Around the Big Ten

[THE_WIZARD_]

UNL needed to win against MSU in baseball and have Purdue lose to Maryland for the Huskers to make the B1G Tournament in Omaha next week. UNL did win today, however Purdue decided to tarp their field for 3 hours even though it didn't rain...thus their game ended up being called due to the time rule. Fucking chicken shits. Purdue makes it in as the #8 seed due to this cowardly move. Of course Kevin Warren has no balls plus hates UNL...he could have forced Purdue to play or forfeit...but nope.

Purdue is fucking trash.

[lineygoblue]

Purdue should be required to play one game vs UNL on a neutral field to determine the 8 seed.

I'm serious.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Nope. Purdue gets the #8 seed.

Can't wait to see the warm welcome in Omaha next week for the Boilermakers. Heh.

Chickenshits.

[lineygoblue]

Congrats to the Michigan Men's Baseball team who won the Big Ten tournament tonight, defeating Rutgers 10-4. Michigan was the 5th seed in the tournament, but will now receive the automatic NCAA bid for the Big Ten Champion. Rutgers and Maryland will also get in based on their records, but Michigan's only way in was to win the tournament, which they did.

They'll likely be sent down south somewhere into 120 degree temperatures for their NCAA berth, but they finished as one of the hottest teams in the conference.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Congrats Liney.

[lineygoblue]

What? No STFU?

I don't think you are the real The_Wizard.

[AlabamAlum]

STFU

[lineygoblue]

Nope.. just not the same ..

[lineygoblue]

Its been quite an interesting two weeks for Michigan Softball and Michigan Baseball.

First, Michigan Softball pitcher Alex Storako announced her entry into the transfer portal, and will be transferring to Oklahoma for her final year of eligibility. I guess she wants a real chance at a NC before her college career ends. Storako was Big Ten Pitcher of the Year in 2021. She had 300 strikeouts this season, which was 6th in the country. Michigan has two other players looking to leave via the portal as well.

Now today, it appears that Michigan will be losing its baseball coach, Erik Bakich to Clemson. Bakich began his coaching career with the Clemson program as an assistant, and will now be returning as its head coach. Money is likely an issue as well. Clemson is rumored to be offering over 1M per year, while Bakich is only making 400K at Michigan. Bakich never had a losing season at Michigan, and coached the team to a National Title series in 2019. Michigan is a difficult place to play winning baseball, but Bakich did a fine job. He will be missed.

[Mike]

Man, that sucks about Bakich.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Baseball in the B1G sucks so that is very much a good move for him. Hard to keep a good baseball coach in B1G land...

[lineygoblue]

Agree, Wiz. Northern teams have to play more than half of their regular season schedules on the road. The first half of their seasons each year are usually spent in southern states and only get home games beginning around the first of April. They've tried scheduling early season games in March, but most of those end up getting postponed or cancelled due to weather. Schedules do not allow for make up games because of the NCAA Tournament. So, southern and western warm weather teams have a huge advantage. This goes for both softball and baseball.

One early name mentioned as a replacement for Bakich is Brandon Inge, who is already a volunteer assistant. He doesn't have any head coaching experience, and no recruiting experience, but he is a recognizable name and wants to stay in the Ann Arbor area.

Bakich is a good guy. Too bad Michigan can't provide a better situation for him that would make it attractive for him to stay.

[lineygoblue]

The NCAA is considering some changes for the transfer portal. There would be two established 'windows' for student athletes to enter their names in the portal that will coincide with signing dates and recruiting windows. The proposal actually doesn't sound too bad, and kind of makes sense.

They're also considering an expedited infractions process to speed up investigations in to rules violations. The proposals could be adopted as early as August this year.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/34103087/ncaa-recommends-transfer-portal-windows-changes-infractions-process

[Hannibal]

They need to go back to the pre-2017 transfer rules.

[lineygoblue]

I think the portal should be limited when it comes to scholarships.

The first move via the portal, and you can receive a scholarship at your new school.

Any further move via the portal, and its on your own dime. No scholarship.

The only exception I'd allow (if I were king) would be if the athlete has graduated. They could receive a scholarship for a 5th year if they're beginning grad school.