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I've been giving quite a bit of thought to what should be reasonable expectations for WSU Baseball in today's College Baseball environment.
I have little doubt that the College Baseball environment has changed significantly in the last 15 years and that making it to the CWS is no doubt tougher than it has ever been. The number of other programs that have become more competitive in terms of facilities, funding and interest in College Baseball means we simply don't have the ability to cherry pick the best talent anymore. Unfortunately, our own success was probably a contributing factor for this happening among other things (i.e. ESPN coverage, etc.).
We have 7 CWS appearances to our credit. Six of those occurred during a 9-year stretch from 1988 through 1996. During that strectch we won 1 CWS title (1989) and finished 2nd twice (1991 and 1993) in addition to our 2nd place finish in 1982. Excluding the 9 year stretch from 1988 to 1996 we have been to one CWS in 26 years. It has been 16 years (almost a generation) since our last CWS world series. Certainly ancient history to any current recruits. In the current environment CWS appearances would seem to be something we should aspire to but only expect on a fairly rare occasion perhaps.
But what about post-season play. Being in the MVC surely it is still reasonable to expect us to at least reach post-season play on a regular basis. No doubt the WSU success has raised all boats in the MVC also and I'm not sure it is reasonable to expect a championship every year. Occassionally, and this past year was a good example, you will have one or more MVC schools loaded with juniors and seniros and sometimes that is enough of an advantage for them to win a title. However, outside of Creighton and MSU not sure any of the MVC schools really have the facilities, funding and/or fan support to consistently be a threat. Plus we may actaully may have a slight weather advantage vs much of the rest of the MVC. With our facilities, tradition, and fan support (assuming it does not totally dry up) I would think reasonable expectation would be along the following lines:
Win the MVC 3 out of every 5 years and be in the top 3 every year.
Play in a regional 5 out of every 10 years. (Occasionally, the MVC will be a 1 bid league and we won't be the auto-bid even if we win the regular season title)
Play in a super-regional 2 out of every 10 years.
Play in a CWS 1 out of every 10 years.
Too optimistic? Too pessimistic? Or about right? What say you Shocker baseball fans?
Of course, the other question is should the current coaching staff be allowed to try fulfill whatever expectations we have or should we go a different direction. A whole other question that has been discussed a lot and my take is the consensus is that we should probably turn to a new direction when Gene's current contract expires.
Remember this is not what we should aspire to but what would be reasonable to expect.
I have little doubt that the College Baseball environment has changed significantly in the last 15 years and that making it to the CWS is no doubt tougher than it has ever been. The number of other programs that have become more competitive in terms of facilities, funding and interest in College Baseball means we simply don't have the ability to cherry pick the best talent anymore. Unfortunately, our own success was probably a contributing factor for this happening among other things (i.e. ESPN coverage, etc.).
We have 7 CWS appearances to our credit. Six of those occurred during a 9-year stretch from 1988 through 1996. During that strectch we won 1 CWS title (1989) and finished 2nd twice (1991 and 1993) in addition to our 2nd place finish in 1982. Excluding the 9 year stretch from 1988 to 1996 we have been to one CWS in 26 years. It has been 16 years (almost a generation) since our last CWS world series. Certainly ancient history to any current recruits. In the current environment CWS appearances would seem to be something we should aspire to but only expect on a fairly rare occasion perhaps.
But what about post-season play. Being in the MVC surely it is still reasonable to expect us to at least reach post-season play on a regular basis. No doubt the WSU success has raised all boats in the MVC also and I'm not sure it is reasonable to expect a championship every year. Occassionally, and this past year was a good example, you will have one or more MVC schools loaded with juniors and seniros and sometimes that is enough of an advantage for them to win a title. However, outside of Creighton and MSU not sure any of the MVC schools really have the facilities, funding and/or fan support to consistently be a threat. Plus we may actaully may have a slight weather advantage vs much of the rest of the MVC. With our facilities, tradition, and fan support (assuming it does not totally dry up) I would think reasonable expectation would be along the following lines:
Win the MVC 3 out of every 5 years and be in the top 3 every year.
Play in a regional 5 out of every 10 years. (Occasionally, the MVC will be a 1 bid league and we won't be the auto-bid even if we win the regular season title)
Play in a super-regional 2 out of every 10 years.
Play in a CWS 1 out of every 10 years.
Too optimistic? Too pessimistic? Or about right? What say you Shocker baseball fans?
Of course, the other question is should the current coaching staff be allowed to try fulfill whatever expectations we have or should we go a different direction. A whole other question that has been discussed a lot and my take is the consensus is that we should probably turn to a new direction when Gene's current contract expires.
Remember this is not what we should aspire to but what would be reasonable to expect.
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