When do the regional rankings come out? I saw that last year's rankings came out around this time and was unsure if there was a set date for the release

Totally agree, it is tough to tell who is the best team in the conference right now. Wartburg came with a strong showing this past weekend as they took games from Central and we will see how they do tonight when they take on BV. Luther looks like a solid team with some good pitching after Lindmark was able to slow down Coe in game 1 of their series. Simpson with a strong start but still have Central, BV, Wartburg, and Coe to play. The clear cut best team is hard to tell right now! IMO it will come down to who is the hottest going into the tourny and can keep that momentum going. We could be set up to watch an exciting tournament if Coe, BV, Wartburg, Central, Simpson, and Luther were to make it!

Picks last week were pretty good so here we go again with the matchups for this weekend....
BV getting a sweep against Dubuque- Dubuque didn't show us much last week when they took on a real team and I really don't see any more success against the defending champs. BV wins all 3 easily

Central takes 2 of 3 from Wartburg- I see Wartburg bouncing back after getting swept at Coe and they will find a way to win one at Central. Central is a good team though and will manage to win 2

Simpson takes 2 of 3 vs Loras- Games will be played at Simpson and I see them being able to win 2 of them. Loras needs to come back and get a W after losing all 3 to Central.

Coe takes 2 of 3 games at Luther- Coe is now leading the nation in team batting average and they will take that offense into Decorah and win 2 of 3. I don't believe that the pitching numbers that Luther's staff will hold up after this weekend. Coe's defense looks real skeptical which will be their downside this year and if Luther can take advantage of their mistakes they could even win the series.

Whats everyone else thinking?

Conference schedule starts up this weekend with the most compelling match-up being Wartburg vs Coe. We will also see if Dubuque is actually a good team when they take on some actual competition now that conference starts up.
My predictions:
Coe takes 2 of 3 from Wartburg -  hard to have the Coe losing that series in Cedar   Rapids when they are hitting .384 as a team
Luther sweeps Cornell - could be another rough year for the Rams
Central takes 2 of 3 from Loras - Central has lot coming back this year and will be tough down the road too
Simpson takes 2 of 3 from Dubuque - series is at Simpson and we will see how the Dubuque staff can do against Johnson and company

Any other opinions?!

Those do seem really late for teams to get started. Im sure that they will be going somewhere over their respective spring breaks in order to get some games in. Looks like the weather might allow for some good early season ball. Just wondering what others were thinking about the new bat regulations? With the new BBCOR bats it could come down to who has the best defense and staff this year. Not sure how these bats compare to the BESR models but what I've been hearing about them doesn't favor the hitters. May see some big reduction in home run totals this year...

It does look like Luther is struggling but 0-6 is nothing that can't be overcome by two sweeps of Dubuque and Cornell.
Coe and Simpson series was a very good one and you are right that the infield for Coe has to clean it up if they want to win. That team has the bats and arms to win a championship but everyone knows defense is what wins it.

Looking into the series this weekend I see...
Central over Cornell for a sweep of 3
Simpson taking 2 of 3 from Loras
Wartburg sweeping UD....too much firepower

And finally the matchup of the weekend between Coe and BV. I see Coe taking 2 of the games from BV with strong pitching to shut down Pietryk and BV's offense. Schisler has been swinging the bat well and with the middle of that lineup (Schisler, Richmond, Velvick) if they can get enough runs for Lewis/ Baranowski I see them winning two and maybe even getting one if Cody Raisch pitches well. They really need him to start up

I'm also very impressed with Johnson's numbers. Kid has 5 homers already and they haven't even entered conference play! Central is also playing good ball putting up some big offensive stats.
Preseason favorite Coe will take on defending champs Loras this weekend. Should be a good series!

I see Richmond and Velvick (Coe), Grau (Wartburg), Reynolds and Schott (Luther), Pietrykz, Blum and Kloewer (BV) to step up and be the big offensive guys this year

Anyone know about these two brothers that transfer to Coe. Heard they could be legit