2017 BASEBALL POLLS

[HogFansReunited]

10-12.

+1  LOL

[Birminghog]

I know the polls don't matter right now, but which is the most accurate or best gauge of where everything sits right now?

As 49ers said, the mean (average) ranking of the nine polls listed is 16.37. The median is 16. Seems reasonable to take 16 as pretty accurate.

[ricepig]

http://www.arkansasrazorbacks.com/arkansas-moves-into-top-15/

[Wisco Pig]

WEEK 8 POLLS (April 10, 2017):  After a 3-2 week that ended with two disappointing losses to LSU, the Hogs remain ranked in all polls.  In most polls, the series loss to LSU had little to no effect on the Hogs' ranking; Arkansas actually rose in the NCBWA and Collegiate Baseball/Baseball News rankings.

D1 Baseball:  The Hogs are 15th (15th last week as well).   
https://d1baseball.com/rankings/d1baseball-top-25-april-10/

NCBWA: Hogs are 13th (15th last week).   http://www.sportswriters.net/ncbwa/poll/

USA Today Coaches poll: Hogs are 15th (15th last week as well).     
http://sportspolls.usatoday.com/ncaa/baseball/polls/coaches-poll/

Perfect Game:  Hogs are 13th (10th last week).   https://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/View.aspx?article=13745

Baseball America:  Hogs are 19th (16th last week).
http://www.baseballamerica.com/college/college-baseball-rankings-top-25-april-10/#zZVUX9kP8PfZCTXl.97

Collegiate Baseball:  Hogs are 11th  (14th last week).    http://baseballnews.com/collegiate-baseball-div-1-poll-4-10-17/

College Baseball Central:  Hogs are 24th (23rd last week).
https://collegebaseballcentral.com/college-baseball-central-top-25-4102017/15389/

Warren Nolan:  RPI #28, SoS #81, 5-4 vs. Top 50  (Last Monday: RPI #18, SoS #78, 7-4 vs. Top 50)         
http://warrennolan.com/baseball/2017/schedule/Arkansas

Boyd's World:  RPI #28 (Last Monday: RPI #20)      http://www.boydsworld.com/baseball/rpi/currentrpi.html

[Wisco Pig]

WEEK 9 POLLS (April 17, 2017):  Here's where the Hogs are ranked in this week's polls, along with the latest RPI from Warren Nolan.   I've decided not to give the links every week; they make these posts too long and difficult to read, and the polls are easy enough to find online.

Collegiate Baseball:  Hogs are 9th   (11th last week)
NCBWA:                    Hogs are 10th  (13th last week)
Perfect Game:           Hogs are 11th  (13th last week)
D1 Baseball:             Hogs are 14th  (15th last week)
USA Today:              Hogs are 14th  (15th last week)
Baseball America:    Hogs are 16th  (19th last week)
College BB Central:  Hogs are 18th  (24th last week)
Warren Nolan:         #18 RPI,  #63 SoS,  7-4 vs. Top 50

[Kevin]

d1 baseball

lsu is the top ranked sec team

lsu, Kentucky, florida, auburn ranked before hogs

miss state right behind the hogs

south Carolina still ranked.

you see who the blue bloods are

[southarkhog06]

d1 baseball

lsu is the top ranked sec team

lsu, Kentucky, florida, auburn ranked before hogs

miss state right behind the hogs

south Carolina still ranked.

you see who the blue bloods are

I have no clue what Florida has to do to fall. I can kinda understand LSU and Auburn, Auburn can point to "SOS" and LSU did beat is in a series.

[Kevin]

I have no clue what Florida has to do to fall. I can kinda understand LSU and Auburn, Auburn can point to "SOS" and LSU did beat is in a series.

florida had a great week. beat florida state, then beat vandy 2 out of 3 at vandy

[southarkhog06]

florida had a great week. beat florida state, then beat vandy 2 out of 3 at vandy

Not so much this week, but their overall resume is just not that impressive. swept midweek by FGCU, swept @Aub., ran away from Stetson, lost series @ home to Tenner. Won home series v. LSU, swept Mizzou @ home, won series @ Vandy. couple of nice midweek wins vs Fla St.

