Pitt finds itself in what is easily the nation's best athletic conference

[CrazyPaco]

You realize that the ACC had 10 teams get bids last year, meaning at least 9 had to be eliminated, although 4 made it to the Super Regional. 3 of the ACC's losses in your quoted record were to other ACC teams. The Pac had 4 and only one made it to the Super Regional. The ACC's 8th best team took out the PAC's Champion. I can't walk you through it any slower.

The Pac is a tremendous historical conference. It simply doesn't have the depth. No one in college baseball thinks it is a superior conference to the ACC or SEC today. You are alone.

 

[Dr. von Yinzer]

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo...ns-bowl-changes-college-footballs-big-picture

This is still the funniest article from an actual sportswriter.

That link doesn't work.

 

[Dr. von Yinzer]

Well done, boys. I've never seen a passionate college baseball argument on here before.

 

[goalieman]

For what it is worth ...... I looked at 3 different NCAA DI Baseball Polls each year from 2012 to 2016 to see how many ACC and PAC12 teams were in the Top 25 at the end of the year ....... here are the results (the 3 numbers after each conference every year are the number of teams from the conference in the top 25 at the end of the year in each poll) ......

2012 - ACC - 4/4/3 ........ PAC12 - 5/5/6

2013 - ACC - 8/6/6 ........ PAC12 - 4/4/4

2014 - ACC - 5/5/5 ........ PAC12 - 2/2/2

2015 - ACC - 4/4/4 ........ PAC12 - 3/3/3

2016 - ACC - 7/7/7 ........ PAC12 - 1/1/1

ACC had more teams then the PAC12 in each of the Top 25 Final Polls, every year except 2012.

 

[9nationalchampionships]

The ACC is the best conference for PITT for many reasons! We are fortunate to have landed where we did and I love the fall destinations to watch our Panthers on the road.

 

[CrazyPaco]

That link doesn't work.

It does for me.

 

[steel_curtain]

Well done, boys. I've never seen a passionate college baseball argument on here before.

-Pitt fans might be new to the baseball world. I mean the Pac-12 only has 4 of the Top 7 best teams in the history of college baseball. USC has twice as many National Titles as everyone else. The Pac-12 has 6 different teams that have won at least 2 National Titles, which is half of its conference. And they dont even need Utah or Colorado, the new teams in the conference. USC and Arizona State are 2 of the 3 best teams in the history of the sport. They also claim the best player of All Time, Barry Bonds.

-The Pac-12 doesnt count Super Regional as a bragging method considering they win the National Title almost every other year. This is why the ACC is an up and comer, not a Top 2 conference. You don't lose your top spot in any sports world when you claim 41% of All the National Titles since the sport started. The ACC cannot flex without titles. USC, Arizona State, and Arizona have the Top 3 College World Series win percentages in the history of college baseball, ALL TIME. The ACC is so far behind this conference it is silly and stupid at this point. And the fact the last 10 years was brought up, and the Pac has 4 Titles to the ACC's 1, further cements my point.

 

[pitt-girl]

The ACC is the best conference for PITT for many reasons! We are fortunate to have landed where we did and I love the fall destinations to watch our Panthers on the road.

Totally, 100% agree on destination trips. I'm a big fan of the Southeast.

 

[Pittx9]

You realize that simply having the best team does not mean that you are the best conference, right?

Oh, wait, I see who posted this. Forget it. You don't realize.

I don't know if you watched Colin cowherd after Ohio state won the '14 national championship, but he is absolutely my favorite media guy now. Of course I would tell my psu friends that the Big Ten really wasn't that great that year, they would say blah blah blah we have the national champion, obviously it's the best.

Well cowherd summed it perfectly (and hilariously). He felt like I did, saying the fans of other big ten schools had nothing to be proud of, basically that the championship was for Ohio state and no they didn't "win one for the big ten". His analogy and direct quote was "if you have a family of 5 crackheads and 1 Yale graduate, you're not a great family. You had one person in that family who was successful."

