Softball

[SoonerSpock]

OK. I thought you were referring to the stats of Oregon/UCLA. Just hadn't thought of stat meaning state.

It was my bad on the spelling by omitting the e on State. Your post noted it to me and I made the spelling correction.

 

[sybarite]

1. Oklahoma 41-2, 12-0 in Big Twelve


-----http://www.soonersports.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=31000&SPID=127251&SPSID=750355


Last week:


-----3 at Texas 1 (35-12, 7-6 in Big Twelve, 3rd)

-----4 at Texas 3 (8)

-----9 at Texas 2 (4/20,


This week:

-----at Wichita State, Wed
-----at Iowa State, Fri
-----at Iowa State, Sat
-----at Iowa State, Sun

-----OU losses were to UCLA in Fullerton and Florida State in Clearwater.



2. UCLA 40-2, 14-1 in Pacific Twelve


-----https://uclabruins.com/schedule.aspx?path=softball


Last week:


-----8 at Oregon State 1 (21-16, 3-11 in Pacific Twelve, 7th)

-----10 at Oregon State 2 (5)

-----7 at Oregon State 0


This week:

-----Utah, Fri
-----Utah, Sat
-----Utah, Sun


-----UCLA's losses were to Michigan in Fullerton and Oregon in Los Angeles.



3. Alabama 45-4, 14-4 in SEC, second


-----https://rolltide.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=475


Last week:

-----4 Georgia 3 (30-14, 5-10 in SEC, 10th)

-----3 at Florida 1 (36-11 9-8, 4th in SEC)

-----2 at Florida 1

-----3 at Florida 0


This week:

-----Belmont, in Cullman, AL, Tue

-----Kentucky, Fri
-----Kentucky, Sat
-----Kentucky, Sun

Losses: Texas A&M at College Station, Mississippi State at Tuscaloosa, South Carolina twice at Columbia



4. Washington 38-7, 14-4 in Pacific Twelve, 3rd


https://gohuskies.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=461


Last week:

-----13 at BYU 3 (19-19, 5-1 in conf)

-----13 at Utah 0 (5) (14-28, 3-11 in Pac Twelve, 6th)

-----11 at Utah 2 (5)

-----4 at Utah 5


This week:

-----Utah Valley, at Orem, UT, Mon

------Losses: to Florida and Michigan in Fullerton, to UCLA three times in Seattle, Utah at Provo



5. Arizona 38-7, 15-0 in Pacific Twelve, first


------ https://admin.arizonawildcats.com/schedule.aspx?path=softball


Last week:


-----7 Stanford 0 (30-10, 7-5, 4th in Pacific Twelve)

-----9 Stanford 0

-----13 Stanford 2


This week:

-----at California, Fri
-----at California, Sat
-----at California, Sun

Losses: Florida and NC State in Tampa, South Florida and Alabama in Tucson, Oklahoma in Palm Springs, Florida State twice in Tucson, Arizona twice in Palo Alto


6. Florida State 41-8. 13-5 in ACC, 1st in Atlantic Div


-----https://seminoles.com/sports/softball/schedule/


Last week:

-----5 at North Carolina 6 (9)(26-14, 13-5 in ACC, 2nd in Coastal)

-----0 at North Carolina 1

-----0 Florida 4 (37-9, 9-6 in SEC, 4th-tie)

-----5 Boston College 0 (13-26, 4-12 in ACC Atlantic, last)

-----7 Boston College 0

-----4 Boston College 0


This week:

-----Troy, Wed
-----Duke, Fri
-----Duke, Sat
-----Duke, Sun


-----Losses were to Grand Canyon in Phoenix, Arizona in Tucson, Notre Dame in Tallahassee, and Louisville twice in Louisville.Twice to North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Thse last two will result in a slide in the rankings next week.



7. Texas 36-12, 7-6 in Big Twelve, 3rd


-----https://texassports.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=406


This week: -----at Texas Arlington (4/16, 5:00)


-----1 Oklahoma 3 (41-2, 12-0 in Big Twelve, 1st)

-----3 Oklahoma 4 (8)

-----2 Oklahoma 9


This week:

-----Prairie View A&M, Wed
-----at Kansas, Fri
-----at Kansas, Sat
-----at Kansas, Sun

Losses: LSU in Clearwater, Wisconsin and Arizona State in Tempe, Minnesota twice in Austin, Tennessee in Knoxville, Oklahoma State twice in Stillwaterk, Texas Tech in Lubbock. Oklahoma three times in Austin.


