MSU baseball

ronpolk

All-American
May 6, 2009
9,455
5,481
113
I've read on this board and elite dawgs that Msu baseball has unlimited potential and we should compete for championships each year. Now I'm just as upset about this year as the next guy but I don't understand the attitude that we should be immune to a bad year.

What sets our program apart from others? Is it facilities? Works series trips? National titles? Sec titles? In state talent?

Truth is we are a good program that was elite in the 80's. We do have fan commitment that is only matched by a few programs. I do think we can be an elite program but I'd like someone to explain to me what we have right now that makes us such an awesome program? From the outside looking in, we look like a program living off past glory that has facility problems and an uneven scholarship situation (non lottery state).

Truth is, our current coach led us to the best season in school history 2 years ago and has lost almost every good player from that team. Firing him now would be stupid.
 

patdog

Heisman
May 28, 2007
61,339
33,065
113
Now I'm just as upset about this year as the next guy but I don't understand the attitude that we should be immune to a bad year.
Calling this a "bad year" is really being too kind. This isn't a bad year, it's an unacceptable year. We're sitting at 18 SEC losses with 4 game to go. To put that in perspective, Mike Bianco has been at Mississippi for 15 years and he's never lost more than 17 SEC games, and only lost that many 1 time.
 

MSUDawg25

Redshirt
Jan 21, 2010
2,088
1
38
Anyone saying we should fire Cohen now is stupid and should probably be ignored, but if we suck again next year it's a real possibility.

The expectation isn't that we are SO elite we have to be in the title hunt every year. But we do have the support, facilities, talent, etc that we should have built a good enough cushion that our "down" years shouldn't result in us possibly missing the SEC tourney. Look at something like LSU's football team this past year. They were horrible by their standards. They went 8-5. Maybe not the best example, but the point is that our floor shouldn't be this low. That doesn't mean FIRE COHEN!!! It does mean we aren't doing something right.
 

WayboDawg

Redshirt
Jun 7, 2013
1,224
9
38
What sets our program apart from others? Is it facilities? Works series trips? National titles? Sec titles? In state talent?

In my opinion what sets us apart as an elite program:

1. 9 World Series trips (Runner-up in 2013)
2. Fan support/big game atmospheres at Dudy Noble
3. Arch rival to the best college baseball program in the nation (LSU). A series we lead 207-175-1 according to Wikipedia.
4. Member of the best baseball conference in the nation (SEC).
5. Big name alumni: Will Clark, Rafael Palmeiro, Jonathan Papelbon, Buck Showalter, Jeff Brantley
6. Better facilities than 75% of the other teams in the nation

The biggest one has to be the 9 World Series trips. Only 15 other programs have more appearances than us.

Mississippi has its share of baseball talent, but there is probably 10 times more talent in the Los Angeles and Dallas Fort Worth areas alone before even mentioning the entire states of California or Texas. Mississippi is just no comparison.

And no, we are not a program living in glories past. We have made 2 CWS appearances and 1 other Super Regional in the past 8 years.
 
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WayboDawg

Redshirt
Jun 7, 2013
1,224
9
38
I'll take national runner up over or even cws appearance over sec title anyday, but that's just me...

Not important. Didn't win the conference. I guess Vanderbilt had a better year in 2013 when they won the SEC but lost at Supers, than they did in 2014 when they only won the CWS. Slackers....
 

DawgatAuburn

All-Conference
Apr 25, 2006
11,192
2,329
113
I agree with you but you would also think an elite program would have won a conference championship ONCE in a period of 25 years. Is there another elite program out there with no conference championships in that period of time?
 

WayboDawg

Redshirt
Jun 7, 2013
1,224
9
38
I agree with you but you would also think an elite program would have won a conference championship ONCE in a period of 25 years. Is there another elite program out there with no conference championships in that period of time?

I think what you are saying is that our post-season success is blind-luck. I'd disagree.... Since 1990, we have had 12 seasons with 40 or more wins, 2 with 50 or more. Yet we won the SEC in none of those years, go figure...
 
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DawgatAuburn

All-Conference
Apr 25, 2006
11,192
2,329
113
I said nothing like that. At all. I simply asked why an elite program hasn't won the conference in the past 25 years. It's a valid question, even if it was first posed in this thread by a Bear.
 

ronpolk

All-American
May 6, 2009
9,455
5,481
113
In my opinion what sets us apart as an elite program:

1. 9 World Series trips (Runner-up in 2013)
2. Fan support/big game atmospheres at Dudy Noble
3. Arch rival to the best college baseball program in the nation (LSU). A series we lead 207-175-1 according to Wikipedia.
4. Member of the best baseball conference in the nation (SEC).
5. Big name alumni: Will Clark, Rafael Palmeiro, Jonathan Papelbon, Buck Showalter, Jeff Brantley
6. Better facilities than 75% of the other teams in the nation

The biggest one has to be the 9 World Series trips. Only 15 other programs have more appearances than us.

Mississippi has its share of baseball talent, but there is probably 10 times more talent in the Los Angeles and Dallas Fort Worth areas alone before even mentioning the entire states of California or Texas. Mississippi is just no comparison.

And no, we are not a program living in glories past. We have made 2 CWS appearances and 1 other Super Regional in the past 8 years.

I think we have the potential to be elite but we currently are not. And have not been outside of the 80's. Like I said we are a good program but that's it. The only one of your points that are valid is fan support and CWS trips. Our facilities are not good but they will be after the renovation. Who cares about a rival. Hell I would consider alabama a rival in football but that not helped us much. And don't you think an elite baseball program should have more than 5 big time names. With only 1 who's been relevant in the last decade or maybe 2? Also, I think an elite program should have a title.

I'm not trying to **** on our program. It's a good program that we should be proud of but our fans have an unrealistic expectation. If Cohen repeats this season next year, he should be fired.
 

patdog

Heisman
May 28, 2007
61,339
33,065
113
Bad years are going to happen. That's just a fact. THIS year should never happen. Ever.
 

msstate7

Redshirt
Nov 27, 2008
10,388
10
38
Bad years are going to happen. That's just a fact. THIS year should never happen. Ever.

Everyone says Polk 2 was a dumpster fire and I agree, but Cohen still has to win 1 game to match polk's sec win total his last year.
 
Feb 23, 2008
1,708
0
0
We would be a bigger power but we're our own worst enemy....

Polk, love him or hate him, put us on the map so to speak nationally and rightfully or wrongfully, that first stint lasted too long. The early to mid 90's were nothing to write home about. I was a Coach Mac guy. The worst we ever did was super regional runner up in his 4 seasons. Were some of those years with Polk's players? Sure. But results were still there and I'll always wonder what could have been if we had really dived into bigger commitment to him and not let Florida sway him away. Polk II should have never happened and we'll never know what may have happened if a young up and comer was hired then. Because at that time, this was a premier job. Still is. We had no reason to go the retread route and it set us back. Now we're back at this crossroads again. No one knows what the future's going to be. It looks bleak as hell at this moment in my opinion. I just want us to make a wise decision. The CWS trips, the players in the pros history, the fan support, the university support, these things may not seem like much on paper and some want to discredit our power but it shows potential and shows it can be done. We're not hopeless annies here. It can be done here.
 

Bulldogg31

Redshirt
Dec 9, 2013
8,263
0
0
No way you can fire Cohen after this year, that's just not going to happen.

We are a very good program, top 20 all-time in my opinion, but not top 10.
 
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