New USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll Misses The Mark

[socalmarauders]

Seriously?!?!? #1 Oregon battles #8 UCLA, wins a great and competitive series (two grand slams anyone) which solidified the #1 team in their conference and loses their #1 ranking to LSU who sweeps Ole Miss? How is this even something these voters consider?

LSU is a legit #1 contender, but not after sweeping unranked opponents who have not beaten anyone significant. Just more evidence there is something fishy going on to keep the PAC 12 at bay and out of the WCWS.

http://www.fpsixty.com/new-coaches-poll ... -the-mark/

[tbjd33]

There has , is and will always be an SEC biased in rankings. I watch some of these teams and have seen several games in person and they are all very similar.

LSU does stand out as well as Oregon above others. They both have athletes and both have pitching. I don't have an issue with LSU taking the top spot at this point. Just doesn't matter cause they wi both be there in the end. My issues is all of the other mid-lower level SEC school hovering around the rankings.

It looks like the Pac will have 5 possible 6 teams if Utah keeps working and the SEC will probably have 9 possible 10. It's about ratings and the SEC provides it. I feel the Pac realizes they need facilities and Oregon and Cal with both have too notch stadiums by 2017. Add the Pac12 network and the battle is on!

Gonna get interesting over the coming years.

[fastpitchdad05]

I don't see any bias at all and even if there is it's not helping:

- The PAC 12 has 80 WCWS Appearances vs 28 for the SEC
- The PAC 12 has 36 WCWS Title Game/Series Appearances vs 7 for the SEC
- The PAC 12 has 23 WCWS Championships vs 2 for the SEC

Polls are for fun and to argue over, that's all.

Make no excuses and beat the teams in front of you and you will be champions.

[PDad]

I don't see any bias at all and even if there is it's not helping:

- The PAC 12 has 80 WCWS Appearances vs 28 for the SEC
- The PAC 12 has 36 WCWS Title Game/Series Appearances vs 7 for the SEC
- The PAC 12 has 23 WCWS Championships vs 2 for the SEC

A lot of that is irrelevant history at this point. The SEC has made a lot of progress in softball the last 10 years and their achievements over the past 5 years easily surpass the PAC.

Bama winning it all in 2012 was very noteworthy because they did it without any players from CA.

[PDad]

NFCA poll lost credibility 3 weeks ago after LSU won the series in Florida by ridiculously ranking Oregon narrowly above Florida (756/754) and giving 9 first-place votes to them. It uses a coach from each conference and obviously some aren't paying close attention.

The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll is voted on by 32 NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference. Current 2015 records are shown, first-place votes are in parentheses.
Rankings
Rank Team Record Points Previous
1 LSU (23) 27-1 787 4
2 Oregon (6) 23-3 756 2
3 Florida (3) 28-2 754 1

[fastpitchdad05]

Sure I get all that, but I still fail to see a bias in the polls and I certainly stand behind my no excuses statement.

[PDad]

Sure I get all that, but I still fail to see a bias in the polls and I certainly stand behind my no excuses statement.

It doesn't seem like you got both of my posts...

My reply to your post was strictly about dredging up old historical records. The PAC dynasty in softball is over, just like the ones for UCLA basketball and USC baseball. I actually agree with your no excuses statement, which is why I didn't quote that portion.

My second post uses the previous ranking of OR over FL to demonstrate the biggest problem with the NFCA poll is competency rather than bias.

[fastpitchdad05]

Sure I get all that, but I still fail to see a bias in the polls and I certainly stand behind my no excuses statement.

It doesn't seem like you got both of my posts...

My reply to your post was strictly about dredging up old historical records. The PAC dynasty in softball is over, just like the ones for UCLA basketball and USC baseball. I actually agree with your no excuses statement, which is why I didn't quote that portion.

My second post uses the previous ranking of OR over FL to demonstrate the biggest problem with the NFCA poll is competency rather than bias.

You're right PDad I hadn;t seen the 2nd post and you make a very valid point.

[exD1dad]

I watched the 1st Bruins ducks game when the #7 hitter hit the slam after a BB to the pitcher, single, error on an easy play by SS & either a BB or HBP & haven't sen any SEC games yet this year but honestly I really don't see a big difference between TB & NCAA & haven't for the last 2 or 3 seasons. I've seen so many errors, bad throws & mental mistakes in the college game that I'm sadly not impressed with the level of play. Therefore, who cares where they're ranked.

Sorry to hijack yr thread SoCal Maruder

[socalmarauders]

I love the comments! Especially the 'no excuses' one which I think will be the determining factor in post season play. No doubt the SEC has gotten better, and the polls are mainly for discussion, but without the ranking it is tough to get the proper match-ups to truly test out the validity of the polls.

Overall I do feel like the PAC12 network needs to get out there like the SEC channel. With SlingTV I was able to watch more softball than I have ever been able to before and it was all mainly SEC! If the coaches can't watch the games easily how does the PAC12 think they will get the proper rankings for their squads?

Overall though the direction of the sport is great!