8. Minnesota 32-10, 13-1 in Big Ten, 2nd


-----https://gophersports.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=384


Last week:


-----3 at Nebraska 0 (15-26, 4-10)

-----8 at Nebraska 3

-----9 at Nebraska 3

This week:

-----at Wisconsin, Wed
-----at Wisconsin, Wed
-----Iowa, Fri
-----Iowa, Sat
-----Iowa, Sun


Losses: Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Florida State in Clearwater, Alabama twice in Tuscaloosa, Arizona in Tucson, Texas in Austin, Florida Gulf Coast in Tampa, Florida in Gainesville, and Illinois in Urbana.



9. Oklahoma State 33-11, 10-2 in Big Twelve, 2nd


-----https://okstate.com/schedule.aspx?path=softball


Last week:


-----5 Tulsa 0 (28-15, 9-3 in AACC, 1st)


This week:

-----at North Texas, Wed
-----Texas Tech, Fri
-----Texas Tech, Sat
-----Texas Tech, Sun

Losses: Illinois in Houston, LSU and Notre Dame in Clearwater, Arizona and Colorado State in Palm Springs, Ole Miss twice in Oxford, MS, Tulsa in Tulsa. Baylor in Waco, Texas in Stillwater, Texas Arlington in Arlington.



10. Tennessee 34-10, 11-7 3rd in SEC


-----https://utsports.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=376


Last week:


-----11 at ETSU 0 (17-20-2, 3-6 in conf,)

-----2 at Georgia 6 (31-14, 6-10 in SEC, 11th)

-----7 at Georgia 6

-----9 at Georgia 8


This week:

-----Tennessee State, Wed
-----Tennessee State, Wed
-----at Ole Miss, Fri
-----at Ole Miss, Sat
-----at Ole Miss, Sun

Losses: James Madison and Florida State in Clearwater, Florida in Gainesville, Texas in Knoxville, Arkansas in Knoxville, Missouri in Columbia, Auburn twice in Knoxville,Georgia in Athens twice


11. Michigan 33-11, 15-1 in Big Ten, 2nd


-----https://mgoblue.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=1515


Last week:


-----at 12 Michigan State 1 (15-25, 3-9 in Big Ten)

-----2 at Illinois 1 (26-15, 6-7 in Big Ten)

-----9 at Illinois 8

-----16 at Illinois 5


This week:

-----Michigan State, Tue
-----Penn State, Fri
-----Penn State, Sat
-----Penn State, Sun



Losses: Arizona and Florida in Tampa, North Carolina twice and Louisville in Chapel Hill, Stanford and LSU twice in Baton Rouge, James Madison and South Dakota in Tempe, Ohio State in Columbus.



12. LSU 37-11, 14-7 SEC


-----http://www.lsusports.net/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=5200&SPID=2174&SPSID=27871


Last week:


-----5 at Arkansas 8 (33-15, 8-10, 10th)

-----1 at Arkansas 11 (5)

-----3 at Arkansas 1


This week:

-----ULM, Tue
-----Baylor, Fri

-----Baylor, Sat
-----Baylor, Sat

Losses: Oregon State and Florida State in Clearwater, Stanford and Indiana in Baton Rouge, Texas A&M in College Park and Florida in Baton Rouge, South Carolina in Baton Rouge, Mississippi State in Starkville, and Kentucky in Baton Rouge. (5 in Baton Rouge). Arkansas twice in Fayetteville



13. Northwestern 36-7, 15-0 in Big Ten, 1st


-----https://nusports.com/schedule.aspx?path=softball


Last week:


-----11 Purdue 1 (5)(29-19, 6-10 in Big Ten)

-----8 Purdue 2

-----6 Purdue 3


This week:

-----Illinois, Tue
-----Illinois, Tue
-----at Michigan State, Fri
-----at Michigan State, Sat
-----at Michigan State, Sun


Losses: Loyola Marymount in Fullerton, North Carolina in Chapel Hill, Washington in Cathedral City, Stanford in Palo Alto, Oklahoma twice in Norman, DePaul in Evanston.




14. Ole Miss 33-12, 11-6 in SEC, 4th


-----https://olemisssports.com/schedule.aspx?path=softball


Last week:


-----13 Tennessee Martin 0 (5)(25-20, 7-7 in MV)

-----21 at Mississippi State 0 (5) (26-19, 4-14 in SEC, 12th)

-----0 at Mississippi State 6

-----3 at Mississippi State 1 (8)


This week:

-----Southern Miss, Wed
-----Tennessee, Fri
-----Tennessee, Sat
-----Tennessee, Sun


Losses: Ohio State in Orlando, UCLA and Boise State in Westwood, CA, and Long Beach, Tulsa and Texas twice in Austin, Arkansas in Oxford, South Carolina in Columbia, Florida in Oxford, Kentucky in Lexington, Missouri in Oxford, Mississippi State in Starksville



15. Texas Tech 35-9, 8-7 in Big Twelve, 4th


-----https://texastech.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=1407


Last week:


-----4 Kansas 6 (15-28, 3-8 in Big Twelve, 5th)

-----10 Kansas 2 (5)

-----4 Kansas 1



This week:

-----at Oklahoma State, Fri
-----at Oklahoma State, Sat
-----at Oklahoma State, Sun

Losses: Washington in Cathedral City, Memphis in Memphis, Oklahoma three times in Lubbock, Iowa State in Ames, Texas twice in Lubbock. Kansas in Lubbock



16. Virginia Tech 40-8, 17-4, 1st in Coastal ACC


-----https://hokiesports.com/schedule.aspx?path=softball


Last week:

-----9 at UNC Charlotte 1 (12-30, 3-12 in Conf. USA)

-----8 at UNC Charlotte 0 (5)

-----0 North Carolina 3 (28-15, 15-6, 2nd in ACC Coastal)

-----5 North Carolina 0

-----4 North Carolina 8


This week:

-----at Boston College, Fri
-----at Boston College, Sat
-----at Boston College, Sun

Losses: Texas State and USF in Tampa, Georgia in Athens, Georgia Tech in Blacksburg, VA, Louisville and James Madison in Blacksburg VA. North Carolina in Blacksburg twice



17. Kentucky 28-18, 11-9 in SEC


-----https://ukathletics.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=127


Last week:


-----7 Louisville 8

-----7 Auburn 0

-----7 Auburn 3

-----Auburn Mon


This week:

-----Eastern Kentucky, Wed
-----at Alabama, Fri
-----at Alabama, Sat
-----at Alabama, Sun



Losses: Illinois, Houston, and Oklahoma State in Houston, Oklahoma and Texas in Clearwater, Washington and UCLA in Palm Springs, Missouri three times in Lexington, Western Kentucky in Lexington, Arkansas twice in Fayetteville, Ole Miss twice in Lexington, LSU twice in Lexington, Louisville in Louisville




18. Florida 37-12, 9-9 in SEC


https://floridagators.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=404


Last week:


-----4 at Florida State 0

-----1 Alabama 3

-----1 Alabama 6

-----0 Alabama 3


This week:

-----at Auburn, Fri
-----at Auburn, Sat
-----at Auburn, Sun


Losses:
-----UCLA in Fullerton, twice, Tennessee in Gainesville, twice, LSU in Baton Rouge, twice, Ole Miss in Oxford, twice, Florida State in Gainesville, Alabama in Gainesville, three times.


19. James Madison 36-7, 14-1 in CAA 1st


-----https://jmusports.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=563


Last week:


-----11 Duke 3 (6)

-----6 Duke 5

-----7 College of Charleston 0

-----6 College of Charleston 1

-----16 College of Charleston 0 (5)


This week:

-----Virginia, Tue, Harrisburg, VA
-----Virginia, Tue,

-----Drexel. Sat
-----Drexel, Sat
-----Drexel, Sun


Losses: California and Kentucky in Clearwater, Minnesota and Arizona in Tucson, Arizona State in Phoenix, Elon in Harrisburg, VA, Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA


20. Arkansas 34-15, 8-10 in SEC


-----https://arkansasrazorbacks.com/sport/w-softbl/schedule/


Last week:


-----10 Ark-Pine Bluff 0 (5)

-----8 LSU 5

-----11 LSU 1

-----1 LSU 3


This week:

-----at Texas A&M, Sat
-----at Texas A&M, Sun
-----at Texas A&M, Mon


Losses: Washington in Puerto Vallarta, SE Missouri State and Drake in Fayetteville, Ole Miss in Oxford, twice, Tulsa in Fayetteville, South Carolina in Fayetteville, Tennessee twice in Knoxville, Tex-Arlington at Tex Arlington, Kentucky in Fayetteville, Florida three times in Gainesville, LSU in Fayetteville



21. North Carolina 29-15, 15-6 in ACC, Coastal, 2nd

-----https://goheels.com/schedule.aspx?path=softball

Last week:

-----7 Campbell 2, Buies Creek, NC
-----3 at Virginia Tech 0
-----0 at Virginia Tech 5
-----8 at Virginia Tech 4

This week:

-----UNCW, Tue
-----UNCG, Wed, in Greensboro, NC
-----at Louisville, Fri
-----at Louisville, Sat
-----at Louisville, Sun

Losses: Baylor and Washington in Puerto Vallarta, Northwestern in Chapel Hill, Oklahoma State. Kentucky, New Mexico State, and Long Beach State in Cathedral City, George Washington in Chapel Hill, Duke in Durham, Tennessee in Chapel Hill, Georgia Tech twice in Chapel Hill, Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Florida State in Chapel Hill, at Virginia Tech.