That had just made my day because it was so true and could not have been put any better.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

-Pitt fans might be new to the baseball world.

You surely appear to be.

It's like you can't understand that having one or two top teams doesn't make you the best conference. It's like you can't understand that you can have a team from your conference win the World Series without your conference being all that good. It's like you can't understand that just because a team was really good in the past doesn't mean that they are now. After all, is the A10 one of the top football leagues in the country because Fordham used to be one of the best programs in the country? Was the Big East the best football league in the country because Pitt had won nine national championships? Do you really not get that things change over time, and that a conference that may have been the best years ago might no longer be the best today? I mean other than you and perhaps Bill Walton there is no one, and I mean literally no one, that thinks that the PAC12 is the best college baseball conference today, and there is also no one other than you and Walton that thinks that they have been at any time in the last decade.

 

[SouthSidePanther]

Unless you have too much time on your hands, no one gives a damn about college baseball. Seriously.

 

[steel_curtain]

You surely appear to be.

It's like you can't understand that having one or two top teams doesn't make you the best conference. It's like you can't understand that you can have a team from your conference win the World Series without your conference being all that good. It's like you can't understand that just because a team was really good in the past doesn't mean that they are now. After all, is the A10 one of the top football leagues in the country because Fordham used to be one of the best programs in the country? Was the Big East the best football league in the country because Pitt had won nine national championships? Do you really not get that things change over time, and that a conference that may have been the best years ago might no longer be the best today? I mean other than you and perhaps Bill Walton there is no one, and I mean literally no one, that thinks that the PAC12 is the best college baseball conference today, and there is also no one other than you and Walton that thinks that they have been at any time in the last decade.

-The Pac-12 has 4 Power teams historically. USC, ASU, Arizona, and Stanford, which are 4 of the best 7 teams all time in the sport. This is the equivalent of UCLA, Kentucky, Duke, and Kansas being in the same college basketball conference. These teams have played for the National Title a total of 37 times and won 23 National Titles. In the last 15 years these teams have played in 5 different National Title games. Arizona won the National Title in 2012 and finished 2nd in the country in 2016, losing the National Title game. Stanford finished 2nd three times in the last 15 years losing the National Title game all 3 times. Oregon State also won 2 National Titles in the last 15 years and UCLA won a National title too with 2 other World Series Appearances.

-Arizona State is a historical National Powerhouse, and they played in the College World Series Elite 8 tournament 4 times since 2005. They have been in a slump and are still better than any team in the entire ACC during that time frame minus North Carolina. They also lost in the National World Series Finals game in 1998, to USC. All 4 of these teams have either won a National Title game or played for the National Title at least 1 time minimum since 1998. Suggesting these teams are anything like Pitt football is dumb, considering Pitt football has not been anywhere close to winning a National Title or anywhere close to competing for once since the 80's.

-There is some hate for the Pac-12 baseball dominance on this board. The ACC struggles to even make the National Title game, let alone win 1. How anyone can even try to railroad the Pac-12 when they always have a team in the National Finals last game of the season or win the National Title is beyond me. This is the equivalent of Pitt basketball trying to flex for making Sweet 16 Appearances. I would almost guarantee the Pac-12 outperforms the ACC again in the World Series Tournament this year, with 2 Top 6 preseason teams and 5 teams in the preseason Top 25. The cream always rises to the Top in the playoffs.

 

[TD_6082]

The SEC having a suckfest of a year doesn't make the ACC a great football conference. I still see the ACC as 2 elite programs (FSU & Clemson) with the potential for a 3rd in Miami. The rest have been mired in mediocrity for years and I don't see any other programs poised to make a huge leap foward in the foreseeable future.

The fact our Coastal Champion beat a mediocre Arkansas team, or that we own bowl wins over such powers as Kentucky & Vanderbilt doesn't carry much weight.

 

[steel_curtain]

The SEC having a suckfest of a year doesn't make the ACC a great football conference. I still see the ACC as 2 elite programs (FSU & Clemson) with the potential for a 3rd in Miami. The rest have been mired in mediocrity for years and I don't see any other programs poised to make a huge leap foward in the foreseeable future.

