Wichita State Baseball Addition

[huskymedic]

>>The addition of Wichita State gives the AAC nine baseball members, as Southern Methodist, Temple and Tulsa don’t field teams and Navy is a football-only member. The conference has finished in the top six in conference RPI every year since it was created following the Big East Conference’s split after the 2013 season, and ranks fifth this season.

The addition of a ninth member will allow the AAC to change its schedule format. Currently, the teams play eight conference series, facing six teams once and one “rival” twice in home-and-home weekends. The format makes sense in some cases, such as Central Florida and South Florida, but less so in others, such as Connecticut and East Carolina. It also can lead to significantly different strength of schedules in an otherwise balanced system.

While next season’s schedule has not been finalized, sources said they expect the conference season will remain at 24 games with every team playing one series against each of the other eight teams, with one bye week.<<


Read more at Wichita State Leaving Missouri Valley For American Athletic Conference In July | BaseballAmerica.com

 

[huskymedic]

Baseball Analysis from the Wichita Eagle:

BASEBALL

Champions
2014 – Louisville (regular season), Houston (tournament)
2015 – Houston, East Carolina
2016 – Tulane, Connecticut

Best NCAA performances

East Carolina (2016) and Houston (2014) lost in super regionals. Former member Louisville played in the 2014 College World Series.​

Who’s the power?

Houston, Tulane and East Carolina are the most consistent winners. Both own two NCAA appearances in the AAC’s three seasons.​

Tulane (2005) has the most recent berth in the College World Series by a current member.​

UConn leads American members with five College World Series appearances, most recently in 1979. Tulane (2001, 2005) and Houston (1953, 1967) own two each.​

This season

Houston and East Carolina both dropped out of the Baseball America top 25 this week. Warrennolan.com ranks the American fifth in its RPI with No. 7 Houston, No 31 UConn, No. 33 Central Florida and No. 38 South Florida in the top 50 of the power rankings.​

All eight schools are in the top 160.​

Compared to the MVC

The American is a step up, but Valley baseball is no weakling and the Shockers are in no position to judge with their slippage since 2008. The addition of Dallas Baptist strengthened the MVC and the Patriots played host to a regional in 2015.​

In baseball, the AAC consistently ranks higher than the MVC in RPI. In the past three seasons, it earned six at-large bids. The MVC, in the past three seasons, has four at-large bids. Missouri State played in a super regional in 2015.​

 

[dbmill]

As you might expect when the hometown newspaper does an analysis of the AAC's baseball prowess, Wichita State has historically been a solid baseball school.

 

[dbmill]

Jim Penders had a few words on the Wichita State baseball program in the Daily Campus:

Penders excited for addition of Wichita St. to American Athletic Conference baseball

 

[huskymedic]

Jim Penders had a few words on the Wichita State baseball program in the Daily Campus:

Penders excited for addition of Wichita St. to American Athletic Conference baseball

LOL... In search of a good cannoli.

 

[dbmill]

LOL... In search of a good cannoli.

The cannoli quote grabbed my attention as well. The most important portion of the article, for sure.