BB: SCIAC: Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Purple Heys]

Picture of the Cal Lu rings they received yesterday.

I wondered if they were going to have the U

[Jack Parkman]

Picture of the Cal Lu rings they received yesterday.

I wondered if they were going to have the U

It would have been an absolute travesty if they would have put that terrible looking shield on it.  I like this look and they even put the old baseball logo on the side with the trophy on the other side.

[Purple Heys]

Picture of the Cal Lu rings they received yesterday.

I wondered if they were going to have the U

It would have been an absolute travesty if they would have put that terrible looking shield on it.  I like this look and they even put the old baseball logo on the side with the trophy on the other side.

Championship rings are the best.  Those are very nice rings.

[Gray Fox]

Picture of the Cal Lu rings they received yesterday.

NICE

[Jack Parkman]

Got bored the other day and figured I would look at the non-conference schedules of the SCIAC schools for the 2018 season.  It seems like the SCIAC schools like to keep their schedules a mystery until the semester is over but this is what I was able to find so far. I didn't look at the East Coast teams to see who they were playing on their trips so there are a lot of games missing.  Some pretty good games to be played this spring.

Caltech
Oxy (exhibition)
Providence Christian x3
Dickinson x2
Vassar x1
Middlebury x1
@ Chicago x3

Cal Lu
Linfield x3
PLU x3
Centenary (LA) x1

Chapman
George Fox x1
Linfield x1
Centenary (LA) x1

Claremont
Puget Sound x2
Whitman
Willammette

La Verne
Linfield x3

OXY
@ Caltech (exhibition)
Linfield x1
Bates x1
Ursinus x1
Rutgers-Newark x1
Centenary (LA) x1
Vassar x2
Endicott x1
Dickinson x1
Ithaca x1
@ PLU x1 (played at George Fox)
@ George Fox x1
@ Pacific x3

Pomona
Puget Sound x1
Whitman x2
Willamette x1

Redlands
Centenary (LA) x2

Whittier
Whitman x1
Willamette x2
Lewis & Clark x1
Bates x1
Castleton x1
Ursinus x1
Rutgers-Newark x2
Vassar x1
Williams x1
Middlebury x1
George Fox x3

[Purple Heys]

I really like Whittier's NC slate.  It's a good set up for them and what they need.  It would be overly ambitious for them to try to schedule an NC schedule loaded with in region contenders in hopes of chasing an at-large bid.

[MIFDad]

Looks like everybody is playing the same group of NWC teams, some NESCAC teams, and a few kinda random others. What do you like about what you see?  Are the NC teams here tougher than usual?  I'm a newby to following SCIAC baseball but if I'm not mistaken this looks similar to last year, and I've seen some discussion in the past about the NC strength of schedule not being sufficient for  teams other than the league champion to move into NCAA tournament.

[Purple Heys]

I wonder if Cal Lu winning it all last year affords halo effect into next year such that IF the SCIAC  Conference Tourney #1 seed loses - say in the championship finals of the conference tourney - would they get an enhanced look as an at-large entry.

Personally, speaking as a Whittier fan, I like their schedule.  It's got some teams we have not seen before, and a couple we have where the games were competitive last year.  I think the conference is opened up a bit due to graduation, so we will see how well teams recruit.

Some questions...
How well does Cal Lu reload - they seemingly were hardest hit by graduation.
What's life going to be like without Nishioka at the front of the order for Pomona?
Who will be Redlands #2 and #3 starters?

[Jim Dixon]

More teams outside the west region are making the trip to So Cal.  Good to see.

[MIFDad]

Redlands and CMC are both going to be playing UT Dallas in AZ. That will up their SOS a bit.

[Jack Parkman]

Redlands and CMC are both going to be playing UT Dallas in AZ. That will up their SOS a bit.

Not if they have the same kind of year as 2017.  UT Dallas went 30-9 and 33-11 but was #253 in SOS, which is exactly why they didn't get an at-large bid.  Of course this is the 2018 season we are talking about so that could change.

[MIFDad]

Ah, clearly I don't know how SOS works. I figured because Massey has UT Dallas ranked #12 from last year, playing them would up the SOS rating of anyone who played them.  It looks like they are the highest rated NC opponent anyone is playing.

[Ralph Turner]

Ah, clearly I don't know how SOS works. I figured because Massey has UT Dallas ranked #12 from last year, playing them would up the SOS rating of anyone who played them.  It looks like they are the highest rated NC opponent anyone is playing.

The SOS in the ASC is so low, because the 13-team conference does not get exposed to more than 40 D-3 non-conference opponents.

The SOS tends to hover around .500, because of the geographical isolation. The ASC schools go to Arizona to play quality West Region schools who help with the Regional Rankings later in the season.

If I am an east coast coach, I want to go to Florida and play at least 4-5 of the 7-8 games one can schedule over spring break against teams who routinely finish in the top half of their conferences. That gives you the best chance of boosting the SOS.

The SCIAC also benefits from the good quality teams who want to play competitive schools who are about 4 weeks ahead of them in the playing season, as warmup for their own conference games.

On a national basis, watch the South Region and West Region schools in Frebruary and then start to follow the other regions in March onward.

[Jack Parkman]

Some additional schedules have been released and here are the non-conference matchups.

Chapman
Vanguard (exhibition)
Concordia (TX) x1 @Tucson, AZ
UT Dallas x1 @Tucson, AZ
Sul Ross x1 @Tucson, AZ
Castleton x1
Concordia (WI) x2
Ursinus x1
Vassar x1
Ithaca x1
Dickinson x2
Linfield x1
Middlebury x1
Williams x1
George Fox x1

Pomona-Pitzer
Lewis & Clark x1
Whitman x2
Willamette x1
Bates x1
Castleton x1
Puget Sound x1
Rutgers-Newark x1
Dickinson x1
Ithaca x1
Endicott x1
Vassar x1
Williams x1
Middlebury x1
PLU x1

Redlands
@ Vanguard (exhibition)
@ Cal St Dominguez Hills (exhibition)
Claremont x1 (non-conference) @Tucson, AZ
Sul Ross x1 @Tucson, AZ
UT Dallas x1 @Tucson, AZ
Concordia (TX) x1 @Tucson, AZ
Ursinus x2
Centenary (LA) x2
Endicott x2
Dickinson x1
Ithaca x1
Rutgers-Newark x1
Williams x2
Middlebury x1


Still waiting on Cal Lu, Claremont, and La Verne to release their 2018 schedules. 

[Jack Parkman]

I wonder if Cal Lu winning it all last year affords halo effect into next year such that IF the SCIAC  Conference Tourney #1 seed loses - say in the championship finals of the conference tourney - would they get an enhanced look as an at-large entry.

Personally, speaking as a Whittier fan, I like their schedule.  It's got some teams we have not seen before, and a couple we have where the games were competitive last year.  I think the conference is opened up a bit due to graduation, so we will see how well teams recruit.

Some questions...
How well does Cal Lu reload - they seemingly were hardest hit by graduation.
What's life going to be like without Nishioka at the front of the order for Pomona?
Who will be Redlands #2 and #3 starters?

I think Redlands lost the most out of anyone in the SCIAC.  They lose 23 starts on the mound and 3 of their top hitters.  I feel like Cal Lu has a little bit more coming back but we won't see until rosters are released.  Either way, the SCIAC should be very competitive this year with a few schools having some veteran talent rolling out for the 2018 season.