[southarkhog06]

That Stetson game... wasn't it something like 10-2 Stetson when the rain delay kicked in? 

Not surprising FL didn't want to get back on the field.

I'm not surprised they didn't want too, I am surprised they flat out refused to, then refused to postpone it until later, and they won't face a repercussion of any kind.

[cityhog]

S Carolina has looked like hot garbage. How they are still ranked is a mystery to me.

[bhogs05]

S Carolina has looked like hot garbage. How they are still ranked is a mystery to me.

And the committee will still probably give them a host site somehow..how they always get to host is beyond me. 

[Kevin]

And the committee will still probably give them a host site somehow..how they always get to host is beyond me. 

the game is rigged

[Wisco Pig]

I've updated the Week 9 polls post above to add the new Collegiate Baseball poll from baseballnews.com.

The Hogs are 9th, the highest-ranked SEC team in the poll, and up from 11th last week in the same poll.

[jbell96]

Baseball America having Mississippi State 5 spots ahead of us in their poll is laughable. I get that they are hot and playing well, but we swept them, have a better overall record, and most importantly, are ahead of them in the SEC standings. Not saying we should be in the top 10, I think top 15 is pretty accurate, but having State ahead of us at this point in time is ludicrous.

[cityhog]

Baseball America having Mississippi State 5 spots ahead of us in their poll is laughable. I get that they are hot and playing well, but we swept them, have a better overall record, and most importantly, are ahead of them in the SEC standings. Not saying we should be in the top 10, I think top 15 is pretty accurate, but having State ahead of us at this point in time is ludicrous.

It helps that they have the best/hottest player in the league right now. I've noticed on the SEC nightly show we are pretty much an afterthought. It's like they expect the wheels to come off at some point so there's really no point in talking about us. Winning is the only way to cure that I suppose, but we were only 1 of 3 top 20 teams to go undefeated last week. I just hope this fuels our guys fire to keep fighting.

[Wisco Pig]

I've again updated the Week 9 polls post above to add the new USA Today poll.  The Hogs are 14th, up from 15th last week.

[jry04]

It helps that they have the best/hottest player in the league right now. I've noticed on the SEC nightly show we are pretty much an afterthought. It's like they expect the wheels to come off at some point so there's really no point in talking about us. Winning is the only way to cure that I suppose, but we were only 1 of 3 top 20 teams to go undefeated last week. I just hope this fuels our guys fire to keep fighting.

This is odd, because literally every Friday night after our games they have the 1 takeaway from the nightly action and for the last 5 weekends it has been "The Hogs are back" or "The Hogs are for real." I am not exaggerating when I said every single Friday night since SEC play started we have been their one takeaway. Then they go into detail about how 1-9 we have no holes in our lineup, and how Blaine Knight is the best Friday night starter in the league. McDonald, Burke, and Peterson all say it every time they are on. Two weeks ago they were doing who is the 1 pitcher you will take to start your weekend off in the SEC, and both said Blaine Knight. They definitely love Rooker, but as a team they have talked about us a ton this season since SEC play started. Just a few days ago Ben McDonald said out we have one of the best lineups in the country and could make Omaha.

[TikiHog]

Burke said yesterday that Kentucky is the best team in the SEC

[dotnet]

I have no clue what Florida has to do to fall. I can kinda understand LSU and Auburn, Auburn can point to "SOS" and LSU did beat is in a series.

It isn't that hard.  there is no conspiracy.  Why isn't McNeese ranked?  they've dominated their schedule and can only play who is in front of them?  They should at least be ranked right?

Ranking teams is hard.  Early on you have to factor in what teams have actually done vs. what you expect them to do. 

Then at some point you have to just look at what they've done and rank them based on who you think is the best team or who you think has done the most.  Both of those factor in to some extent. 

And the truth is when you look at Florida's pitching and the talent they have recruited, no one is comfortable saying very many teams are better than them or more likely to win a series than them.  And they have beaten some really top end teams.  So while they've lost to teams that top teams shouldn't... they've always beaten really good teams and have "superior talent".

