to the SEC and the state of Texas now, instead of staying home -- it's telling. The fact is, the SEC, Big 12 and ACC have just invested so much more in facilities than the West, and they have much larger and more passionate fan bases (Oregon State aside) -- it's hard to blame those California kids for seeking the biggest stage our sport has to offer, and it's pretty obvious that's not the Pac-12 or Big West, despite the amazingly rich tradition those programs have. I don't know what the solution is; how do you make more people out West care about college baseball if they haven't cared enough to go to the games over the last 50 years while the Pac-12 was racking up more national titles than anybody else? The sports culture in the West is just fundamentally different.
