The APR Battle

Kevin Cooney, the head coach at Florida Atlantic University, checks in with an article about the battles of the APR. The APR is a rating system for the athletic programs in the university which is based on the graduation rate and the eligibility of the student-athletes. Kevin's article discusses the pros and cons of the new system. In the article, he shows many examples of situations that arose last season.

Article can be found here.

There is also an article from the Austin-American Statesman about the Texas Baseball program getting a scholarship back after having it stripped from them over a substandard score on the APR. I think if we want to follow the rules of the APR then Texas should have lost this scholarship. What has changed since they lost the scholarship?

The full article can be accessed here.

2007 Missouri Schedule Released

The University of Missouri have released the 2007 schedule. They will be participating in two tournaments this year in addition to their strong Big 12 schedule. They will be taking part in the Spring Training Classic with Arizona State, Gonzaga, and NCAA Champion Oregon State in Surprise AZ. They also will be in the Service Academy Classic in Millington TN with participants BYU, Akron, Memphis and the Naval Academy. The Big 12 home schedule is weak with the best opponents coming to Taylor Stadium being the Kansas Jayhawks and the Oklahoma Sooners.

Full Schedule available here.

Changes to the Amateur Draft

There has been a significant change to the Amateur draft in the new Collective Bargaining agreement in MLB. It sets a uniform signing day instead of the former rule of the first day of college classes for the high school draft picks. It also sets up stronger compensation rules for the unsigned draft picks. If a team does not sign there first round pick they will receive that same pick the next year but one pick later in the round. This will affect the signing bonuses of the upcoming draftees. It is very complicated and can be read in further in the Baseball America Article here.

Checking in with Paul Mainieri

The Daily Reveille wrote an interesting article recently about the LSU Baseball program and how they are adjusting to Paul Mainieri's coaching style. Paul comes from Notre Dame where he coached for 12 very successful seasons including getting a CWS appearance with a Big East squad which does not happen often today. In the article, Mainieri is asked about Junior pitcher Derik Olvey who transferred before last season to LSU from Notre Dame. Derek has been dismissed from the LSU Baseball program as Paul and him have a history of problems dating back to Derik's days at UND. Olvey has to find a new school for his senior year as he has to sit out the entire season since he has already transferred once.

Full article available here.

Army Baseball releases 2007 schedule

The Army Cadets have released their 2007 schedule. They have a bunch of games down in the South to start the season which is traditional for a northern school. They visit Sam Houston State, Wofford, and UNC Greensboro each for 3 games sets to start the first 3 weekend series. They also have a mid-week out of conference game in Gainesville against the Florida Gators. The rest of their season is made up of Patriot League games and regional games with Cornell, Iona, and Manhattan.

This Army team should be right at the top of the Patriot League this season with All-American candidate pitcher Nick Hill and outfielder/closer Milan Dinga who can hit over 90 MPH. I predict on October 24th, that Nick Hill will pitch the game against the Gators and will give them fits.

Full schedule

Baylor Baseball Rated Number 1

The Baylor Bears recruiting class has been rated number 1 in the nation by Baseball America. The reason for this is that the 2005 CWS run gave the program some national exposure and positive press. The Baylor staff was fighting to get rid of the stigma from the basketball tragedy in 2003. It looks like they have overcame the challenge.

There are also some news and notes in tea article about UNC reloading and Oregon State shuffling up their rotation for next year.

Full article available here.

KU releases 2007 schedule

The Kansas Jayhawks will open the season with a nice trip to Hawaii-Hilo for a five game trip. It must be nice to be in Hawaii in February to play baseball. When they return to campus they open up there home schedule against South Dakota State. I believe that starting that early with home games is a mistake and would be shocked if they get those games in. KU has both Texas and Nebraska coming into Lawrence this season and this should bode well for the Jayhawks as they try to get their second straight trip to the NCAA tournament.

Click here for Full Schedule

Southern Mississippi Baseball News

The Southern Miss Golden Eagles have released their 2007 Baseball Schedule. They are hosting the Coca-Cola Classic with Louisville, Southern Illinois, and Northwestern State competing in Hattiesburg. They do play eight NCAA Tournament teams from last season on the schedule which includes Alabama, Houston, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Rice, South Alabama, Troy and Tulane. They are expected to be a prominent player in the Southeast this year and make the NCAA Tournament. The full schedule is available here.

Southern Miss also has started building a new press box with 12 new luxury boxes for the 2007 season. This should bring their stadium up to the standards in the South. You can read more about the renovation at this link.

ACC Baseball Tourney changing formats

There is some rumors on the internet that there will be a change in the format of the ACC Baseball Tournament for the 2007 season. They will split the field into two divisions and each team will be guaranteed to play 3 games in a round robin format. One division would include the 1, 4, 5, and 8 seeds while the other one will include the 2, 3, 6, and 7 seeds. This will limit the amount of games each team will have to play to get to the Championship games. In the 2006 tournament, Clemson and NC State played in the Championship game and used two pitchers who rarely pitched during the regular season. This format gives the teams a maximum of 4 games to play thus making it easier on the pitchers and coaches.