Big 12 Baseball Weekly Review - March 24, 2008

It's still early in the season, but I think we learned a lot about the state of Big 12 baseball this week:

- Big surprise of the week? Missouri sweeps Baylor, shutting them out in two games and allowing only two runs the entire weekend. Missouri is now off to their best start in school history.
- The Cornhuskers continue to play well, a 5-0-1 mark to start conference play is a great start.
- Baylor begins conference play at 2-4. Ouch! They need to figure out how to win on the road. No doubt they'll be dropping heavily in the rankings.
Overall Big 12 win-loss records are updated on the right sidebar. Win-loss for the week is included below.
Big 12 Rankings this Week
National Collegiate Baseball Writers, March 17, 2008 -Texas, 10th; Missouri, 11th; ; Baylor 16th; Texas A&M, 19th; Oklahoma State, 23rd
Baseball America Top 25, March 17, 2008 - Missouri, 4th; Baylor, 14th; Texas, 18th; Nebraska, 22nd
Collegiate Baseball Top 25, March 17, 2008 - Missouri, 8th; Texas, 13th; Baylor, 15th; Nebraska, 22nd; Texas A&M, 23rd
If I refer to rankings below, I'll be using Baseball America's ranking.

Baylor

0-3

Fri., Mar. 21 Missouri 7, Baylor 0 Sat., Mar. 22 Missouri 3, Baylor 0 Sun., Mar. 23 Missouri 12, Baylor 2 (7)

What a disappointing weekend for Baylor. In three games, the Bear manage only two runs against the Tigers while giving up 22. The Bears have now dropped five consecutive road games and five consecutive conference road games dating back to last season. If you can't win games on the road, you've got little chance of finishing in the upper half of the Big 12.
The Bears get Houston Baptist (Non Div-IA) and TAMU-Corpus Christi (RPI:155) midweek, then head to Norman for a series with Oklahoma next weekend.

Kansas

4-2

Wed., Mar. 19 Illinois 11, Kansas 9 Thu., Mar. 20 Kansas 7, CCSU 6 Thu., Mar. 20 Kansas 8, Dartmouth 6 Fri., Mar. 21 Ohio State 16, Kansas 5 Fri., Mar. 21 Kansas 4, UMBC 1 Sun., Mar. 23 Kansas 12, Northwestern 11

Kansas competed in the Florida Spring Classic at Bradenton, finishing at 4-2 on the week. They were destroyed by Ohio State on Friday, while playing only so-so against mediocre competition the rest of the week. Kansas doesn't look as good as I thought they might at the beginning of the year.
Kansas gets Chicago State (RPI:276) at home midweek, then head to College Station for a conference series against the Texas A&M Aggies next weekend.

Kansas State

3-2

Tue., Mar. 18 BYU 7, Kansas State 1 Wed., Mar. 19 BYU 6, Kansas State 5 Fri., Mar. 21 Kansas State 10, Binghamton 4 Sat., Mar. 22 Kansas State 5, Binghamton 0 Sun., Mar. 23 Kansas State 5, Binghamton 4

Swept by BYU mid-week, then they sweep Binghamton, a school that neither you nor I has heard of. Kansas State.... well, let's just say they're not going any place.
The Wildcats get Creighton (RPI:96) midweek, then head of Stillwater, most likely to lose a series against Oklahoma State.

Missouri

5-0

Tue., Mar. 18 Missouri 13, South Dakota St. 1 Wed., Mar. 19 Missouri 9, South Dakota St. 4 Fri., Mar. 21 Missouri 7, Baylor 0 Sat., Mar. 22 Missouri 3, Baylor 0 Sun., Mar. 23 Missouri 12, Baylor 2 (7)

Up to this point in the season, Missouri hadn't played a lot of games worth mentioning. Then Baylor comes to town and the Tigers make a helluva statement by not only sweeping them, but by shutting them down, allowing only *six hits over three games.* Missouri has won 12 in a row, and at 18-2 they're off to their best start in school history.
Missouri gets Minnesota (RPI:137) for a two-game series midweek, then continue Big 12 play at Lubbock next week.

