2013 Pre-conference opponent rankings

[HuskerHacker]

According to collegiate baseball newspaper's preseason poll the sker's will face 7 top 50 ranked opponents. Personally, I am excited for many reasons but the biggest is the fact that I honestly see us winning more then we lose. Arkansas is home and in the latter part of the season (mid-week games) so I fully expect to at least split. TexA$$ is going to be difficult on the road but winning 1 is acceptable same as Fullerton. We need to win the Irvine and USC series and sweep New Mexico (home) and Okie St (Okie St is in the Ameritrade Classic). Doing this puts the sker's in position to be a top 25 team and if we win the BIG (Indiana and Purdue will both be tough but we have the Hoosiers at haymarket) regular season, I expect at least a home regional.

 

Yes, I am again as usual highly optimistic about the upcoming season. My expectations are lofty but also achievable. Winning 38 games should be easily achievable (38-17 overall) but I honestly expect a 40 win season. Is this unrealistic?

 

Arkansas: #1

TexA$$: 21

Cal St Fullerton: 23

UC Irvine: 30

New Mexico: 33

USC: top 50

Okie St: top 50

 

Also, FWIW, the article has Indiana picked to win the BIG

[HuskerHacker]

I know, double post but... thinking the SoCal trips through and wow, the skers could really make a huge impression... Think about it.

 

Win the USC and Bakersfield games (2 wins)

CS Fullerton (split this series, 2 wins)

CS Irvine (win this series, 2 wins)

 

total = 6 wins, 3 losses (1 loss to Irvine, 2 to Fullerton) add in a split with Arkansas and that equates to a 7 - 4 record against top talent which will equate into recruiting hype. (or so I hope)

[95huskers]

Im cautiously optimistic. But i look forward to the season as you know. I have a little lesser expectations. I look to see us grow and be competitive and learn from mistakes as we go through the non con. If we are anything over .500 i will be happy going into conference play

[huskerswrkhavoc]

Unrealistic? More than likely. Impossible? No.

 

Splitting with Fullerton, all 4 on the road, is a lot to ask. 1 of 4 is something to hope for. Same with taking the series from Irvine. Now, with 4 of these games being midweek games (2 vs Fullerton, 2 vs Arkansas) it's hard to know what to expect. They could be easier to win for us because we'll have more to win by winning than they will have to lose. However, even with great growth from last season, expecting this team to win that many games and host would be unrealistic in my book. I hope that's not the case and I hope people still show up to support the team if they get off to a slow start. What can be said is the harder schedule will definitely get this team ready much better than the schedule in the past has. It's exciting to be able to watch match-ups with top tier teams and it will definitely give us an early season look at what we need to work on and be telling of where we are in terms of the rest of the nation.

[95huskers]

Ill be at the park for most games. Season tickets should be showing up in the next few weeks

[bball_backer]

I look for the non-con to rough up the 'skers a bit. Thing is, that's perfectly fine. Losing to this level of competition is still beneficial as the conference schedule will seem much lighter. In only year two I'm more than happy to win the conference to get in and not get to host just yet. That's what year 3 or 4 is for...

[HuskerHacker]

Don't be so quick to call the BIG weak. Indiana is going to be good, Purdue is solid, Illinois will be better too and unfortunately for us, we only get Indiana here. Actually, if the sker's and Hoosiers improve as much as expected, I can see the BIG getting an at large even with Indiana's low RPI.

 

I also expect Indiana to be the media pick to win the BIG (Indiana, Illinois, Nebraska, in that order)

[flatwaterfan]

I think we will be competitive right out of the gate as we have a pretty experienced squad. Hard to say what our record will be. Depends on the pitching. I think we can be a regional team.

[Blackshirts007]

Like you said, pitching will be the key. Our bats will be find again this year and toward the top in the nation with B1G pitching.

[bravesfanatic4]

Don't be so quick to call the BIG weak. Indiana is going to be good, Purdue is solid, Illinois will be better too and unfortunately for us, we only get Indiana here. Actually, if the sker's and Hoosiers improve as much as expected, I can see the BIG getting an at large even with Indiana's low RPI.

 

I also expect Indiana to be the media pick to win the BIG (Indiana, Illinois, Nebraska, in that order)

Replace Illinois with Michigan State and I agree.

[bball_backer]

Don't be so quick to call the BIG weak. Indiana is going to be good, Purdue is solid, Illinois will be better too and unfortunately for us, we only get Indiana here. Actually, if the sker's and Hoosiers improve as much as expected, I can see the BIG getting an at large even with Indiana's low RPI.

 

I also expect Indiana to be the media pick to win the BIG (Indiana, Illinois, Nebraska, in that order)

My intentions were not to imply the B1G is weak. However, it's not going to be as tough as facing 7 top 50 teams. There are a few salty teams, but the rest... not so much.