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Analyzing the Conferences Through BA Top 25 Polls

HuskerWeatherman

HuskerWeatherman

Feral Cat
20 Year Member
I crunched the numbers dating back to 2011. How many teams from each conference have finished ranked top 25? (And yes, I properly tracked teams that have switched conferences during this span.)

Four years, 2011-14 seasons. # of teams ranked, by conference, in the final poll (Baseball America):
1. SEC, 21
2. ACC, 20
3. Pac-12, 17
4. Big 12, 12
5. Big West, 6
6. Conference USA, 4
7. Big Ten, 3
8. WCC, Sun Belt, America East, Big East, Mountain West, all with 2 each
(Several others with 1)

Same set of years, ranked in the top 10:
1. SEC, 12
2. ACC, 9
3. Big 12, 8
4. Pac-12, 6
5. Big West, 2
6. Big Ten, Sun Belt, AAC, America East, Mac, all with 1 each

Same set of years, ranked 11-20:
1. ACC, 7
2. Pac-12, 7
3. SEC, 5
4. Conference USA, 4
5. Big 12, Big West, 3
7. Big East, Mountain West, 2
(Several others with 1)

Same set of years, ranked 21-25:
1. ACC, Pac-12, SEC, 4
4. Big Ten, 2
(Several others with 1)

Current top 25 (as of March 2):
1. ACC, Big 12, SEC, 5
4. Pac-12, 4
5. AAC, 2
6. Big Ten, 1

Combining current top 25 with top 25 from 2011-14:
1. ACC, SEC, 26.
3. Pac-12, 21
4. Big 12, 17
5. Big West, 7
6. Conference USA, 5
7. Big Ten, 4
8. AAC, 3
(Several others with 1 or 2)

The Big Ten should be very thankful for Indiana in 2013, with their top 10 finish and CWS appearance. Otherwise, over five years (including this season), there's been two Big Ten appearances in the final poll and current ... Indiana (2014) and Purdue (2012), which finished 21-25. Have yet to see two Big Ten teams ranked in a final poll during this span (and again, none in the current). Let's hope the conference gets its act together. :shout:

Corrected to add Maryland to the Big Ten, as a representative in the current top 25 poll. I did forget we actually did finally add a semi-quality team to the conference.
 
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I'm thinking one of the reasons for your findings, is that most of the schools/conferences that you've posted, in those regions, Baseball is a "Bigger" sport than say Hockey. It seems to me, that the Top Conferences here, don't play Hockey at all. Just an observation.
 



HUSKER HOT SAUCE said:
I'm thinking one of the reasons for your findings, is that most of the schools/conferences that you've posted, in those regions, Baseball is a "Bigger" sport than say Hockey. It seems to me, that the Top Conferences here, don't play Hockey at all. Just an observation.
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I don't believe hockey has anything to do with the equation.

But yes, it is true that college baseball is highly dependent on climate. Always will be. Which is why I believe the Big Ten will never be one of the top 4-5 baseball conferences. Maybe some rare year they can sneak in there at #4 or #5 -- but over any span of years, never.
 
HuskerWeatherman said:
I don't believe hockey has anything to do with the equation.

But yes, it is true that college baseball is highly dependent on climate. Always will be. Which is why I believe the Big Ten will never be one of the top 4-5 baseball conferences. Maybe some rare year they can sneak in there at #4 or #5 -- but over any span of years, never.
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Maybe not so much on the Hockey part of it, but I know growing up down South, We talked/played Football, Basketball and Baseball, Hockey essentially didn't even exist in our world. In fact, Soccer was a bigger sport than Hockey, and it was hardly ever mentioned. I played Soccer up until the 5th grade and then concentrated on Football and Baseball. I completely agree with the bolded part.
 
HUSKER HOT SAUCE said:
Maybe not so much on the Hockey part of it, but I know growing up down South, We talked/played Football, Basketball and Baseball, Hockey essentially didn't even exist in our world. In fact, Soccer was a bigger sport than Hockey, and it was hardly ever mentioned. I played Soccer up until the 5th grade and then concentrated on Football and Baseball. I completely agree with the bolded part.
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It didn't exist in my world growing up in Nebraska either.

But baseball does exist everywhere. And in the majors, climate means nothing. But there's a couple of huge differences between college baseball and MLB baseball. In the majors, the season starts nearly two months later than college. And all teams prepare for the season in the South. There's no disadvantages due to climate in MLB. In college, there's plenty -- and they are huge disadvantages.
 
HuskerWeatherman said:
It didn't exist in my world growing up in Nebraska either.

But baseball does exist everywhere. And in the majors, climate means nothing. But there's a couple of huge differences between college baseball and MLB baseball. In the majors, the season starts nearly two months later than college. And all teams prepare for the season in the South. There's no disadvantages due to climate in MLB. In college, there's plenty -- and they are huge disadvantages.
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Yeah, I'd guess too then, that that is a Big part of it. Who knows though, if the B1G should have a top tier team in Baseball, that it hopefully it is the HUSKERS....... I love Baseball, and it sucks that it is so hard to find College Baseball on TV. ESPN gives it very little love until late in the season.
 
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I remember moving from Wisconsin to Arizona in 1980 and never playing hockey again.:(

The upside was that you can play baseball year round if you wanted to in Zona.

And the Big 10 will never be more than a mid-major in the sport of baseball.
 
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ThotDoc said:
Miami's hockey team sucks.
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And, what is your point, ThotDoc? :)

I, for one, only care to watch when my Sharks play.

College, for me, has never been an interest. Perhaps,
it UNL had a team, that would be different.

Aren't you still in Mexico? Time flies so fast, when you
go to Mexico, you know? :stickouttongue:
 
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