Softball

Speedy17 said:
Yes, Lombardi coached both at OU for over two decades. Which means if OU hires a simple pitching coach then someone will have to coach the catchers. This makes the OU position unique.
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I bit of a surprise with Rocha leaving Florida and coming to OU which I consider a homerun hire from a pitching coach perspective. But it does raise the question who is going to coach the catchers. Will it be JT, Jennifer or Patty?
 
It may take a day or so for me to believe this. Meanwhile, who replaces Rocha?
 
SoonerSpock said:
Jennifer Rocha, OU's new pitching coach was envolved in 10 hitless games performed by the Florida pitching staff in 2018. Barnhill had 5 no hitters, Ocasio 2 and they combined for 2. Ocasio also combined with Lugo on a 10th no hitter.

https://www.alligator.org/sports/ga...cle_aa44790a-689a-11e8-beac-0f4a4e46b7ae.html
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Like most everyone else here, I believe Jen Rocha was a homerun hire. And I'm sure she is the one most responsible for developing that great pitching staff at UF over the last several seasons. But it certainly didn't hurt that she has had some of the most talented pitchers to work with in all of college softball.

It also didn't hurt that Barnhill, Ocasio and company were pitching to some of the most overrated hitters in the country in conference play. Of course it could also be that SEC hitters really are good, but simply choke when they get to the WCWS. :ez-laugh:
 
scrybe said:
Like most everyone else here, I believe Jen Rocha was a homerun hire. And I'm sure she is the one most responsible for developing that great pitching staff at UF over the last several seasons. But it certainly didn't hurt that she has had some of the most talented pitchers to work with in all of college softball.

It also didn't hurt that Barnhill, Ocasio and company were pitching to some of the most overrated hitters in the country in conference play. Of course it could also be that SEC hitters really are good, but simply choke when they get to the WCWS. :ez-laugh:
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I agree that 2018 was a down year for the SEC despite their getting two teams in the WCWS with neither Georgia or Florida doing well. But during the last 8 seasons the SEC have had the most teams make the finals (8), the most teams make the WCWS (24) and the most won national championships (3) tied with OU/Big 12.

You don't make the WCWS, the finals or win the championship without being able to hit the ball, have strong pitching and quality defense. It takes a quality team to make the tournament it just is what it is.
 
SoonerSpock said:
I agree that 2018 was a down year for the SEC despite their getting two teams in the WCWS with neither Georgia or Florida doing well. But during the last 8 seasons the SEC have had the most teams make the finals (8), the most teams make the WCWS (24) and the most won national championships (3) tied with OU/Big 12.

You don't make the WCWS, the finals or win the championship without being able to hit the ball, have strong pitching and quality defense. It takes a quality team to make the tournament it just is what it is.
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No argument here, Spock, on the "quality team" statement. I'm just saying hitting in the SEC has been vastly overrated, especially over the last 4-5 years.

And I'll always believe the conference as a whole is overrated. There's Florida, Bama, Tennessee, Auburn, and occasionally one other team that can compete with anybody. Then there's a bunch of also-rans whose reputations are built solely on their membership in the mighty SEC. I can't think of more than one season in the last six that Oklahoma would not have won the conference title if they played in that Paper Tiger league. And Baylor would likely have finished in the top three just as often.

With Mike White's hiring at UT and OSU's recent success in recruiting high schoolers and bringing in top transfers, I predict SEC stock will continue to drop significantly.
 
This has been a running argument. I think that in a typical year in the past ten years, the SEC has had maybe one of the top four teams in the country. I think the only teams that should have won were the Florida teams (I'm still not accepting the rain game loss).

I think the rest of the qualifiers are primarily because they don't rate the rpi properly for home/road scheduling, and the SEC ends up with a lot of home super-regionals. In the typical year, what would have happened if LSU had played a Baylor, Arizona, Arizona State UCLA, or Michigan in Waco, Tempe, Tucson, LA, or Ann Arbor? Would LSU have survived play a super on the road? I doubt most SEC teams would survive on the road if they had to qualify on the road for the CWS. I strongly suspect that over half of the SEC qualifiers of the past ten years would have been replaced. They just weren't that good. Florida barely beat OSU in Gainesville a year ago.

I want that rpi adjusted.
 
scrybe said:
No argument here, Spock, on the "quality team" statement. I'm just saying hitting in the SEC has been vastly overrated, especially over the last 4-5 years.

And I'll always believe the conference as a whole is overrated. There's Florida, Bama, Tennessee, Auburn, and occasionally one other team that can compete with anybody. Then there's a bunch of also-rans whose reputations are built solely on their membership in the mighty SEC. I can't think of more than one season in the last six that Oklahoma would not have won the conference title if they played in that Paper Tiger league. And Baylor would likely have finished in the top three just as often.

