BALTIMORE, Maryland March 24, 2014 - This is a memorandum to the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association and, specifically, to the folk responsible for their Division I Baseball Rankings, and the folk at Baseball America who are responsible for their Division I poll. And let me get right to the point. You both do weekly College Baseball Polls. I'm sure you tell yourself how gosh darn seriously you take your job and I am equally sure you all work at it very very hard. And I'm even sure that when you all are in each other's company, you tell yourself, you know, we really do know more about college baseball than anybody else. Just between friends, that's what you think, right?
You know what? You don't take it all that seriously. You don't work at it all that hard. And you darn sure don't know more about college baseball than a lot of other people.
Now I will be the first to admit that I have an angle here. I'm an alumni of the University of Maryland - the really big one - the one in College Park. I mention that because it is painfully obvious that very very few of the people responsible for those two baseball polls know very little about Maryland. I'll be the first to admit that the Terps haven't been all that good over the years. They haven't been to the NCAA Tournament since 1971 and their all-time record in the ACC is 1-6. Since 2006, when the ACC began holding their end-of-season baseball tournament with the less-successful teams from the conference not invited, Maryland hasn't even played in that tournament. The ACC has been holding baseball tournaments since 1973 and Maryland has never won it. They only made it to the Championship game once, and that was in 1976. Their three ACC Championships came before there was a post-season tournament. There were a couple of seasons where they started off like a bat out of you know where, but as soon as the ACC season started, things went downhill fast. I think it was two or three seasons ago when Maryland opened the season at UCLA and took two out of three. Then, they didn't lose another game until later in March - when the ole ACC got revved up. Right before the conference season started one of the polls actually ranked Maryland. Then they opened at Wake Forest and lost three straight. The rest of the conference season went just about the same. Maryland's ACC regular season record over the last dozen years is downright terrible.
But the reason I am incensed right now, and with good reason, is that the Terps didn't just sneak up on people. They were much better last year. The ACC hardly rolled them over as it had in recent years. They won at least one game in every conference series save for one, and they won a series or two. You could see them getting good, but only if you were paying attention. They did lose their top pitcher from that team, but they have lots of the good players back, and once again they are winning in the ACC. Over the weekend they swept North Carolina State. Swept them! But despite that sweep, North Carolina State is still ranked in both of the above-mentioned polls. Maryland is not. This, even though Maryland has a better conference record and much better overall record. And Maryland's non-conference schedule is better and tougher. To make it even ore ridiculous, Maryland hardly even got a vote in either poll. When something like that happens, it tells people that the voters are asleep at the switch.
But you fellas and ladies at the NCBWA and Baseball America do not know that. It's not like the Terps are from some little-known conference up north. They play in the ACC. The ACC! (okay, it is Maryland's last season in the ACC. But I'm talking about these polls, the ones for this week, and I'm talking about this season, the one where Maryland is still in the best or second-best baseball conference in America.) Maryland opened the season at Florida, then ranked No. 21. Now you understand that when Maryland goes to Gainesville, Florida in the middle of February, they probably haven't been outside much before the trip. It snows here in Maryland, and this winter it snowed a lot. It is icy and cold, and when it isn't icy and cold it is icy and wet. We've even had a couple of "Polar Vortex" drop by. The lads down in Gainesville know nothing about these things. Still, the Terps won the Saturday game. Then there is Florida State. They are No. 1 or No. 2, depending on which of the above polls you're talking about. When the Terps and Seminoles got together in early March, it was the first conference series for both teams. It was played in Tallahassee. Maryland won one of the three. They've already played the best of the ACC (except Virginia) - I think six teams from the ACC are ranked in the polls - Florida State, North Carolina, North Carolina State (plus Florida). They are 16-6 overall. They are 5-4 in the ACC. Their ranking in the RPI is Number 8. They are the only unranked team in the RPI Top 20. (Now, before I get totally ahead of myself, I am aware that at least one or two of the guys from NCBWA voted to rank Maryland. In writing this post, I'm not talking to you.) But then again, I'm just a fan. What do I know?
Guys and gals at the Polls: It is Maryland, spelled M - A - R - Y - L - A - N - D.
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