SEC Outlook

[wildcatwolverine]

I've watched quite a bit of SEC baseball so far. Quick thoughts:

East:

-Vandy is real. Will be tough to win a game from them, but it's a long season.
-Florida has holes. They've lost some OOC games to FSU and Miami that they have been winning in past years. They swept A&M, but are in danger of getting swept by USC. UK can win this series at home.
-UT is legit. They may be the second best team in the east. Barf, I liked it when they stunk.
-USC isn't "back", but they're good. They may sweep florida. UK should battle them for third in the east.
-Georgia is struggling. They may be the most disappointing team in the league. UK needs to win this series.
-Mizzou stinks. Wish we wouldn't have let the sunday game against them slip away.

West:

-Arkansas may be the best team in the country. May sweep MSU in starkville. Tough.
-Ole Miss is dominant. Swept aubie last week and bama this week. Granted, those are the two worst teams in the west but still, sweeps are hard to get in this league.
-MSU is very good, but maybe a step or two behind the top 2. It will be very interesting to see if UK can hang with these guys next week. Good litmus test for us.
-LSU is not what they once were. UK needs to win the LSU series at home in a few weeks.
-A&M is a question mark to me.
-Auburn is not a bad team but they're struggling. They will ruin some other teams' seasons down the stretch.
-Alabama just can't seem to recover. This was once a baseball powerhouse, but they seem permanently buried at bottom of the west. This could be the end of the bohannon regime.It's not hard to win there, this puzzles me.

After watching a bunch of games, I think a realistic goal for UK is to make a regional. Our OOC is weak since the UNC series was canceled but we need to win a minimum of 14-15 SEC games and we'll get in. Hosting would be great, but just making a regional should be a realistic goal after our 5-1 league start.

 

[Comebakatz3]

We are currently 9-1 against quad 4 teams... that 1 being Missouri. They're an SEC school so you don't think that loss hurts too much, but right now on paper it looks real bad.

 

[RogerIndy]

I haven't decided yet if we are good or if we have just played bad teams (Mizzou and Auburn). Our losses to Murray State and Ball State (2 out of 3), were not good. Of our 5 SEC wins, only the first Missouri game was a blowout, the others could have gone the other way.

 

[RogerIndy]

We are currently 9-1 against quad 4 teams... that 1 being Missouri. They're an SEC school so you don't think that loss hurts too much, but right now on paper it looks real bad.

Quad 4? I am not familiar with the concept applied to college baseball teams. I know we haven't played any power 5 conference teams outside the SEC.

 

[BlueStoops]

Quad 4? I am not familiar with the concept applied to college baseball teams. I know we haven't played any power 5 conference teams outside the SEC.

It’s where you are ranked in RPI. Quad 1 is top 50. Quad 2 is 51-100. Quad 3 is 101-150. Quad 4 is 151+. Mizzou is a 151+ ranked team right now (159) so not a good loss. Hopefully they can string a win here and there, and the strength of the SEC schedule, moves them into Q3. UK has yet to play a top 50 team as well.

 

[Comebakatz3]

It’s where you are ranked in RPI. Quad 1 is top 50. Quad 2 is 51-100. Quad 3 is 101-150. Quad 4 is 151+. Mizzou is a 151+ ranked team right now (159) so not a good loss. Hopefully they can string a win here and there, and the strength of the SEC schedule, moves them into Q3. UK has yet to play a top 50 team as well.

And we're just 4-3 against top 50-100 teams, with 3 of those this weekend.

 

[Comebakatz3]

I haven't decided yet if we are good or if we have just played bad teams (Mizzou and Auburn). Our losses to Murray State and Ball State (2 out of 3), were not good. Of our 5 SEC wins, only the first Missouri game was a blowout, the others could have gone the other way.

I'd say we're at least an average SEC team. We should compete with most teams in most games. Should make the SEC tournament. There should be some real interesting aspects to this weekend. Every SEC game could end in a sweep.

 

[RogerIndy]

And we're just 4-3 against top 50-100 teams, with 3 of those this weekend.

Unless Auburn turns it around, they will fall. Who was the other 50-100 win? Oh, thanks, @Comebakatz3, you always have good information.

 

[Comebakatz3]

Unless Auburn turns it around, they will fall. Who was the other 50-100 win? Oh, thanks, @Comebakatz3, you always have good information.

Actually, I was wrong. Georgia State (3) and Ball State are the 4 top 50-100 wins. Auburn is 109th

 

[sluggercatfan]

MST just got swept at home by Arkansas.

 

[sluggercatfan]

Quad 4? I am not familiar with the concept applied to college baseball teams. I know we haven't played any power 5 conference teams outside the SEC.

Next 10 days...MST. U6.

 

[TuckyFB]

I still can't get over the Ball St series loss or the Murray St loss

If we finish those games and then the last Missouri game, we're ranked right now.

 

[TuckyFB]

Technically speaking, we have one of the best records right now in College Baseball but our SOS isn't high on top of some bad losses.

 

[Comebakatz3]

Technically speaking, we have one of the best records right now in College Baseball but our SOS isn't high on top of some bad losses.

It's a solid record, but when someone like Arkansas or TN are playing top 10 records, there is a wide gap. Still... keep winning.

 

[Comebakatz3]

Unless Auburn turns it around, they will fall. Who was the other 50-100 win? Oh, thanks, @Comebakatz3, you always have good information.

And after today Georgia State dropped to 101, so we're 1-3 against the top 100.

 

[RogerIndy]

It's a solid record, but when someone like Arkansas or TN are playing top 10 records, there is a wide gap. Still... keep winning.

You know it just kills me that UT has gotten good in baseball now. I was a student at UK from 74-78 when the UK-UT rivalry was strong and we used to say "Nothing sucks like a big orange!"

 

[Comebakatz3]

You know it just kills me that UT has gotten good in baseball now. I was a student at UK from 74-78 when the UK-UT rivalry was strong and we used to say "Nothing sucks like a big orange!"

Yep. They have a really good coach there finally. I thought this would be a rebuilding year for them as they lost a lot of talent, including a first round draft pick. They seem to have not missed a beat. I don't like it. I live just south of Knoxville, so it is super annoying to hear people finally come out of the woodwork to randomly talk about baseball as though they followed it all along.

 

[RogerIndy]

MST just got swept at home by Arkansas.

I see they fell to #8 in the D1Baseball.com top 25. Let's see if we get get them while they are down this weekend.

 

[Comebakatz3]

 

[Comebakatz3]

I see they fell to #8 in the D1Baseball.com top 25. Let's see if we get get them while they are down this weekend.

Seems weird to say it, but this weekend is the true measuring stick of how good we are. UK currently ranks 2nd in the league in hitting at .273. That is majorly propped up by Kessler hitting .611. We would be hitting .240 and be ranked like 10th in the league in hitting without him. Our pitching is pretty solid and we have the 4th best ERA, but we’ve given up way too many free bases in the first two weekends. Our opponents in these categories are ranked 4th (Auburn) and 14th in hitting and 13th and 14th (Auburn) in pitching. Miss State also hasn’t hit all that well in league play, hitting just .231 (11th) as a team and their ERA is pretty inflated at 5.43 (9th). Still, they’ve played Arkansas (0-3) and LSU (2-1), so they haven’t exactly had it easy. Still, they seem beatable and if UK can take 2 of 3 I think that will be a great sign for UK and what they can do the rest of the way.

One factor, I haven’t heard anything about Hazelwood and whether or not he is healthy after coming out of the game early on Saturday. We might get that answer tomorrow if we see someone other than Hagenow start.

 

[sluggercatfan]

And after today Georgia State dropped to 101, so we're 1-3 against the top 100.

Just keep winning! SOS will take care of itself

 

[GGCAT]

While we havent played the higher echelon of the SEC yet, you cant dismiss the fact that we banked 5 out of the 6 conference games weve played....in baseball that's nothing to sneeze at.

This has given us the wiggle room to be playing with house money for a while.

We have 8 series (24 conf games) left, with the cushion we have given ourselves if we can somehow go 12-12 in those games that puts us at 17-13

And barring no OOC losses other than Louisville, I would think that puts us in pretty good shape for a postseason berth.

 

[micatz]

Need 1 game this weekend to keep on track... obviously with Degen starting tomorrow, that means Hazelwood is in question at least for Saturday and probably going with Hagenow... that hurts big time as our only experienced guy will be out and MS state is full capacity which is tough for newbies especially... NEED to steal 1

 

[Comebakatz3]

Need 1 game this weekend to keep on track... obviously with Degen starting tomorrow, that means Hazelwood is in question at least for Saturday and probably going with Hagenow... that hurts big time as our only experienced guy will be out and MS state is full capacity which is tough for newbies especially... NEED to steal 1

Where did you see Degen was starting tomorrow? I'm surprised they announced it so early.

If Hazelwood can't go it will make for an interesting decision. Do you bump up Lee? Do you pitch by committee? Just give Hagenow the shot? Turn back to Ramsey or Marsh?

 

[micatz]

It has been on their website since early this afternoon

 

[Comebakatz3]

It has been on their website since early this afternoon

Huh. I never read those. Lol

 

[wildcatwolverine]

I agree with the guys above...critical to at least win one this weekend. A sweep undoes the positive vibe from last weekend.

UK is going to have a lot of opportunities for big home wins (USC, UF, LSU, UL) if we can just hold serve by winning at least one in these upcoming tough road series (MSU, UT, Vandy).

 

[BlueStoops]

Where did you see Degen was starting tomorrow? I'm surprised they announced it so early.

If Hazelwood can't go it will make for an interesting decision. Do you bump up Lee? Do you pitch by committee? Just give Hagenow the shot? Turn back to Ramsey or Marsh?

Hazelwood out for the year.

https://247sports.com/college/kentu...elwood-Mississippi-State-baseball--163425572/

 

[Comebakatz3]

Hazelwood out for the year.

https://247sports.com/college/kentu...elwood-Mississippi-State-baseball--163425572/

Yea, I had heard that might be a possibility. That's a huge blow to UK's staff. Hagenow likely now pushed into weekend role. Not the friendliest weekend to get your first SEC start... down in Starkville where they will have 6,000 fans in the stands. Against a Bulldogs team that just got swept and will be playing angry.

Sad about Hazelwood and feel bad for him, but excited to see Hagenow get the opportunity.