You know what’s kinda freaking me out?  All these different conferences, man.  Like, they’re all spelled differently and stuff.  Like, one day I’m writing Big Ten and the next day I’m using Roman numerals when I spell Big XII.  And now this?  I don’t know if I can handle this kind of craziness with a dash and a number…FUCK.

Whatever…I hate the Pac-10 and there are a few reasons for this.

Being an admirer of a fine set of uniforms, the Pac-10, outside of USC, UCLA and ASU, all suck ass.  Oregon’s and Cal’s are noteworthy in their shittiness, but even outside of THOSE abortions, you have lame, template designs in Arizona, Stanford, Oregon State and Washington State, and the best uniform in the divison, Washington’s throwbacks, are worn sparingly.  Fuck that.

Anyways, this might be a short one (ed note: nope…just as long as all the others).

The Swill: Wow…a lot to choose from here.  We will not mention a team from the state of Washington (Washington- Jake Locker is really fucking good tho - and Washington State) because that state is where good football went to die.  Also amongst the shitty is Tiger Woods and Tom Watson’s alma mater, Stanford.  As much as I hate to do it, seeing as I love Rick Neuheisel, Norm Chow and UCLA, but the Bruins aren’t going to do much until they get a QB and some good offensive talent. Read the rest of this entry »

Greenville

Participants: 1. East Carolina, 2. South Carolina, 3. George Mason, 4. Binghamton

Players to Watch: ECU 2B/P Ryan Wood (.387/.497/.647, 13 HR, 14 SB, 0.00 ERA (4IP)), South Carolina 3B Nick Ebert (.332/.475/.741, 22 HR), George Mason 1B/OF Scott Kreiger (.378/.466/.780, 20 HR), Binghamton P Murphy Smith (7-2, 2.41 ERA, 2.19 BAA)

Many people (including myself) thought that South Carolina was going to host over East Carolina, especially due to the huge ballpark (more $$) and sparkling facilities. When the sites were announced I thought either Virginia or South Carolina would be the #1 seed here. Whoops.

East Carolina has had a good season, and became the first team other than Rice to win Conference USA since Rice joined the league. Although their at home, I don’t think they win the regional. South Carolina doesn’t have the big boppers they did last year like Justin Smoak and Reese Havens, but they are deceptively deep on the mound and their lineup will be good enough to get through the regional.

Chapel Hill

Participants: 1. North Carolina (#4 National Seed), 2. Coastal Carolina, 3. Kansas, 4. Dartmouth

Players to watch: North Carolina 1B/OF Dustin Ackley* (.399/.505/.759, 20 HR, 46 BB, 29K), North Carolina RHP Alex White (7-4, 4.13 ERA, 92K), North Carolina RP Brian Moran (7-1, 2.09 ERA, 3 SV, 82K, 8BB), Coastal Carolina P Nick McCully (7-1, 1.92 ERA, 60 SO), Kansas 3B Tony Thompson (.374/.430/.730, 19 HR, 168 TB), Kansas RF Brian Heere (.363/.463/.528, 38 BB) Dartmouth OF Nick Santomauro* (.365/.445/.603, 8HR)

North Carolina was my preseason national champion pick, but let me play homer for a second. North Carolina is a very lefty heavy team who sometimes struggles against good lefties (except Dustin Ackley of course), and if Kansas can get by Coastal they have a shot as they presumably would save lefty Shaeffer Hall (who threw a no-hitter earlier in the year). Kansas also has a good offense, and one of the best 3-4-5 in the country in RF Brian Heere, C Buck Afenir and should be Big 12 POY 3B Tony Thompson.

All that said, Carolina has Ackley and one of the deepest staffs in the nation. Alex White is rumored to be a top 10 pick, Senior Adam Warren has middling stuff but experience and good numbers, and Sophomore Matt Harvey is an early favorite to go #1 overall in 2010. In the end I think Carolina has too much depth on the mound and will win the regional.