22. Colorado State 33-7, 15-3 in Mountain West


-----https://csurams.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=365


Last week:


-----3 Nevada 4 in Reno

-----9 at Nevada 0 (5)

-----9 at Nevada 1


This week:

-----Northern Colorado, Tue
-----San Diego State, Fri
-----San Diego State, Sat
-----San Diego State, Sun

Losses: Texas State in San Marcos, TX, Iowa State in Palo Alto, Cal Poly and UCLA in Cathedral City, San Jose State in San Jose, UNLV in Las Vegas, Nevada in Reno



23. Louisiana Lafayette 42-4, 21-0 in Sun Belt


-----https://ragincajuns.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=297
Last week:


-----3 Campbell 0 Buies Creek, NC

-----6 UNCG 2, in Greensboro, NC

-----10 Georgia State 2 (6)

-----12 Georgia State 3 (5)

-----10 Georgia State 2 (5)


This week:

-----at Louisiana Tech, Wed
-----Coastal Carolina, Fri
-----Coastal Carolina, Sat
-----Coastal Carolina, Sun

Losses: North Texas and Baylor in Waco, Oklahoma in Norman, McNeese State in Lafayette



24. Auburn 34-12 9-8 in SEC

-----https://auburntigers.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=417


Last week:


-----0 at Kentucky 7

-----3 at Kentucky 7

-----at Kentucky, Mon

This week:

-----Florida, Fri
-----Florida, Sat
-----Florida, Sun


Losses: Louisiana Tech and Missouri State in Gulf Shores, AL, Texas Tech in Auburn, Washington in Fullerton, Mississippi State in Starksville, Georgia twice in Auburn, Tennessee in Knoxville, South Carolina twice in Auburn, Kentucky in Lexington


25. Tulsa 31-15, 12-3 in AACC


-----https://tulsahurricane.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=1290


Last week:


-----0 Oklahoma State 5 in Stillwater

-----4 UCF 2

-----3 UCF 2

-----6 UCF 0


This week:


-----Wichita State, Fri
-----Wichita State, Sat
-----Wichita State, Sun


Losses: LSU twice and Bucknell in Baton Rouge, Texas twice in Austin, Northern Iowa and Illinois in Tulsa, Northwestern in Norman, USF in Tampa, Oklahoma in Norman, Kansas in Tulsa, Houston in Tulsa, Missouri State in Springfield, East Carolina in Greenville, NC, Oklahoma State in Stillwater

 

[SoonerSpock]

I hope your top 5 corresponds with the new RPI rankings that will be released 4-22-19. But my gut tells me UCLA will be #1 and OU #2. I also would not be surprised if Washington was still ahead of the Sooners despite OU having the best week of all the teams. It seems SOS penalties might still being hurting B12 teams although they have 4 teams in the top 18 in the last RPI rankings (#4 OU, #5 Texas, #17 OSU and #18 Tech).

 

[sybarite]

I hope your top 5 corresponds with the new RPI rankings that will be released 4-22-19. But my gut tells me UCLA will be #1 and OU #2. I also would not be surprised if Washington was still ahead of the Sooners despite OU having the best week of all the teams. It seems SOS penalties might still being hurting B12 teams although they have 4 teams in the top 18 in the last RPI rankings (#4 OU, #5 Texas, #17 OSU and #18 Tech).

I pretty much have given up on the rpi until they can show me that they have some difference for who you lose to and WHERE. UCLA, e.g., has two losses, both in California, to Michigan and Oregon?

OU has a loss to Florida State in Florida and to UCLA in Fullerton, CA.

UCLA hasn't played a game yet east of Arizona or Utah. Until they travel off the west coast, they are too much like an SEC team, living off home wins. I was impressed that they beat Washington in Seattle. But, I'm also not all that certain how good Washington is off the west coast.

Frankly, I'm more impressed by a team like Minnesota or Michigan who went on the road in pre-season for thirty games. They got some losses. But, they also chalked up some wins on the road over some good teams.

I think OU is alone. Then, I tend to put Texas, Washington, Arizona, UCLA, Michigan, Minnesota, Alabama, and Florida State in a bunch. I don't know exactly where OSU fits, although they took two of three from Texas. Northwestern is undefeated in conference, and may be better than we thought. I tend to think Tennessee is second in the SEC, but it is a hodgepodge. Changes from week to week.

 

[SoonerSpock]

I pretty much have given up on the rpi until they can show me that they have some difference for who you lose to and WHERE. UCLA, e.g., has two losses, both in California, to Michigan and Oregon?

OU has a loss to Florida State in Florida and to UCLA in Fullerton, CA.

UCLA hasn't played a game yet east of Arizona or Utah. Until they travel off the west coast, they are too much like an SEC team, living off home wins. I was impressed that they beat Washington in Seattle. But, I'm also not all that certain how good Washington is off the west coast.

