Whatever brought up an interesting point....

[Coach34]

"Would you take Polk's last 7 years over Bianco's from that same time period because Polk made one CWS? Does that one tourney run(even though OM had the better team in 07 and pretty much every year while both coaches were here) mean that Polk outperformed Bianco? Winning one more game when it "counted" makes what he did in EVERY season meaningless?"

Polk's last 7 years- 5 regionals, 1 CWS, 1 SEC Tourney title, 1 losing season

Bianco during that time- 6 regionals, 0 CWS, 1 SEC Tourney title, 1 SEC West title

If you just base it on the outcomes of those seasons, I'm going to have to say I'd take Polk. Getting to the CWS is the ultimate goal of college baseball, and achieving that trumps 1 more regional and winning a few more games in those seasons.

Now then, if you add in that Polk stopped leaving his office to recruit the last 2 seasons and just let the program die, then no- I cant side with that. But based on outcomes during that time- give me Polk.

 

[Coach34]

"Would you take Polk's last 7 years over Bianco's from that same time period because Polk made one CWS? Does that one tourney run(even though OM had the better team in 07 and pretty much every year while both coaches were here) mean that Polk outperformed Bianco? Winning one more game when it "counted" makes what he did in EVERY season meaningless?"

Polk's last 7 years- 5 regionals, 1 CWS, 1 SEC Tourney title, 1 losing season

Bianco during that time- 6 regionals, 0 CWS, 1 SEC Tourney title, 1 SEC West title

If you just base it on the outcomes of those seasons, I'm going to have to say I'd take Polk. Getting to the CWS is the ultimate goal of college baseball, and achieving that trumps 1 more regional and winning a few more games in those seasons.

Now then, if you add in that Polk stopped leaving his office to recruit the last 2 seasons and just let the program die, then no- I cant side with that. But based on outcomes during that time- give me Polk.

 

[8dog]

Polk also hosted only 1 regional during that time while bianco hosted 4 (I think that's right).

Polk went to and hosted 1 super regional. Bianco went to 3 and hosted 2.

Im pretty sure those numbers are correct.

 

[tenureplan]

Bianco needs to be fired.

 

[dawgstudent]

but they know they can't let him go as long as they get to the tourney - which is what a lot of us are saying about Stansbury.

We aren't getting to the tourney consistently.

 

[Coach34]

.

 

[LAdawg3]

Give me Polk

 

[RobbieRandolph]

Consistently hosting Regionals and Super Regionals is huge. While not making it over the hump, they did some really great things to elevate their program.

 

[Coach34]

.

 

[DowntownDawg]

...everything he has done has been program building. Just like RR said, those 7 years changed the course of Mississippi baseball to the point where we are all just hoping for an SEC tournament this year in a sport that we used to be the dominant force in the state and near the top in the conference.

The comparison only goes so far. In the college baseball world, Bianco has hosted regionals and supers consistently. That is huge for recruiting and your program. There's no comparison for that in basketball.

 

[MadDawg.sixpack]

-colored dump trucks.

 

[Todd4State]

They're essentially the same- but I would go with the appearance in Omaha as well, without knowing what was or wasn't happening on the recruiting front.

We're very lucky to have gotten Ed Easley- I had heard that Polk made him pull his name out of the MLB draft as a senior in high school, Mitch Moreland, Jeffrey Rea, Brandon Turner, and Aaron Weatherford. Matt Lea would have been a beast as well except that Russ McNickle ruined him- and Weatherford had some arm injuries as well.

Russ McNickle was as much a culprit as Polk for our bad recruiting because of his reputation in the baseball community. When Polk decided to keep him around, the pitchers stopping coming- and then the bottom fell out.

Polk was also very fortunate to take over a team that had first round pick ace in Paul Maholm and a future MLB All-Star closer in Jonathan Papelbon, as well as a future MLB catcher in Craig Tatum.

 

[dawgoneyall]

Polk took an upper tier program and destroyed it while Bianco took a bottom feeder and made them a top tier program.

 

[Coach34]

football is the orange in comparisions

 

[patdog]

There's a lot of difference between hosting a regional and going to a super regional and sneaking into a regional as a #3 seed even though you missed the SEC tournament and finishing 3rd in the regional. Yet, in Coach34's world, the two seasons are equal because both went to a regional and neither went to the CWS.It's not hard to figure out which of those two coaches had most years like the former example and which one had most years like the latter.

 

[MadDawg.sixpack]

?

 

[Coach34]

There's a lot of difference between hosting a regional and going to a super regional and sneaking into a regional as a #3 seed even though you missed the SEC tournament and finishing 3rd in the regional. Yet, in Coach34's world, the two seasons are equal because both went to a regional and neither went to the CWS.It's not hard to figure out which of those two coaches had most years like the former example and which one had most years like the latter.

What I posted was fact. You can argue the 3 Supers vs 1 Super/CWS. And I would understand some people picking Bianco.Would you choose 1 great season for 3 very good ones? Personal choice.

As far as hosting a regional, thats over-rated.We won some regionals in S'ville- and I've seen us lose some as well. Home field advantage in baseball is not that big of a deal like it is in football and basketball

 

[Coach34]

.

 

[tenureplan]

Home field advantage in baseball is not that big of a deal like it is in football and basketball

 

[RobbieRandolph]

You can discuss the actual theory in play, but don't use a random event to prove your point, because it's quite easy to do the exact same thing but for the opposing point.

 

[MedDawg]

vs. Bianco's best. And it's still close, considering Polk in his last 7 yearshas the CWS and just one fewer regional. Everyone is jumping on Coach34 like it is obvious thatBianco is just so much better than Polk.

Bianco'saccomplishments are not even close to Polk's overall accomplishments.Polk hasSIX College World Series appearances, and Polk also has FIVEappearances in regional finals under the old format (i.e. one or two games away from the CWS), equivalent to making the Supers in the current format. So that's 6 College World Series, including a 3rd place finish and several 5th place finishes) to Bianco's NONE, 5 SEC Championships to Bianco's 1, and 11 "Sweet Sixteens" to Bianco's 4.

 

[patdog]

It's also fair to separate Polk's career into 2 or 3 seperate components. For me, Polk I was the period until he first retired in 1992 (or so), Polk II was from then until he retired again in 1997 and Polk III was 2002-2008. Bianco was better than Polk III. Not even close. But Polk I was better than Bianco.

 

[tenureplan]

Unlike in college football and basketball, college baseball teams are tailored to suit their home field. For example, with our long field, speed is more desireable than power. Thus homefield advantage is not just limited to the crowd atmosphere, but the actual way the game plays out. you dont see this in football or basketball (sans vandy) because the playing fields are equal.

Throw into the mix a team like MSU's ability to draw 10,000 regional crowds and then there is even an atmosphere advantage (albeit less than it is in football or basketball).
</p>

 

[QuaoarsKing]

Polk: 93-111, 2 winning seasons, 5 losing seasons<div>Bianco: 115-95, 5 winning seasons, 1 .500 season, 1 losing season</div><div>
</div><div>Regional seeds:</div><div>Polk: 1 once, 2 twice, 3 twice, not invited twice. National seed 0 times.</div><div>Bianco: 1 four times, 2 once, 3 once, not invited once. National seed 1 time.</div><div>
</div><div>Baseball's a funny game and not one that's meant to come down to double elimination weekends. The tournament is HORRIBLY designed. Come on, a 10-14 Pac-10 team won it a couple years ago, and then the next year a 4 seed with an RPI of 90 won it. It's like the NCAA is willfully ignorant of baseball here. It was great that Polk had a good two-week stretch in 2007, but his overall record over that seven year stretch wasn't even close to Bianco's. Bianco's teams were nationally competitive and Polk's weren't. Period.</div>

 

[8dog]

is like making it to supers is really not accurate. I understand the math, but its a damn roll of the dice to see who comes out of the loser's bracket of a 6 team tourney and even when you do, you have to win 2 straight games to advance. The other team only has to win 1 of 2.

Its just not quite the accomplishment that winning a modern day 4 team regional is, particuarly since so many more schools are playing good baseball as compared to back then.

 

[8dog]

I think its set up great.

 

[patdog]

You take a sport with limited pitching depth where they play no more than 3 games a weekend throughout the entire season and then ask teams to play 5 games in 72 hours. That's ridiculous. You wind up with pitchers with 20 innings all season having to start regional final games, or worse with a pitcher starting again with only 2 days rest. They need to have three rounds of best 2-of-3 series instead of a 4-team double-elimination tournament and then a best 2-of-3 series.

 

[bill brasky.sixpack]

Is that the best teams should always make it to Omaha because they would have the most pitching depth.<div>
</div><div>
</div><div>And I would take Polk's seven year run over Bianco's for the sole reason that we made it to Omaha and they didn't. The other seasons we had were not great but not anything like we have had these past 3 years, including Polk's last. But to me all it comes down to is Omaha.</div>

 

[8dog]

too long (and got longer last year).

I don't mind that teams that have to win 5 games have to go deep in their pen. It rewards teams for doing well in the tourney and staying in the winner's bracket. It also rewards those that take risks with their matchups. Calls for some strategy (you listening Ron?).

 

[Todd4State]

You take a sport with limited pitching depth where they play no more than 3 games a weekend throughout the entire season and then ask teams to play 5 games in 72 hours. That's ridiculous. You wind up with pitchers with 20 innings all season having to start regional final games, or worse with a pitcher starting again with only 2 days rest. They need to have three rounds of best 2-of-3 series instead of a 4-team double-elimination tournament and then a best 2-of-3 series.

but I'm not sure how far those talks are going to go. I'm not looking for any changes anytime soon.

 

[bill brasky.sixpack]

But there has been talk about changing the format. The only reason they would switch to multiple 3 game set format is to get the northern schools more hosting options.

 

[MadDawg.sixpack]

wtf</p>

 

[patdog]

nobody has any pitching depth at all. None. Hell, MLBteams have12 pitchers making $400K+ (usually + a lot) per year and even they would never even dream of trying to play so many games in such a short period of time. The last thing we need to see in the postseason is two teams with depleted pitching staffs playing a 20-16 game in the NCAA tournament. That's not baseball. That's batting practice.