Nebraska

3-1-1

Tue., Mar. 18 Nebraska 6, Arkansas 1 Wed., Mar. 19 Arkansas 9, Nebraska 5 Fri., Mar. 21 Nebraska 4, Oklahoma 2 Sat., Mar. 22 Nebraska 4, Oklahoma 3 Sun., Mar. 23 Oklahoma 8, Nebraska 8

Another good week for Nebraska, the only loss coming against a good hitting Arkansas team. The Huskers nearly pulled a sweep of the Sooners at home, but Sunday's game was called because of a travel curfew. Too bad. The Huskers should
The Cornhuskers get Northern Colorado (RPI:63) at home midweek for a two-game series, then head off to Austin next weekend for a huge match up with the Longhorns. It will be a great est to see where Nebraska fits in Big 12 pecking order.

Oklahoma

2-2-1

Tue., Mar. 18 Oklahoma 6, South Florida 1 Wed., Mar. 19 Oklahoma 7, South Florida 5 Fri., Mar. 21 Nebraska 4, Oklahoma 2 Sat., Mar. 22 Nebraska 4, Oklahoma 3 Sun., Mar. 23 Oklahoma 8, Nebraska 8

The Sooners take two from the South Florida Bulls, but then come to Lincoln and lose a series. It wasn't so much that the Huskers were overwhelming - the Sooners had more hits in each game than Nebraska - but they were more opportunistic than the Sooners. Oklahoma scored five runs in the top of the ninth in the Sunday game, only to have Nebraska score two in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings and eventually a tie.
UT-Arlington (RPI:156) midweek, then Baylor comes to Norman. Given Baylor's road woes, Oklahoma should take that series.

Oklahoma State

4-1

Wed., Mar. 19 Oklahoma State 22, Arkansas - Pine Bluff 8 Wed., Mar. 19 Oklahoma State 34, Arkansas - Pine Bluff 1 Fri., Mar. 21 Texas A&M 9, Oklahoma State 5 Sat., Mar. 22 Oklahoma State 3, Texas A&M 2 Sun., Mar. 23 Oklahoma State 6, Texas A&M 4

The Cowboys feast on a midweek twinkie, then pull off an impressive series win at Texas A&M. They needed the wins as the week previous they'd lost a series to Baylor.
Oklahoma State welcomes second-ranked Arizona (RPI:27) to Stillwater midweek, then goes to Manhattan next weekend for a Big 12 series against Kansas State.

Texas

4-1

Mon., Mar. 17 Texas 16, Texas-San Antonio 5 Tue., Mar. 18 Texas 9, Texas State 6 Thu., Mar. 20 Texas 22, Texas Tech 6 Fri., Mar. 21 Texas Tech 7, Texas 5 Sat., Mar. 22 Texas 4, Texas Tech 3

Texas feasted on twinkies midweek, then travelled to Lubbock to take a series from the Red Raiders. Thursday's game was an absolute blow-out, then Tech must have figured that since it's a rivalry game they should make an attempt, and at least take a game in the series. Texas hasn't looked as impressive as their pre-season pick of winning the Big 12 would indicate.
Oral Roberts (RPI:29) is coming to Austin mid-week, then Nebraska comes to town for next weekend's conference series. It's a big series as it will determine where these two teams are in the Big 12 pecking order - at the top or not.

Texas A&M

2-2

Tue., Mar. 18 Texas A&M 12, UT Arlington 0 Fri., Mar. 21 Texas A&M 9, Oklahoma State 5 Sat., Mar. 22 Oklahoma State 3, Texas A&M 2 Sun., Mar. 23 Oklahoma State 6, Texas A&M 4

I haven't figured the Aggies out yet. I guess the only thing that can be said about this series is that Oklahoma State's big bats beat Aggie pitching, by narrow margins, but beating them all the same.
The Aggies get UT-San Antonino (RPI:135) mid-week, and then go to Kansas for conference play next weekend.

Texas Tech

2-2

Tue., Mar. 18 Texas Tech 21, Texas A&M Corpus Christi 8 Thu., Mar. 20 Texas 22, Texas Tech 6 Fri., Mar. 21 Texas Tech 7, Texas 5 Sat., Mar. 22 Texas 4, Texas Tech 3

As expected, Tech loses a series to the Longhorns, but takes a game. Tech isn't going anywhere.

Tech gets UC-Riverside (RPI:118) at home midweek, then the Missouri Tigers come to Lubbock for a conference series. You'd think that Tech might make up some ground with these home games, but don't hold your breath.