Frankly, I'm more impressed by a team like Minnesota or Michigan who went on the road in pre-season for thirty games. They got some losses. But, they also chalked up some wins on the road over some good teams.

I think OU is alone. Then, I tend to put Texas, Washington, Arizona, UCLA, Michigan, Minnesota, Alabama, and Florida State in a bunch. I don't know exactly where OSU fits, although they took two of three from Texas. Northwestern is undefeated in conference, and may be better than we thought. I tend to think Tennessee is second in the SEC, but it is a hodgepodge. Changes from week to week.

Difficult to give up on the RPI when it is the only seeding methodology that matters and they do factor where a game is played by awarding 1.3 points for road win, 1 point for a neutral site win and only 0.7 points for a home win. The converse is also true loss with a -1.3 points for a home loss, -1 point loss for a neutral loss and only a -0.7 for a road loss.

http://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/weeklyrpi/2019WSBrpi1.html

But I would like for them to give a greater weight to the teams w/l record with it counting more than the present 25% weight. Opponents w/l records and opponents opponents w/l records accounting for 75% seem to be a distortion to me but until they actually show the calculation methodology we can only speculate as to RPI accuracy other than the outstanding results of seedings corresponding to actual WCWS participants and winners over the last decade plus.

Also we know the NCAA has replaced the RPI for men's basketball with NET. I am comfortable that if NET proves to be the improvement over the RPI the NCAA anticipates we will see NET forthcoming for WBB, baseball and softball. Most likely it is just a matter of time.

Personally I think you are magnifying the where you play aspect for the Pac 12 and the SEC. Playing 12 conference games on the road at Oregon, Washington, Arizona, ASU, UCLA, Stanford, California, LSU, A&M, Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee is damn challenging and travel distances can be greater in the Pac 12 and the SEC of any conferences with distances of 900 to 1,500 miles possible.

The real scheduling differential that places teams at a disadvantage is weather. Very few locations are suitable for playing softball games in February as they are limited to California, Arizona and the five Gulf states. Accordingly teams in those states host pre-season tournaments are going to have more home games and fewer neutral games than teams in the balance of the Power 5 conferences. Interestingly the team that will play the most home games this year is Texas with 30 which has 4 more home games than every other top 15 team except Arizona 28 and FSU 27.

If you look at true road games for the top 15 they all play between 15-18 road games except for Michigan 20, Minnesota 21, Kentucky 20 and FSU 20 with Michigan, Minnesota and Kentucky again being weather related.

The fallacy of your logic is to think that the Gulf States, Arizona and California schools could/should play more neutral site or away games when they have to host all of the February games. When it is a fact the Pac 12 and SEC schools are playing true road games at the same level as the other top 15 schools excluding Michigan, Minnesota and Kentucky for weather related reasons.

In fact were the Sooners not to have the strange conference schedule this year because on the movement of the ISU game to Norman last year the Sooner would play only 15 true road games in 2019.

If you think there is a better scheduling alternative provide a specific example not just a general statement of disgust. Things are not always easily fixable just because you don't like it. The reality is no college softball schedule is going to be totally balanced and equal for all teams. Geographics, weather, conference rules, conference team participants, etc make a utopian schedule unrealistic.

 

[SoonerTraveler]

NCAA.com: These are the 3 best pitchers in college softball, by the numbers

https://www.ncaa.com/news/softball/...-are-3-best-pitchers-college-softball-numbers

Rachel Garcia, UCLA: A redshirt junior from Palmdale, California, Garcia has become one of the best softball players in the country. In 2018, she was named USA Softball, NFCA and ESPNW National Player of the Year, and Pac-12 Player of the Year.

This season, her superb play has continued. Garcia is fourth in the country in strikeouts per seven innings (11.2), 17th in hits allowed per seven innings (3.91), second in ERA (0.65) and second in strikeout-walk ratio with a mark of +9.

While she has a 17-0 record, Garcia isn’t just a star pitcher. She’s solid at the plate too, hitting for an average of .337 this season with seven home runs and 34 RBIs. On March 9, Garcia showed off her stamina and versatility, pitching 11.2 innings over two games and striking out 23 batters from the circle, and also notching three hits and an RBI at the plate. Many consider UCLA a contender for the World Series and Garcia is a big reason why.

Rachel Garcia was the winning pitcher against OU back in February, when UCLA beat the Sooners 7-1. Garcia had 15 strikeouts against the Sooners that day. Mariah Lopez took the loss for the Sooners, giving up 6 earned runs in the first 4 innings. OU had 4 hits, and the only Sooner run came from a home run by Fale Aviu.

Which team has the best Ace pitcher? If the Sooners and Bruins meet up again in the post-season, UCLA might have an advantage in the circle. It is good that the OU batters had the opportunity to see Rachel Garcia over 7 innings in February. I'm sure Patty and the other coaches will have a better plan of attack the next time the teams meet.