I'm not saying I'd rank Florida that high, but its not crazy or a conspiracy.  And if you are projecting a tournament field, it isn't crazy to project that Florida, with all that talent and having already played Vandy and LSU, will win enough games to wind up at least as a host. 

[southarkhog06]

It isn't that hard.  there is no conspiracy.  Why isn't McNeese ranked?  they've dominated their schedule and can only play who is in front of them?  They should at least be ranked right?

Ranking teams is hard.  Early on you have to factor in what teams have actually done vs. what you expect them to do. 

Then at some point you have to just look at what they've done and rank them based on who you think is the best team or who you think has done the most.  Both of those factor in to some extent. 

And the truth is when you look at Florida's pitching and the talent they have recruited, no one is comfortable saying very many teams are better than them or more likely to win a series than them.  And they have beaten some really top end teams.  So while they've lost to teams that top teams shouldn't... they've always beaten really good teams and have "superior talent".

I'm not saying I'd rank Florida that high, but its not crazy or a conspiracy.  And if you are projecting a tournament field, it isn't crazy to project that Florida, with all that talent and having already played Vandy and LSU, will win enough games to wind up at least as a host.

Lots of projecting happening here, point to where I said there was a conspiracy...

There doesn't have to be a conspiracy for them to have Florida overrated. You are kidding yourself if you think there is no sub-conscious bias with the committee you are kidding yourself, though.

[Kevin]

no conspiracy. look at the history.

florida, usc-e, lsu, south Carolina will ALWAYS get the benefit of the doubt in rankings and hosting.

if florida was to get swept this weekend, might fall 3 places, if we get swept this weekend we would fall to into the 20's

it is history, not conspiracy

[dotnet]

Right, but it has to do with the perceived talent level and the expected level of play at each school for the current season. 

Florida has the name talent that looked to be an elite team in 2017.  Arkansas had 3 big named starters at the beginning of the year and only 1 of them is on the active roster. 

I guess, if pressed, I do agree that LSU does get more favorable treatment than most other schools.  A lot of it comes to my earlier arguement, that if LSU had Auburn's results they'd be top five - but its more because the talent level already expected on campus playing up to its potential than an unexpected event that you're less certain will continue. 

However, yeah... I can't remember the last time LSU would have rightfully felt like they got the short end of the stick

[jabberjawls]

EI is starting to sound like JB and MMBQ with all the whining.

[HogFansReunited]

EI is starting to sound like JB and MMBQ with all the whining.

Really? I don't see anyone here whining. All I see is adults debating the current rankings.  If you would like to debate one way or the other please do it.

[SPAL]

EI is starting to sound like JB and MMBQ with all the whining.

Are you lost? This is the baseball forum.

[HogFansReunited]

IMO, we are ranked about where we should be. We should have won the series against LSU then we would deserve a top 10 ranking. Giving away game 2 really hurt us. I do think some teams always get ranked higher because of their name alone.

[Kevin]

I think we are ranked about right. It is the special treatment that certain teas get. 
Lsu beating us was huge, but then losing 2  to a&m at home is forgotten

[Wisco Pig]

To repeat from earlier in this thread, all Week 9 polls have now been released and are listed again here.
Collegiate Baseball:  Hogs are 9th   (11th last week)
NCBWA:                    Hogs are 10th  (13th last week)
Perfect Game:           Hogs are 11th  (13th last week)
D1 Baseball:             Hogs are 14th  (15th last week)
USA Today:              Hogs are 14th  (15th last week)
Baseball America:    Hogs are 16th  (19th last week)
College BB Central:  Hogs are 18th  (24th last week)
Warren Nolan:         #18 RPI,  #63 SoS,  7-4 vs. Top 50

[jbell96]

I think we are ranked about right. It is the special treatment that certain teas get. 
Lsu beating us was huge, but then losing 2  to a&m at home is forgotten

Or Florida losing 2 of 3 at home to a dreadful Tennessee team and bouncing right back up by beating an inconsistent Vandy team 2 of 3.

[Kevin]

Or Florida losing 2 of 3 at home to a dreadful Tennessee team and bouncing right back up by beating an inconsistent Vandy team 2 of 3.

correct

[southarkhog06]

Or Florida losing 2 of 3 at home to a dreadful Tennessee team and bouncing right back up by beating an inconsistent Vandy team 2 of 3.

