A Grip on Sports: When the weather turns warm, the polls surprisingly begin to bloom around college baseball
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Imagine the Gonzaga men’s basketball team ranked ninth in the nation. In one poll. And then imagine the hue and cry among Zag fans if their team was unranked in another one. Impossible, right? Sure it is. But not in college baseball. Not this week anyway.
•••••••
• Nearly a half-century ago, when we were skipping class to get out to UC Irvine’s baseball field early just to play flip – a violent take on pepper – with the pitchers, the baseball poll was always a subject of conversation. And we didn’t mis-type anything there when we wrote “poll.”
There was just one.
Arizona-based Collegiate Baseball had it. No one else really cared about the sport. Then the 1980s hit, a Canadian named Allan Simpson began Baseball America in the Northwest and the floodgates opened. There are at least a half-dozen college baseball polls available, from sources as varied as those two already mentioned to the national college baseball writers’ survey to one from the coaches to websites few have ever accessed.
Which means there is a difference in opinion about which teams are best.
Not at the top. At least usually. This week, Tennessee and Oregon State are 1-2 in five of the six major polls. The 37-3 Vols lead them all and the 31-8 Beavers drop only in Collegiate Baseball’s.
But that OSU is sixth in that poll – behind fifth-ranked Stanford, which is 24-12 and trailing the Beavers in the Pac-12 standings – illustrates how wonky they can be. Not as well, however, as Gonzaga’s placement.
The Bulldogs played five games last week. They split a pair at Oregon State and then won two-of-three at Saint Mary’s. For that effort, the Zags dropped in all but two polls. Their highest ranking? That would ninth by Perfect Game, where they were seventh last week.
Their worst ranking? Uh, Collegiate Baseball doesn’t have the 26-11 Bulldogs ranked. Nope, nowhere in its top 30.
What’s so odd about that is the placement of Oklahoma State relative to GU. The Cowboys, who were 1-3 last week, are still in CB’s top 10. Maybe they should be. But then what about Gonzaga, which swept a three-game set in Stillwater this season? That has to count for a lot, right? Not really, not in the weird world of college baseball rankings.
Maybe we should put together our own.
The Zags would be in the top 10 somewhere. Probably one spot behind the 22-15 Anteaters of UC Irvine. Why? It’s college baseball and it’s our poll. We can do whatever we want.
Everybody else does.
• If you’re wondering why there seems to be more transfer portal news in football and basketball, it’s simple. The NCAA isn’t limiting transfers as much anymore – athletes can switch schools once without having to sit out – but it did institute a May 1 deadline for fall and winter sports’ participants for entering the portal. After that, transfer do have to sit a season.
We were told last weekend most major basketball programs hosted multiple recruits on campus. Not high school juniors or seniors. Transfers. Athletes in the portal. It’s a new world.
•••
WSU: Hey, speaking of the portal, the Cougars are among Jon Wilner’s winners in football. That’s good, right? … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and college football, Wilner doesn’t think the conference will present well in the weekend’s NFL draft. … The trial in Oregon continues. … The Ducks feel as if they built momentum this spring. … So does USC, which expects to add more transfers before the fall. … Spring is also about building a rapport between players. … Devin Lloyd wants to be the latest Utah player to lead an NFL defense. … In basketball news, one Colorado player wants to be more consistent. … Both Gach may be leaving Utah again. … Same for an Arizona State player.
Gonzaga: More transfer portal news, this from the Zags. Theo Lawson shares the news Iowa State guard Tyrese Hunter has Gonzaga in his final six. … More traditionally, Theo also has a story on a high school junior happily accepting a GU offer.
EWU: The Eagles will hold their final spring scrimmage Saturday but prior to the Red-White Game, the coaching staff holds a draft. Justin Reed has all the details in this story. … Professional athletes talk about giving back all the time. Kendrick Bourne recently gave back to the most important people in his life: his parents. Jim Allen has this story on the former EWU receiver buying them a new home.
Chiefs: If Spokane is going to advance in the WHL playoffs, it will have to stage a comeback for the ages. The Chiefs are down 3-0 in their first-round series against Kamloops after last night’s 5-1 road loss. … A couple of Chief players were honored by the WHL. That leads off the S-R’s weekly local briefs column.
Mariners: We professed our admiration for Ty France’s hitting abilities in this space yesterday. Then he was honored by baseball. And appeared as the subject of Matt Calkins’ column. … Speaking of baseball rankings, the M’s are mentioned here.
Seahawks: The draft can’t get here quick enough. Even if the Hawks take a cornerback, which would be out of character. Then again, Seattle seems to be out of character in a lot of ways. … They probably won’t trade down because there is little in the way of value with the ninth pick for most teams.
Storm: We found this story about women’s professional sports interesting. You might as well.
•••
• When will we ever learn? Never, ever leave on a trip with the personal goal of eating right and, ahem, losing weight. It just isn’t going to happen. Not when you begin the part of the trip in which you interact with relatives. Especially not your Italian relatives. Food is a love language all its own. Until later …