:OU-logo:

 

[sybarite]

NCAA.com: These are the 3 best pitchers in college softball, by the numbers

https://www.ncaa.com/news/softball/...-are-3-best-pitchers-college-softball-numbers



Rachel Garcia was the winning pitcher against OU back in February, when UCLA beat the Sooners 7-1. Garcia had 15 strikeouts against the Sooners that day. Mariah Lopez took the loss for the Sooners, giving up 6 earned runs in the first 4 innings. OU had 4 hits, and the only Sooner run came from a home run by Fale Aviu.

Which team has the best Ace pitcher? If the Sooners and Bruins meet up again in the post-season, UCLA might have an advantage in the circle. It is good that the OU batters had the opportunity to see Rachel Garcia over 7 innings in February. I'm sure Patty and the other coaches will have a better plan of attack the next time the teams meet.

:OU-logo:

One game is one game. UCLA beat OU when we weren't exactly sure of our pitching staff, and they used their three-year ace. They also won in Cathedral City, CA. Two years earlier, OU bombed a sensational freshman in Cathedral City for seven runs in 3.1 innings.

Last year, Arizona State went into UCLA and shut them out with Garcia pitching. The winning pitcher, Giselle Juarez.

Garcia's history against Oregon is that she does have some problems, and she didn't do well against Florida State. UCLA got her enough runs to win one of three.

In a series, UCLA tends to use Garcia once. Faraimo tends to be their other primary starter, and she does well, except that she did get both losses, Michigan and Oregon.

 

[sybarite]

The fallacy of your logic is to think that the Gulf States, Arizona and California schools could/should play more neutral site or away games when they have to host all of the February games. When it is a fact the Pac 12 and SEC schools are playing true road games at the same level as the other top 15 schools excluding Michigan, Minnesota and Kentucky for weather related reasons.

In fact were the Sooners not to have the strange conference schedule this year because on the movement of the ISU game to Norman last year the Sooner would play only 15 true road games in 2019.

If you think there is a better scheduling alternative provide a specific example not just a general statement of disgust. Things are not always easily fixable just because you don't like it. The reality is no college softball schedule is going to be totally balanced and equal for all teams. Geographics, weather, conference rules, conference team participants, etc make a utopian schedule unrealistic.

Not buying it. There is a difference in playing within a familiar region or state. In a sense, playing the CWS in OKC does give OU an advantage, except that it hasn't historically made a difference where it was played.

LSU: 6 non-conference games outside Baton Rouge, all in Clearwater, FL

http://www.lsusports.net/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=5200&SPID=2174&SPSID=27871

Auburn: 4 non-conference games in Fullerton, CA, 5 in Gulf Shores, AL (lost two to Louisiana Tech and Missouri State), the rest in Auburn, AL

https://auburntigers.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=417

Arkansas: 5 in Louisiana (look at who they played), 4 in Puerto Vallarta. The rest in Fayetteville, losing to powers like SE Missouri State and Drake.

https://arkansasrazorbacks.com/sport/w-softbl/schedule/

UCLA: 5 games against nobody in Honolulu. The rest of the non-conference games were in California: Fullerton, Cathedral City, Los Angeles. Indeed, at this point, they have left California to play only conference games in Washington, Arizona State, and Oregon State. It hasn't been a stellar group they brought into Los Angeles.

https://uclabruins.com/schedule.aspx?path=softball

A solution: at least some of the SEC teams have ventured to Arizona, California, and Puerto Vallarta. Not all, but some. Want to show what you are made of? UCLA, Washington, and Arizona might have revealed a lot more if they had ventured to Clearwater to play Florida State or Bama or Tennessee down there. Go to another region and play at least two good teams when you go. Some of these go to Puerto Vallarta and play one team that can win, and four teams that simply shouldn't be there except as cannon fodder.

UCLA and Washington doesn't have a win this year as impressive to me at Minnesota taking two of three from Texas in Austin. Florida State went into Arizona and won. Michigan beat UCLA in their house. Maybe you can't go to Michigan in February. You can go to the other coast.

Texas Tech beat Auburn at Auburn. Texas beat Tennessee in Knoxville. OSU swept Oregon in Eugene. UCLA didn't sweep Oregon.

The unfortunate thing this year is that Michigan plays neither Minnesota or Northwestern. Northwestern (15-0 in Big Ten play) goes to Minnesota for three on the last weekend. Minnesota and Michigan are 14-1.

 

[sybarite]

http://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/weeklyrpi/2019WSBrpi1.html?gender=WSB&y=2019

OU is #1. They have LSU ranked too high.

 

[SoonerSpock]

http://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/weeklyrpi/2019WSBrpi1.html?gender=WSB&y=2019

OU is #1. They have LSU ranked too high.