Exactly. Just so I'm not beating the Arkansas drum, lets say instead of FLA it is Kentucky with those exact same results, hell they may not even be top 25.

[Kevin]

Exactly. Just so I'm not beating the Arkansas drum, lets say instead of FLA it is Kentucky with those exact same results, hell they may not even be top 25.

correct

[southarkhog06]

I just think it is a flawed system when perceived talent level outweighs on field results.

[Kevin]

I just think it is a flawed system when perceived talent level outweighs on field results.

yes

[dotnet]

I just think it is a flawed system when perceived talent level outweighs on field results.

on the bright side, everyone in college baseball gets a chance to go out and make it happen. 

I'm a huge fan of the college baseball post season in its current format.

(don't quote this if Arkansas doesn't get to host in favor of MSU or something)

[southarkhog06]

on the bright side, everyone in college baseball gets a chance to go out and make it happen. 

I'm a huge fan of the college baseball post season in its current format.

(don't quote this if Arkansas doesn't get to host in favor of MSU or something)

Oh I totally agree that the postseason format is fantastic, I just see the bias in the polls. As much as they are called "meaningless" I don't believe for a second that the committee isn't influenced by them.

[Hogs49ers]

Oh I totally agree that the postseason format is fantastic, I just see the bias in the polls. As much as they are called "meaningless" I don't believe for a second that the committee isn't influenced by them.

So if I understood you correctly, none of the baseball polls are used to help create the national seeds or hosting sites in postseason play (Or at least they say they don't)?  Can you provide any data in years past that shows how the committee is influenced by the polls when creating seeds?  No worries if you do not have time, just curious.

[southarkhog06]

So if I understood you correctly, none of the baseball polls are used to help create the national seeds or hosting sites in postseason play (Or at least they say they don't)?  Can you provide any data in years past that shows how the committee is influenced by the polls when creating seeds?  No worries if you do not have time, just curious.

I don't think, beyond comparing the historical brackets with the polls from corresponding years, that there would be data that can show how much the polls effect the committee. My work computer wont let me post images or webpages on here so I cant post that either.

[Wisco Pig]

All Week 10 polls (April 24) have been released.  In 8 of the 9 polls/indices below, the Hogs are ranked 10th to 16th.   

Collegiate Baseball: Hogs are 10th   (9th last week)
NCBWA:                  Hogs are 12th  (10th last week)
Perfect Game:         Hogs are 14th  (11th last week)
USA Today:              Hogs are 14th  (14th last week)
D1 Baseball:            Hogs are 15th  (14th last week)
Baseball America:    Hogs are 16th  (16th last week)
College BB Central:  Hogs are 21st  (18th last week)
Warren Nolan:         #12 RPI,  #49 SoS,  8-7 vs. Top 50
Boyd's World:          #12 RPI

[FraggleHog]

D1 Baseball:     Hogs are 15th  (14th last week)

**Auburn jumps to 7th

[HogFansReunited]

Well at least we didn't fall far.

[Wisco Pig]

All Week 11 polls have been released. 

NCBWA:                 Hogs are 14th  (12th last week)
USA Today:             Hogs are 15th  (14th last week)
Perfect Game:         Hogs are 16th  (14th last week)
Collegiate Baseball: Hogs are 17th  (10th last week)
Baseball America:    Hogs are 18th  (16th last week)
D1 Baseball:            Hogs are 18th  (15th last week)
College BB Central:  Hogs are 25th  (21st last week)
Warren Nolan:         #17 RPI,  #42 SoS,  11-9 vs. Top 50)
                              (Last week: #12 RPI,  #49 SoS,  8-7 vs. Top 50)
Boyd's World:          #18 RPI  (#12 last week)

[PigWig]

I was very disappointed on Friday, but we are still in fine shape.  1 game out of 1st place, still have the best overall record in the SEC, still top 20 in most polls, top 18 or so in the RPI, etc.  We need to make the best of this week off to just reset, rest, and get ready for these final 9 games.  All of our major goals are still on the table right now (SECW Champs, Regional Host, Top 25 Finish).

[Kevin]

http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/baseball/bracketology

[jry04]

http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/baseball/bracketology

Warren Nolan has us hosting with Texas and LT as our 2 and 3 seeds paired with Louisville.

http://warrennolan.com/baseball/2017/projection

[Kevin]

Warren Nolan has us hosting with Texas and LT as our 2 and 3 seeds paired with Louisville.

http://warrennolan.com/baseball/2017/projection

5 host teams, I hope so.

hope this team is ready to finish strong

[A_R_K_A_N_S_A_S]

So if I understood you correctly, none of the baseball polls are used to help create the national seeds or hosting sites in postseason play (Or at least they say they don't)?  Can you provide any data in years past that shows how the committee is influenced by the polls when creating seeds?  No worries if you do not have time, just curious.

You may want to check this thread out. It's from year before last, but will probably answer some of your questions.
NCAA Baseball RPI Formula and Selection Process
http://www.hogville.net/yabbse/index.php?topic=592246.0#top

If I was a NCAA Regional Advisor, I would still want to look at the polls (all of them), but with caution and lots of it , to see what the voters are thinking saying about the teams. It's easy for the polls to be influenced by many other things, people or reasons other than which team is actually the best team. I would try to not let the polls influence my decisions as a NCAA Tourney Regional Advisor, but I would still like to look at them. 

A few bits from the thread:
----------------
The recommendations are made by members from the regions advisor board. The region's advisors actually rank the teams in the region each week and keep the other regions advised about the teams that they consider to be #1, 2, 3 etc. It all starts with the region advisors and works it's way up to the national selection committee.

When it comes to seedings, there is no actual dead set formula. The final say in how the teams will be set in seeds is done thru communications by the national selection committee. They do consider all of the above information and try to regionalize it with the best teams staying close to home and receiving the highest seed.
---------------------
I think it was 2 years ago, some members of the national committee came forward and openly admitted (not shamefully) that they had the tools to place and justify just about any team in any seeding that they wanted, within reason of course. Much of the decisions are made on recommendations by the regions advisors that watch the ball being played in their area. Our job is to impress the region advisors in our area and give them the numbers to work with.

To follow up on what Kevin was talking about: Unfortunately we are in a part of the country that is hard to justify more than 2 or 3 hosts (depends on the region boundaries we are looking at), while most other SEC teams have tons of ncaa baseball teams on every block and can justify having multiple hosts in the same state sometimes. Sometimes, another downfall for us is playing in the SEC where 4, 5, or even 6 teams are being considered for hosting. The committee will have a hard time, (and this is what kevin is talking about with USCe) every time, justifying more than 4 teams from a conference as hosts with only 16 total available.
----------------
There are 8 regions with the regional advisory committees being made up of 5 to 6 (7 in the west) additional members. Arkansas and the entire SEC are in the South Region along with the entire Atlantic Sun Conference and the entire Sun Belt Conference. This doesn't mean that we are going to end up in the South Region, it just means that all of the teams from those 3 conferences are being watched each week by those 5 or 6 advisory committee members and they will advise the national committee on who they think are the best teams from our region. Each of the 8 regions are chaired by one of the national committee members.

[Wisco Pig]

All Week 12 polls (May 8th) have been released. 

Perfect Game:         Hogs are 15th  (16th last week)
Collegiate Baseball:  Hogs are 15th  (17th last week)
USA Today:             Hogs are 16th  (15th last week)
NCBWA:                 Hogs are 17th  (14th last week)
Baseball America:    Hogs are 18th  (18th last week)
D1 Baseball:           Hogs are 18th  (18th last week)
College BB Central:  Hogs are unranked (25th last week)

Warren Nolan:         #18 RPI,  #45 SoS,  12-10 vs. Top 50    (Last week: #17 RPI,  #42 SoS,  11-9 vs. Top 50)
Boyd's World:          #19 RPI  (#18 last week)

[jbell96]

https://d1baseball.com/rankings/d1baseball-top-25-may-8/

Hogs stay at 18, Auburn drops 9 spots from 5 to 14.