The fact our Coastal Champion beat a mediocre Arkansas team, or that we own bowl wins over such powers as Kentucky & Vanderbilt doesn't carry much weight.

-That's kind of how I view Michigan football. A team that is guaranteed to lose to Ohio State. A team with 1 National Title in 68 years. A team that is 3-7 in its last 10 bowl games and routinely gets blown out in its bowl games. A team that falls on its face at least 1 other game other than the annual Ohio State loss, see the Iowa choke this year. The Harbaugh excuse fest will be grand next year as that team loses over 40 seniors, not including early draft entrants. Wisconsin did beat Western Michigan, so that is something for the conference to hang their hat on, although not much. Harbaugh hasnt won a Conference since he Coached at San Diego over 10 years ago.

-The Big 10 looks like the 4th best conference this year. Maybe.

-Dating back to 1999, Virginia Tech has 6 Top 10 finishes. That's better than anyone in the entire Big 10 during that time frame outside Ohio State. Miami also finished in the Top 4 four different times with a National Title.

-My opinion hasnt changed. The Big Ten sucks.

 

[JokePa]

There is absolutely no way to argue that the ACC wasn't the strongest football conference this season. And having loaded up on coaching talent and with its favorable southern demographics, don't look for it not to be in that conversation regularly going forward. Then you have the other revenue sport, where the ACC's depth is nearing the halcyon days of the circa 2000s Big East. It absolutely dominates some of the next closest spectator friendly sports such as soccer and lax, and is unquestionably one of the top two baseball conferences providing a September to June smorgasbord of top collegiate competition. And despite the Louisville anchor, continues to boast the best average US News ranking of member institutions among all FBS conferences. With its own network 2 years away, it is in no danger of falling behind other conferences in money distributed and membership is locked up for 20 years.

The ACC is poised to crush it going forward and it brings with it the entire eastern seaboard and the most populated footprint in the country. The geography and member schools' institutional profiles fit Pitt to a T. How could anyone want to be in any other conference at this point?

ACC has really been better for years. Obviously SEC top end is the most top though, but we are certainly gaining ground

 

[TD_istheman]

ACC has really been better for years. Obviously SEC top end is the most top though, but we are certainly gaining ground

Who is we?

 

[JokePa]

Who is we?

mmmmmm..... ACC obviously. This is a Pitt board and all... I realize you are a penn state fan and all, but try to act like you like the ACC some.

 

[Darth_VadEER]

-When Saban retires I fully expect the ACC to take over and dominate. Winning this year would be big. You are correct that the ACC in football and basketball is currently the best now and looks the best moving forward, but in college baseball the ACC isnt even close to the Pac-12. I dont follow the other sports.

When Saban retires Bama will hire Dabo.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

-The Pac-12 has 4 Power teams historically. USC, ASU, Arizona, and Stanford, which are 4 of the best 7 teams all time in the sport. This is the equivalent of UCLA, Kentucky, Duke, and Kansas being in the same college basketball conference. These teams have played for the National Title a total of 37 times and won 23 National Titles. In the last 15 years these teams have played in 5 different National Title games. Arizona won the National Title in 2012 and finished 2nd in the country in 2016, losing the National Title game. Stanford finished 2nd three times in the last 15 years losing the National Title game all 3 times. Oregon State also won 2 National Titles in the last 15 years and UCLA won a National title too with 2 other World Series Appearances.

-Arizona State is a historical National Powerhouse, and they played in the College World Series Elite 8 tournament 4 times since 2005. They have been in a slump and are still better than any team in the entire ACC during that time frame minus North Carolina. They also lost in the National World Series Finals game in 1998, to USC. All 4 of these teams have either won a National Title game or played for the National Title at least 1 time minimum since 1998. Suggesting these teams are anything like Pitt football is dumb, considering Pitt football has not been anywhere close to winning a National Title or anywhere close to competing for once since the 80's.

