BuckeyeStu
Junior
College baseball is a rapidly growing sport that is already big in the southern and western United States. But here in the Midwest it still remains an afterthought at best. Most of us that post here are already fans of College baseball so I thought I would dedicate a thread to ideas for growing Big 10 baseball. Here are some of the things that I came up with feel free to critique my ideas or throw out your own.
1. All Big Ten schools need to field a baseball team! I think it is pretty embarrassing to the Big 10 that Wisconsin, one of the largest schools in the conference with its massive athletic budget doesn't have a baseball team. It is hard to be taken serious a baseball conference when our own institutions don't bother to field a team. Also Title IX is a pretty lame excuse for a school that still has scholastic men's X country, golf, rowing, soccer, swimming, tennis, track, and wrestling. I'm not saying any of those sports should be eliminated, but if Wisconsin can have all of those non-revenue men's sports they can find a way to do baseball.
2. Aggressive scheduling policy. This one really hits home for tOSU, but if you want to be considered one of the big boys you have to play against the other big boys. The Big Ten should try to exclusively schedule against teams from the SEC, ACC, Pac-10, C-USA, and Big 12 in the early part of the season. Sure we will likely take a beating at first but in the long run it will greatly improve the level of play in the Big 10 and pave the way for multiple NCAA bids for each season. Please note this is strictly for the pre-Big 10 non-conference schedule. Midweek games against local schools from the MAC, Horizon, A-10, etc. are necessary but those game should all be played at home.
3. Improved facilities. We are kind of spoiled here at tOSU because Bill Davis stadium is top notch. But many other Big 10 schools play on poorly conditioned field in small run down stadiums. The rest of the conference needs to step up to the plate and invest money in building some nicer baseball facilities.
4. Pushing back the start and finish of the NCAA baseball season. The uniform start date for college baseball was a great first step for northern baseball, but the late February start is still too early. Baseball is a late spring and summer sport and needs to be treated so by the NCAA. A later ending date would keep the length of the season the same and allow for as many or more games. I know that this will not happen overnight because of resistance from the southern schools and issues with summer league baseball but it is something that the Big 10 needs to continue to strive for.
I'll post more ideas later as I think of them.
:osu:
1. All Big Ten schools need to field a baseball team! I think it is pretty embarrassing to the Big 10 that Wisconsin, one of the largest schools in the conference with its massive athletic budget doesn't have a baseball team. It is hard to be taken serious a baseball conference when our own institutions don't bother to field a team. Also Title IX is a pretty lame excuse for a school that still has scholastic men's X country, golf, rowing, soccer, swimming, tennis, track, and wrestling. I'm not saying any of those sports should be eliminated, but if Wisconsin can have all of those non-revenue men's sports they can find a way to do baseball.
2. Aggressive scheduling policy. This one really hits home for tOSU, but if you want to be considered one of the big boys you have to play against the other big boys. The Big Ten should try to exclusively schedule against teams from the SEC, ACC, Pac-10, C-USA, and Big 12 in the early part of the season. Sure we will likely take a beating at first but in the long run it will greatly improve the level of play in the Big 10 and pave the way for multiple NCAA bids for each season. Please note this is strictly for the pre-Big 10 non-conference schedule. Midweek games against local schools from the MAC, Horizon, A-10, etc. are necessary but those game should all be played at home.
3. Improved facilities. We are kind of spoiled here at tOSU because Bill Davis stadium is top notch. But many other Big 10 schools play on poorly conditioned field in small run down stadiums. The rest of the conference needs to step up to the plate and invest money in building some nicer baseball facilities.
4. Pushing back the start and finish of the NCAA baseball season. The uniform start date for college baseball was a great first step for northern baseball, but the late February start is still too early. Baseball is a late spring and summer sport and needs to be treated so by the NCAA. A later ending date would keep the length of the season the same and allow for as many or more games. I know that this will not happen overnight because of resistance from the southern schools and issues with summer league baseball but it is something that the Big 10 needs to continue to strive for.
I'll post more ideas later as I think of them.
:osu:
