In case you missed it, we had an update to an earlier blog this week concerning Arkansas State ripping FAU's Sun Belt title.

The player issued an spology while the ASU administrator removed his post (we took a screen shot before he did).

Here's the details on the reaction

True or false: FAU did not start their best players against non-conference, ranked teams, preserving their arms instead for the Belt games?

 @White Hat, This is true ,but not only for this year. This is what we have done for the last couple of years. We concentrate on the weekend Conference games. Winning the regular season has advanced that team in the past but we lost out this year. I've said for years that the biggest difference between us and the big programs is the #4,5,6 pichers in the rotation. We usually have three strong arms and then drop off , where the big schools can go deep and still be strong. We didn't advance......don't blame Coach M. for winning the Conf. regular season. That was the goal.

So tell me why winning the regular season is so important, when ULM is playing in a regional and we are home. Don't mention RPI...On May 22 FAU's RPI was 61, while ULM's was 121. It's clear, regular season championship doesn't mean much when trying to advance.

http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/baseball/d1

The tournament champion recives an automatic bid

So, no, the regular-season championship doesn't mean as much when trying to advance.

For what it's worth here's my two cents...

This was an abnormal year in the Sun Belt...the league was really down and as a result, the RPI of anyone playing in it is negatively affected...the result is that the committee looks at the regular season champion of a bad conference which fails to win the conference tournament, and takes them off the board...problem is no coach is aware ahead of time that the conference will be so bad...so the strategy of trying to be the top team over the course of the entire season stays in place...the hope is that the body of work and a good performance in the conference tournament results in credibility and an rpi worthy of consideration...doestn't work for a bad conference...

If I coached in one of the conferences that is a one bid league, I would gear up for the midweek games against good opponents and then put all my marbles on the conference tournament...that strategy is used by teams like Monmouth, Bethune-Cookman, etc.

As for not playing starters midweek...weekend starting pitchers sometimes are utilized on a pitch count or in relief, but the position starters play unless they really need a game off...

We went to seven ncaa regionals when I was there and only once did we go as the conference tournament winner...Back then the Asun was always a multi bid league...some really good teams in that league during that period...

I think that record speaks to the soundness of the strategy...

Mac and his guys should be commended for a great season...anytime you bring home a championship and can put a sign on the fence forever, it's a good thing!

One last thought...

The pool play format is terrible!

It only is good in the SEC or ACC where many of the teams will get in because of the strength of the league...hardly anyone NEEDS to win the tournament, so they wind up guaranteeing three games for everyone, and no embarassing 2 and brbq for good teams...

In my opinion, it just takes the competiteness out of teams cause they already no their fate...good or bad...It punishes teams with good pitching depth, and is in NO WAY a good preparation for the regional.

Don't they use it in soccer?

This is baseball.

@KC -

Some good points. Originally a proponent of pool play, the last two years have changed my mind. Not a big fan of conference tournaments for baseball to begin with, but pool play essentially turns them into single elimination toss-ups for most teams. And the way the Sun Belt does it - failing to reward the top seeds with being the home teams and with decent schedules - that's simply ridiculous.

Love to hear your opinion on an idea I was kicking around this weekend. Several factors (injuries, overall down year for the conference, bad luck) impacted FAU's fate. Is there something to be said for throwing your Friday starter - in this case Ryan Garton - during the midweek games in an increased effort to knock off some of the big boys?

Say the Owls trade two Friday conference losses for two mid week power wins, aren't the Owls in a better position to qualify for the tournament even if it costs them the regular season Sun Belt crown?

It would be kind of a new version to the concept of pitching backward, but it might make a statement. How many more wins did the Owls need in conference play this season to even warrant tournament consideration?

Chuck...

Skipping your best on Fri puts you in greater danger of losing a series you should have/could have won, hurting your chances...not sure I like the risk/reward odds...

lots of emotional lift w/ Fri nite win...

One idea I kicked around at the end was to set up a rotation and roll those guys out every fifth day...possibly just keep number 1 an 2 guys on the sched and fill in the rest...

ran it by a pitching coach in the SEC and he liked it but felt it took too much balls to implement...College Baseball really emotionally invested in three game weekend series...wish I had done it

Just purchased our tickets to the UGA game in Athens on Sept. 15, very excited! Who else is going to be there?

 I checked fights to UGa and driving routes to UGa and I have to say, that is one difficult place to get to. The total travel time flying ( leaving for the Airport, arriving, waiting for next flight, arriving ) is almost equal to drive time. But, I hate driving! Any suggestions on travel?

Obviously it depends on where you are coming from. But flying means fly to Atlanta, rent a car a and drive the rest of the way to Athens as you already saw. Like Boca, no commercial airport in Athens but Athens is farther from Atlanta than Boca is from either Lauderdale or West Palm.