-There is some hate for the Pac-12 baseball dominance on this board. The ACC struggles to even make the National Title game, let alone win 1. How anyone can even try to railroad the Pac-12 when they always have a team in the National Finals last game of the season or win the National Title is beyond me. This is the equivalent of Pitt basketball trying to flex for making Sweet 16 Appearances. I would almost guarantee the Pac-12 outperforms the ACC again in the World Series Tournament this year, with 2 Top 6 preseason teams and 5 teams in the preseason Top 25. The cream always rises to the Top in the playoffs.

Your continual inability to separate what has happened in the past from what is going on now is simultaneously amusing and laughable.

Maybe you should stick to posts about the Stillers trading two guys who won't be under contract for a top draft pick.

 

[Pittx9]

The SEC West was still probably the best last season, the east was imo the worst in the country by far. This year the sec overall actually wasn't all that great, but still ultra competitive. Alabama is really the only great team though, unlike previous years where they had 3 or 4 top notch teams.

I've never been one to take bowl games into more consideration than the actual season. But looking at the whole picture, the ACC was hands down the best top to bottom this year.

 

[Slick Manager of Champs]

The SEC having a suckfest of a year doesn't make the ACC a great football conference. I still see the ACC as 2 elite programs (FSU & Clemson) with the potential for a 3rd in Miami. The rest have been mired in mediocrity for years and I don't see any other programs poised to make a huge leap foward in the foreseeable future.

The fact our Coastal Champion beat a mediocre Arkansas team, or that we own bowl wins over such powers as Kentucky & Vanderbilt doesn't carry much weight.

You were on here spewing how great the Big Ten East was all year. We see how that turned out. Go back to hanging on Franklin's jock.

 

[Slick Manager of Champs]

i am thrilled to be in the ACC rather than the AAC, which would have been the death of Pitt football. But in an ideal world would have still preferred an All-Eastern conference with PSU, WVU, Maryland, etc. Eastern football has no base now. The Pitt-PSU game would have been as big or bigger than Michigan-O$U.

And actually I think I would prefer the Big 10 West, with PSU moving to the west. Would be an easier path to championship than coastal, but Delaney would never want the Pitt-PSU game to get bigger than his big game so zero chance of that happening.

 

[BuffetParrothead]

The BIG 10 was " outed" this bowl season and it could have been worse had PITT won and "Ya Know" coached Wisconsin to a defeat against a non P5 W. Michigan team.
The BIG conference has been ranked based on its reputation from the past when it was a loaded conference and based on the " star power" of some of the coaching staffs.
The process for ranking Top 25 college football programs is as broken as the poltical polling/analytical process that missed Brekit and the US presidential election.
But the stogy old school football analysts wont get the message and wont change a thing just watch!
I hope PITT gets to play one of the overrated BIG 10 teams like the Nitters did!

 

[ncyajleel]

The ACC had a winning record against the SEC from day one, and it wasn't close So even though the SEC is down, they are still the best? Why do you think they are down? Maybe the ACC is now getting better recruits from places where the SEC was? If Florida isn't that great, maybe it is because Florida State and Miami are doing better getting the kids from Florida. If Georgia is down, maybe it is because Georgia Tech is getting their kids? If South Carolina is not doing so great, maybe it is because Clemson is cleaning up. You do notice that Alabama is still great, maybe it is because there is no competition from other conferences in Alabama and Louisiana and other states where they do most of their recruiting?

The SEC having a suckfest of a year doesn't make the ACC a great football conference. I still see the ACC as 2 elite programs (FSU & Clemson) with the potential for a 3rd in Miami. The rest have been mired in mediocrity for years and I don't see any other programs poised to make a huge leap foward in the foreseeable future.

The fact our Coastal Champion beat a mediocre Arkansas team, or that we own bowl wins over such powers as Kentucky & Vanderbilt doesn't carry much weight.

 

[TD_6082]

You were on here spewing how great the Big Ten East was all year. We see how that turned out. Go back to hanging on Franklin's jock.