*Denotes conference player of the year

Tempe

Competing Teams: 1 Seed Arizona State (#5 national seed), 2 seed Oral Roberts, 3 seed Cal Poly, 4 seed Kent State

Players to Watch: Arizona State P Mike Leake (14-1, 1.24 ERA, 128 SO, .170 BAA), Oral Roberts P Mark Serrano* (9-0, 2.42 ERA, 119 SO, .190 BAA, Cal Poly1B Adam Buschini (.412/.478/.723, 11 HR), Kent State P Andrew Chafin (4-1, 1.26 ERA, 8 saves)

Although Oral Roberts is a good team and shouldn’t be overlooked, their getting a #2 seed baffles me. Their RPI isn’t terrible, but looking just at the RPI is an extremely lazy way to identify good teams. The Eagles beat Rice at the Houston College Classic, and beat Wichita State twice in a down year, but those are the only two regional teams they beat all season. They won the regular season and post-season titles in the Summit League, but the Summit League is an extremely weak league.

Arizona State, after losing to eventual champion Fresno State last year, lost a lot of firepower off last year’s squad, especially Brett Wallace and Ike Davis. Pitcher Mike Leake has stepped up bigtime this year, and was recently named the Academic All-American of the year. He is a bulldog type guy on the mound who just comes right at you. The Devils face Kent State, who they may need to use Leake on. If they can get by the Flashes without using Leake they should win the regional easily. Read the rest of this entry »

The NCAA baseball tournament begins this Friday at sites all across the country. 64 teams split into 16 regionals will compete to try to become the final 8 teams to advance to the CWS in Omaha. MLJ will be previewing all 16 regionals this week.

Gainesville

The Participants: #1 Seed Florida (#8 national seed), #2 seed Miami, #3 Seed Jacksonvile, #4 Seed Bethune-Cookman

Players to watch: Florida closer Billy Bullock (2-2, 2.06 ERA, 11 saves), Miami OF Chris Hermann (.343/.466/.520, 8 HR), Jacksonville C Jeremy Gillan (.396/.484/.673,  11 HR), Bethune-Cookman P Ali Simpson (9-2, 2.70, .234 BAA)

Last year’s #1 overall seed Miami gets end on the road to Gainesville in the all-Florida regional. Florida getting the 8th national seed was a bit of a surprise. This basically comes down to Florida and Miami, as Jacksonville doesn’t have the bats to compete and Bethune-Cookman has the worst record of any team in the field.

Miami swept Florida in their only series this year, in Gainesville. But it was in the second weekend of the season, so it’s tough to draw many conclusions from that. Miami has had to replace nearly their entire team that went to Omaha last year, and Junior SS Ryan Jackson has not responded to the hype placed on him, having a disappointing season. I’m taking Florida, because I think having home field advantage will give them the boost they need.

Atlanta

Participants: 1 seed Georgia Tech, 2 seed Elon, 3 seed Southern Miss, 4 seed Georgia State

Players to Watch: Georgia Tech 1B Luke Murton (.363/.496/.721, 18 HR), Elon 3B Chase Austin (.369/.447/.709, 22 HR, 77 RBI), Southern Miss SP Todd McInnis (8-4, 2.76 ERA) Georgia State C Marc Mimeault (.394/.461/.665, 14 HR)

Led by Luke Murton (brother of Matt) Georgia Tech packs a ton of power. But they’re not even the most powerful team in this regional. Elon leads the nation in homers. However, they play against decidedly worse competition than the Ramblin Wreck, and their ballpark helps a bit.

I don’t want to be dismissive of Southern Miss and Georgia State, but they really don’t have a chance. This regional actually shakes up fairly well for Elon, as they could get into a slugging match with Georgia Tech and perhaps hit their way through the regional. However, I am taking the Jackets in this one

The NCAA baseball tournament begins this Friday at sites all across the country. 64 teams split into 16 regionals will compete to try to become the final 8 teams to advance to the CWS in Omaha. MLJ will be previewing all 16 regionals this week.

Austin Regional

The Participants: #1 national seed Texas (41-13-1), #2 seed Texas State (41-15), #3 seed Boston College (33-24), #4 seed Army (34-19)

Players to watch: Texas SP Chance Ruffin (9-2, 2.96 ERA), Texas State 1B Paul Goldschmidt* (.353/.475/.679, 17 HR), Boston College C Tony Sanchez (.355/.455/.640, 14 HR), Army 1B/P Kevin McKague (.400/.472/.535, 6 HR, 3.66 ERA, 5 saves) Read the rest of this entry »