With Mike White's hiring at UT and OSU's recent success in recruiting high schoolers and bringing in top transfers, I predict SEC stock will continue to drop significantly.
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I don't know that I agree that the SEC stock is going to drop much nor does eight different SEC schools making the WCWS the last 8 years indicate conference weakness except at the top. They are Florida (6 times), Alabama (5), LSU (4), Tennessee (3), Auburn (2), Georgia (2) Kentucky (1) and A&M (1). Note that 6 schools have been to the Series multiple years. That is not only depth but team consistency.
 
sybarite said:
This has been a running argument. I think that in a typical year in the past ten years, the SEC has had maybe one of the top four teams in the country. I think the only teams that should have won were the Florida teams (I'm still not accepting the rain game loss).

I think the rest of the qualifiers are primarily because they don't rate the rpi properly for home/road scheduling, and the SEC ends up with a lot of home super-regionals. In the typical year, what would have happened if LSU had played a Baylor, Arizona, Arizona State UCLA, or Michigan in Waco, Tempe, Tucson, LA, or Ann Arbor? Would LSU have survived play a super on the road? I doubt most SEC teams would survive on the road if they had to qualify on the road for the CWS. I strongly suspect that over half of the SEC qualifiers of the past ten years would have been replaced. They just weren't that good. Florida barely beat OSU in Gainesville a year ago.

I want that rpi adjusted.
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LSU is a bad example. In 2017, they beat Florida State in the Supers in Tallahassee. In 2016, they beat James Madison in the Supers in Harrisonburg, VA. And this year, they lost in Tallahassee in three games in which for some reason the NCAA forced them to play a doubleheader on the road.
 
SoonerSpock said:
I don't know that I agree that the SEC stock is going to drop much nor does eight different SEC schools making the WCWS the last 8 years indicate conference weakness except at the top. They are Florida (6 times), Alabama (5), LSU (4), Tennessee (3), Auburn (2), Georgia (2) Kentucky (1) and A&M (1). Note that 6 schools have been to the Series multiple years. That is not only depth but team consistency.
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Damn, Spock. How can SEC teams NOT make the WCWS when every one of them receive bids to the tournament and several get Top 8 seeds?
 
scrybe said:
Damn, Spock. How can SEC teams NOT make the WCWS when every one of them receive bids to the tournament and several get Top 8 seeds?
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They receive the bids because they earn them on the field. In 2018 they were down and and only two teams made the tournament and the Pac 12 was up and it was the Pac 12 that got the most bids. For certain this year there were no one from the other conferences that were more deserving that didn't get a bid to the tournament. For certain OSU, Baylor and Texas were seeded appropriately.

In recent years I can think of Minnesota taking the shaft in the seedings but name 3 other teams in the last 4 years that were screwed by the selection committee. I am not talking about a team that may have been seeded -3 positions lower than you thought they should have been. Everyone has one of those including a multitude of SEC fans that are dissatisfied with their teams seedings.
 
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Heard P. Gasso on the radio with J. Hale say Keilani Ricketts will be joining her staff in January.
 
sybarite said:
SoonerSpock said:
They receive the bids because they earn them on the field. QUOTE]You believe that.. A good number of us do not.

Therein lies the constant "discussion."
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Yep, to each his own. I choose to take team records against the top 25, the top 50 and top 100. Those numbers more than support the ranking of the SEC and Pac 12 teams. For the same reason those members of the the B1G, ACC and Big 12 are ranked/seeded lower.

The SEC plays more top ranked teams and they play more true road games against the top ranked teams. You want to disregard those number because many or most are against teams within their conference.

I say wins and losses against top 25 teams are more significant the wins and losses against teams outside of the top 25. Simple math.

For certain we found how good the top 10 Pac 12 teams were in 2018. Their record against the Sooners was 4-2. The Sooners did go 3-0 against the SEC so for the season against top 10 teams the Sooners were 5-4 an underwhelming record for the #4 team but the were appropriately ranked ahead of every SEC team. Florida was 10-6 (1 OU win). Georgia was 6-5, South Carolina 3-8 (2 OU wins) and Tennessee 7-8.

Where OU gets hurt is the Sooner SOS and opponents SOS which trails all of the top SEC teams and comprises 75% of the RPI (I think 60% would be a more appropriate number) see attached link. The Sooners did have a higher road RPI and winning % which supports their being ranked higher. Other teams from the ACC, B1G and Big 12 lag far behind the SEC teams so who should be ranked in lieu of the SEC teams? My review of the data find none. Tell me where I am wrong with something other than a gut feel.

The next highest ranked teams are Baylor, Hofstra, Louisiana, Long Beach State, Minnesota, James Madison, Ohio State, Oregon State, Texas State and Liberty. Which of them should be ranked ahead of LSU, Kentucky, A&M and Alabama?

https://extra.ncaa.org/solutions/rpi/Stats Library/2018 SB Final Team Rankings all games.pdf
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SoonerSpock said:
sybarite said:
Yep, to each his own. I choose to take team records against the top 25, the top 50 and top 100. Those numbers more than support the ranking of the SEC and Pac 12 teams. For the same reason those members of the the B1G, ACC and Big 12 are ranked/seeded lower.

The SEC plays more top ranked teams and they play more true road games against the top ranked teams. You want to disregard those number because many or most are against teams within their conference.

I say wins and losses against top 25 teams are more significant the wins and losses against teams outside of the top 25. Simple math.

For certain we found how good the top 10 Pac 12 teams were in 2018. Their record against the Sooners was 4-2. The Sooners did go 3-0 against the SEC so for the season against top 10 teams the Sooners were 5-4 an underwhelming record for the #4 team but the were appropriately ranked ahead of every SEC team. Florida was 10-6 (1 OU win). Georgia was 6-5, South Carolina 3-8 (2 OU wins) and Tennessee 7-8.

Where OU gets hurt is the Sooner SOS and opponents SOS which trails all of the top SEC teams and comprises 75% of the RPI (I think 60% would be a more appropriate number) see attached link. The Sooners did have a higher road RPI and winning % which supports their being ranked higher. Other teams from the ACC, B1G and Big 12 lag far behind the SEC teams so who should be ranked in lieu of the SEC teams? My review of the data find none. Tell me where I am wrong with something other than a gut feel.

The next highest ranked teams are Baylor, Hofstra, Louisiana, Long Beach State, Minnesota, James Madison, Ohio State, Oregon State, Texas State and Liberty. Which of them should be ranked ahead of LSU, Kentucky, A&M and Alabama?

https://extra.ncaa.org/solutions/rpi/Stats Library/2018 SB Final Team Rankings all games.pdf
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We know. You have been saying the same thing since the first ever poll. A number of us don't buy into the numbers because of how they were derived.

If you will let me select which statistics should be included and how they are weighted, I can derive a formula which will eliminate all SEC teams, just as they have devised a formula based on their inappropriate criteria.
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Apparently, Lauren Chamberlain's back surgery this off season finally allowed her to overcome the problems that had hindered her, or at least some of them. Despite not playing a lot early, she leads the National Pro Fastpitch League in home runs with ten (tied with Wiggins and Carosone). She would also lead in Slugging Percentage if she had enough at bats. She is at 1020 with 55 at bats. The leader is at about 844. I think Lauren would also be tied for third in hitting at 400 if she had enough at bats. She is about sixth in RBIs.

Keilani hasn't been pitching much due to her USA team appearances. As yet, she hasn't permitted an earned run in five starts, about 34 innings. I think she has about 9 hits, 45 Ks, 4 BBs, and 2 unearned runs. They have fits with Keilani this year. They are hitting Paige, both Paiges.

Shelby is having a down year for her, about six home runs and a 297 average. Among the leaders in RBIs. Nicole can't seem to hit pro pitching, about 140.
 
Your right using stats for non-conference record, conference record, road record, record against 1-25, 26-50, 51-100, 101-151, record against top 100, top 150 and below 150 is using the wrong numbers. Those stats are rather all incompassing if you ask me.

Your focus on approximately 30 non-conference games without regard for the 24 conference game is idiocy. Especially when the conference games in the Pac12 and SEC are far superior opponents than the non-conference schedule of any team in the country.

Note the Nitty Gritty report and that 7 of the top 8 SEC teams played 10-12 more games against top 25 teams than the Sooners and Georgia the eighth team played 8 more. The Pac 12 top teams played 6-10 more games against top 25 teams only ASU with 1 more played as weak of a schedule as the Sooners.

Every top Pac 12 and SEC plays more games against top 50 teams than OU with the big difference being they play significantly more games against the top 25. Also 12 of those conference games against top quality opponents are on the road and 16 of those teams are top 25 teams.

OU played 5 top 25 non-conference games 1 was on the road and 2 at home. Florida played 6 top 25 non-conference games 4 were on the road and 1 at home.

https://extra.ncaa.org/solutions/rpi/Stats Library/2018 SB Final Nitty Gritty.pdf
 
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