I would add Texas to that list of ranked too high but I'll take it as it is good for the OU SOS as we should get them again in the B12 CCT. I might also elevate #8 Bama with 4 losses above both #5 Texas with 12 losses and #7 LSU with 11 losses after their sweep of #9 Florida in Gainesville allowing only 2 runs in 3 games.

I might also have #17 OSU 33-11 above #16 Kentucky 28-18. The pukes have a better record on the road, neutral sites and at home than the Wildcats. JMHO.

I am pleasantly surprised. But we are now in position to control our own destiny for the #1 ranking just win out. #3 Arizona visits #2 UCLA to close their regular season May 9-11.

 

[sybarite]

I have Bama ranked highly. But, in reality, they only played three non-conference games: Arizona at Tucson and Minnesota twice in Tuscaloosa. The rest is malarky. Then, they did lose at A&M, and twice in Columbia, SC. Lost to Mississippi State at home. They aren't really that dominant. It's just that nobody else from the SEC is this year. Tennessee/Bama might be fun.


I have Oklahoma State #9, not #17. Two of three over Texas begins to carry some weight after the way Texas played us. Texas also beat Tennessee in Knoxville.

 

[SoonerSpock]

Not buying it. There is a difference in playing within a familiar region or state. In a sense, playing the CWS in OKC does give OU an advantage, except that it hasn't historically made a difference where it was played.

LSU: 6 non-conference games outside Baton Rouge, all in Clearwater, FL

http://www.lsusports.net/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=5200&SPID=2174&SPSID=27871

Auburn: 4 non-conference games in Fullerton, CA, 5 in Gulf Shores, AL (lost two to Louisiana Tech and Missouri State), the rest in Auburn, AL

https://auburntigers.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=417
1
The RPI ranking listing shows what each team has done on the road, at a neutral site and at home. That is a fair and equal comparison. Aribitrarily determining that playing a neutral opponent at a neutral site is not fair because it is in a conference state is rubbish.

You never want to consider the fact that the Pac 12 and the SEC both play 24 conference games of which 75% will generally be against top 25 opponents. The ACC also plays 24 conference games but seldom will have more than 2 or 3 ranked teams which means only 25-35% of their game are against top 25 opponents. Ditto the B1G but they play only 21 conference games. Typically the same for the Big 12 only they play 18 conference games.

So on average the SEC and Pac 12 will play close to 18 conference games against top 25 conference oppponents the B1G, ACC and Big 12 6-9 games against top 25 conference opponents. It appears to me that those 9-12 additional top 25 games against their conference peers more than differentiates any concern about where teams play when in fact all teams nationally are playing a similar number of road, home and neutral games as indicated below with a few exceptions. If you extend the below out to regular season's end the numbers do become more balanced.

Through Games of April 21, 2019
Generated: Monday 04/22/19 09:04 AM
------- Division I Only --------
Rank Name----------W-L------Road-----Neut----Home
1 Oklahoma--------41-2-0--14-0-0---15-2-0---12-0-0
2 UCLA-------------40-2-0--12-0-0---14-1-0---14-1-0
3 Arizona-----------38-7-0--12-0-0----5-3-0---21-4-0
4 Washington------38-7-0--10-1-0---16-3-0---12-3-0
5 Texas----------- 36-12-0---8-5-0----7-2-0---21-5-0
6 Florida St.--------41-8-0--11-6-0----9-0-0---21-2-0
7 LSU--------------37-11-0---9-4-0----3-2-0---25-5-0
8 Alabama----------45-4-0--12-3-0--11-0-0---22-1-0
9 Florida-----------37-12-0---9-4-0--11-2-0---17-6-0
10 Northwestern----36-7-0---8-4-0--17-2-0---11-1-0
11 Minnesota------32-10-0--13-6-0--14-4-0----5-0-0
12 Tennessee------34-10-0---9-4-0--11-2-0---14-4-0
13 Michigan--------33-11-0-12-5-0---10-6-0---11-0-0
14 James Madison--36-7-0--10-3-0--10-3-0---16-1-0
15 Ole Miss--------33-12-0---8-6-0----7-3-0---18-3-0
16 Kentucky-------28-18-0--10-6-0--10-6-0-----8-6-0
17 Oklahoma St.--33-11-0--13-5-0----9-5-0---11-1-0
18 South Carolina-34-12-0---6-5-0----8-2-0---20-5-0
19 Auburn---------34-12-0---5-4-0----6-3-0---23-5-0
20 Louisiana--------42-4-0--17-2-0----3-1-0---22-1-0

 

[sybarite]

You never want to consider the fact that the Pac 12 and the SEC both play 24 conference games of which 75% will generally be against top 25 opponents. The ACC also plays 24 conference games but seldom will have more than 2 or 3 ranked teams which means only 25-35% of their game are against top 25 opponents. Ditto the B1G but they play only 21 conference games. Typically the same for the Big 12 only they play 18 conference games.

