Braves Baseball

[tornado]

BU baseball falls to 22-26 with four scheduled games left then the tourney..
they are 4-14 in conference and two game from getting out of last place -- and three conference games left...
we need a win streak...

[AE Braves Fan]

And yeah, nice Bruce Pearl and Kelvin Sampson references pretty sure ED is not under any investigations/ever has been, and is not a total slime ball like those 2.

You didn't understand my post. I wasn't comparing ED to Pearl or Sampson...

[real fan]

Hiring process = Bad.

Results = Appear to be improving.

Here's to continued success for the Braves baseball program.

The baseball program is not doing well, cannot expect them to compete nationally as most of the great players go west or south because of the weather but Bradley should be able to hold their own against most of the teams in the conference because of their facilities.

[SFP]

The baseball program is not doing well, cannot expect them to compete nationally as most of the great players go west or south because of the weather but Bradley should be able to hold their own against most of the teams in the conference because of their facilities.

Disagree - Agree

WSU and Creighton compete nationally, so why can't BU!

and YES we should be able to compete in our conference.

[jrish12]

Disagree - Agree

WSU and Creighton compete nationally, so why can't BU!

and YES we should be able to compete in our conference.

Wichita has always been a national power, and to an extent so has Creighton. Creighton has this nice little recruiting tool also:

Recruit: "Where is your home stadium?"
Coach: "Ever watch the College World Series on ESPN?"
Recruit "Yeah..."
Coach: "Yeah, thats where we play our home games"

[SFP]

jrish12 - So what are you getting at? WSU does not have that going for them. We have pretty nice baseball facilities. We also have a nice history of ball players coming through BU. We use to have teams that did real well in the Valley and competed against WSU year in and year out.

I'd have to say there are very little excuses of why BU cannot contend for the MVC and every so often produce a team that can do some damage on the national stage.

[Braves4Life]

We use to have teams that did real well in the Valley and competed against WSU year in and year out.

I'd have to say there are very little excuses of why BU cannot contend for the MVC and every so often produce a team that can do some damage on the national stage.

WSU has always been the Mack Daddy of the MVC. There's a reason most teams North of the Mason-Dixon Line can't compete in baseball....... Weather.

[SFP]

WSU has always been the Mack Daddy of the MVC. There's a reason most teams North of the Mason-Dixon Line can't compete in baseball....... Weather.

So the weather in Wichita is that much better then Peoria? I know Omha's weather is definitely colder. We are all giving into excuses. Notre Dame has had some good teams, also there have been some pretty good New England teams. Yes the better teams will be from the sunshine states but there is no reason BU cannot compete for the top 1/2 of the MVC and every so often make it to the NCAA. If that is asking for too much then why bother fielding a team?

[Braves4Life]

I agree that we should be able to compete and get an occasional bid to the NCAA Tourney but....... Here's your current Top 50 NCAA Baseball Rankings..... notice a trend regarding location?

1 1 Florida
2 2 Virginia
3 6 North Carolina
4 4 Arizona State
5 3 Vanderbilt
6 7 Florida State
7 5 South Carolina
8 10 Clemson
9 8 Georgia Tech
10 17 Southern Mississippi
11 9 Oregon State
12 13 Stetson
13 14 Texas
14 23 Rice
15 15 Stanford
16 22 Arkansas
17 18 Oklahoma
18 16 Texas A&M
19 21 Cal State Fullerton
20 26 TCU
21 12 Georgia
22 11 Miami (Fla.)
23 20 Auburn
24 24 Oklahoma State
25 30 Arizona
26 29 Mississippi State
27 27 LSU
28 31 UCF
29 19 Fresno State
30 25 East Carolina
31 32 Alabama
32 37 East Tennessee State
33 33 North Carolina State
34 35 Florida International
35 34 Elon
36 36 California
37 41 Ole Miss
38 28 Kansas St.
39 42 Texas Tech
40 38 Baylor
41 48 UCLA
42 45 Texas State
43 43 Coastal Carolina
44 47 Troy
45 44 Kent State
46 39 Washington State
47 50 Jacksonville
48 64 Sam Houston State
49 46 Creighton
50 49 Florida Atlantic

[jrish12]

jrish12 - So what are you getting at? WSU does not have that going for them. We have pretty nice baseball facilities. We also have a nice history of ball players coming through BU. We use to have teams that did real well in the Valley and competed against WSU year in and year out.

I'd have to say there are very little excuses of why BU cannot contend for the MVC and every so often produce a team that can do some damage on the national stage.

It was more of a joke with the facility in Creighton's case, but it is an obvious recruiting tool now with the new stadium in downtown omaha. One thing that I see in higher programs that are successful is a clubhouse. Since Bradley shares O'Brien Field with the Chiefs, I dont believe Bradley has its own locker room/clubhouse at the stadium. Creighton has one in the CU sports complex, which im assuming will become their practice only facility now that TD Ameritrade Park is complete. Wichita has an onsite clubhouse plus an indoor practice field with retractable batting cages. Missouri State has Hammons Field which is reverse of O'Brien where it is MSU's stadium first and also serves as the home of the Cardinals AA affiliate. It has coaches offices, clubhouse, and batting cages. Even SIU has a 5 tunnel batting cage at their facility. Indiana state has a dedicated clubhouse/locker room and an indoor facility.

So honestly, in order from worst to best facilities wise, I would go like this for the Valley baseball programs:

SIU
Bradley
Evansville
ISU red
ISU Blue
Creighton
Wichita
Missouri St.

[Tulsa Brave]

So the weather in Wichita is that much better then Peoria? I know Omha's weather is definitely colder. We are all giving into excuses. Notre Dame has had some good teams, also there have been some pretty good New England teams. Yes the better teams will be from the sunshine states but there is no reason BU cannot compete for the top 1/2 of the MVC and every so often make it to the NCAA. If that is asking for too much then why bother fielding a team?

Yes, the weather in Wichita is MUCH better than Peoria in winter/early spring. Assuming of course by "better" you mean warmer, drier, and sunnier.

[SFP]

OK guys I'm wrong! I admit it.....so the question is how can BU compete in baseball at a higher level? I'm in the school of thought that if you are not willing to become competitive, create a winning atmosphere and make the needed investment then why bother? BU has limited resources and I believe they should be used where we can best see the impact.

[Braves4Life]

.....so the question is how can BU compete in baseball at a higher level?

I don't believe we can (or most any northern schools for that matter). But, I do believe that we should be able to compete within our own conference. The real question is whether BU and the administration care to attempt to compete at that level. Based upon what Cross has said I believe that they do. Time will tell.

[tornado]

...WSU and Creighton compete nationally, so why can't BU!

and YES we should be able to compete in our conference.

I completely agree...there's plenty of local talent --

--U of I plays a BIG TIME schedule of opponents and is 12-9 in the Big Ten -- tied for 2nd and only a single game out of first place.....
and their top hitter was from right in BU's own back yard...as is their fourth best hitter and best defensive infielder..
more than 30 of their their players are from within a 1-2 hour drive of Peoria!
Why can we not land some of those players??

--ISU is right down the road from us, and basically recruits kids from right under our own noses - and yet they're way better, 31-16, and challenging for the lead in the Valley...while we are firmly entrenched in the basement.
Again -- their entire roster is filled with kids from within an hour or two's drive from Peoria.

--even Illinois Wesleyan can claim they recruit better....
They are the DEFENDING National Champions....and not doing too shabby this current season either...
...with a roster filled with kids who could have easily played D-I but were overlooked except by the IWU coaching staff.
Every kid on their roster is from Illinois except two from neighboring states.
Heck -- one of their best pitchers, Nick Mehn (6-3, 3.94 ERA) is from Peoria.

[BU Firsty]

How can this be Dallas Brave? Everyone knows Elvis is Glasser's friend and is certainly NOT worthy and up to the job. The Administration has NO IDEA what they are doing! This must just be a lucky start by OUR Braves. I'm kind of confused. Shouldn't we be rooting against these guys?

I don't believe we can (or most any northern schools for that matter). But, I do believe that we should be able to compete within our own conference. The real question is whether BU and the administration care to attempt to compete at that level. Based upon what Cross has said I believe that they do. Time will tell.


Can you help me reconcile these two posts? Further, can you give one example of an indication that Bradley's administration does not "care to attempt to compete at that level?" What should they be doing that they are not? What is lacking?