So, a conference with Louisiana Lafayette X10 should be ranked highly because they are winners?

I insist, which you deny, that the rpi IS NOT defined by non-conference play unless they play under similar (identical) circumstances. I don't buy any of your denial of the refusal of the SEC or Pacific Twelve tendency to stay home. You accept their nonsense. Fortunately, a lot of people are questioning it, if not simply ignoring it. It is no longer THE standard because it wasn't doing its job. It is a guideline at best.

 

[SoonerSpock]

So, a conference with Louisiana Lafayette X10 should be ranked highly because they are winners?

I insist, which you deny, that the rpi IS NOT defined by non-conference play unless they play under similar (identical) circumstances. I don't buy any of your denial of the refusal of the SEC or Pacific Twelve tendency to stay home. You accept their nonsense. Fortunately, a lot of people are questioning it, if not simply ignoring it. It is no longer THE standard because it wasn't doing its job. It is a guideline at best.

The failure of you logic is to assume that the 64 schools in the Power 5 conferences should play identical non-conference schedules. No way 64 AD's will get a consensus agreement as to what an identical schedule is. Moreover the logistics and dates to schedule 30-40 non-conference games similarly is mammoth. AD's have difficulty scheduling 3-4 non-conference football games. Magnify that tenfold and it becomes impossible in the real world.

The RPI really is just a seeding tool for the post season tournaments. It factors location of the contest (home, away, neutral) and weights each to give comparable impact on team rankings. The RPI also factors in SOS but that is one of the big questions I have as their their formula has never been published. However, it is for certain those teams with the better wins and losses against the higher ranked teams are also those team that are the highest in their ranking. We know they have a methodology that is approved by the schools they evaluate however they choose not to be transparent with the public and that is bad PR. I think that is wrong. They need to totally open their kimonas so we could fully understand the system instead of thinking there is unsubstatiated fault that is not being addressed.

The NCAA is constantly evaluating, tweaking and enhancing their ranking system and the NET is their latest attempt. Logically once implemented, tweaked and evaluated so they know it provides the desired results it will replace the RPI in all the other sports. It is only a matter of when.

During the interim the RPI is the best system available and if you analyze its historical seeding results it is easy to see that it is a very effective tool. Not the ideal tool but not a bad one either. Hopefully the NET will be another step forward for all the sports.

The link below shows the bracket odds for March Madness and could be considered an evaluation for RPI seedings. Of course the numbers are for only MBB but the concept and methodology is the same for all sports with slight weighting differentials for each sport. As you can see it confirms that virtually all higher seeds out perform lower seeds in expected tournament wins except for a slight disparity between the #9-11 seed. Also the correlation with how high a team is seeded and how far it advances in the tournament is extremely high for a seeding mechanism. They must be doing something right. Check it out it might be enlightening.

http://bracketodds.cs.illinois.edu/seedadv.html

https://www.betfirm.com/furthest-each-seed-has-gone-in-the-ncaa-tournament/

 

[sybarite]

I don't even think you are close.

 

[SoonerSpock]

I don't even think you are close.

And a think you not of that of which you speak. Which is normal from my perspective. But at least I can quantify my points with more than an ill informed opinion.

 

[SoonerTraveler]

Sydney Romero is now below 32% in the voting, and her lead over Kelly Barnhill has been reduced to 4.2%.

Senior Class Award / Vote at this Link
http://www.seniorclassaward.com/vote/softball_2019/

Senior Class Award Voting: 4/23/2019 Update
31.5 % ... Sydney Romero; Oklahoma
27.3 % ... Kelly Barnhill; Florida
+4.2 %

 

[SoonerSpock]

The voting for Romero last another 28 days until May 20th so keep voting multiple times daily.

 

[SoonerTraveler]

Wed; April 24, 2019: Road Swing Continues at Wichita State, ISU
http://www.soonersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=31000&ATCLID=211801217

NORMAN — The No. 1/1 Oklahoma softball team continues its 11-game road swing this week as it travels to games at Wichita State (Wednesday) and Iowa State (Friday-Sunday).

The Sooners have won a program-record-matching 31 straight games. With a win against the Shockers, OU would set a school record for consecutive victories.

All four games this week can be heard on the air through KEBC 1560 AM in Norman or online via the Franchise 2. Wednesday’s game will be streamed through YurView, and every game at Iowa State will be streamed online for a fee on Cyclones.tv.

Cox Cable in OKC lists tonight's 6PM game at WSU as being telecast on Cox Channel 3 and 703.

:OU-logo:

 

[sybarite]

Trap game.