It was the only division with 3 legit top 10 teams. tOSU, Michigan, and PSU played Clemson, FSU, and USC in their bowl games.

Clemson & FSU have earned respect. Miami could be on their way back. After that, the rest of the league is full of teams that have been mediocre for years. None of them look anywhere near ready to breakthrough to the next level. Tell me that's wrong.

 

[ThePanthers]

It was the only division with 3 legit top 10 teams. tOSU, Michigan, and PSU played Clemson, FSU, and USC in their bowl games.

Clemson & FSU have earned respect. Miami could be on their way back. After that, the rest of the league is full of teams that have been mediocre for years. None of them look anywhere near ready to breakthrough to the next level. Tell me that's wrong.

And how is that different from every other conference?

The legit big teams all lost.

THIS year the ACC was the best football conference.

 

[TD_6082]

Because the Big 10 East has 3 team with a legit shot at the playoffs. And another team, Michigan State, that went to the playoffs last year.

The Big 10 is set up to fail in postseason. Their best teams are matched up against the best teams from the south, and the best team in the PAC-12, all played in the opposing team's territory.

 

[ThePanthers]

Because the Big 10 East has 3 team with a legit shot at the playoffs. And another team, Michigan State, that went to the playoffs last year.

The Big 10 is set up to fail in postseason. Their best teams are matched up against the best teams from the south, and the best team in the PAC-12, all played in the opposing team's territory.

So the BIG is the best but they can't beat the other best teams because they are set up to lose all of their big games.

Make sense.

 

[ncyajleel]

And why did they all have a shot at the playoffs? Because college football is decided mostly by a committee instead of a true playoff. As we have seen throughout this season and in the bowl season that the BIG was mostly media hype and perception. Who determined that those three had a legit shot at the playoffs? Who is to say that Oklahoma or Oklahoma State could not beat Michigan or Ohio State now? Washington had an unlucky draw, they got Alabama the first round. Who is to say they could not beat Ohio State or Michigan for that matter.

The BIG never once proved on the field that they were the best conference. Just because biased sports writers tell us they were the best does not make it so. Go to any sports website like ESPN and look at the BIG records vs the ACC records. The ACC had ten teams with winning records compared to the BIG's 8. Look at the head to head, look at the OOC records. The ACC is ahead of the BIG in everything, except perception. For those who do not believe in perception, there is a thing called reality. Too many people live in a world of perception and believe everything they hear or read.

Because the Big 10 East has 3 team with a legit shot at the playoffs. And another team, Michigan State, that went to the playoffs last year.

The Big 10 is set up to fail in postseason. Their best teams are matched up against the best teams from the south, and the best team in the PAC-12, all played in the opposing team's territory.

 

[TD_6082]

So the BIG is the best but they can't beat the other best teams because they are set up to lose all of their big games.

Make sense.

No. In most years the SEC is going to be far superior to the Big 10.

 

[TD_istheman]

No. In most years the SEC is going to be far superior to the Big 10.

SEC in most years is better than ACC and BIG TEN combined as far a s top tier teams.

I just hope Pitt can join the elite club one day , only been 33 years

 

[Slick Manager of Champs]

Because the Big 10 East has 3 team with a legit shot at the playoffs. And another team, Michigan State, that went to the playoffs last year.

The Big 10 is set up to fail in postseason. Their best teams are matched up against the best teams from the south, and the best team in the PAC-12, all played in the opposing team's territory.

you have reached new levels of dumbness with this one.

 

[Malachi Constant]

Ohio State was by far the best team in the Big 10 this season and they got annihilated by Clemson. We went into the postseason debating if the Big 10 could get two teams into the playoffs, and we will leave the postseason debating if the Big 10 should have had even one team in the playoff.

 

[steel_curtain]

you have reached new levels of dumbness with this one.

-That has to be one of the dumbest posts on here. And 11-1 Ohio State team got completely embarrassed by Clemson 31-0. A 10-2 Michigan team lost to a 9-3 Florida State team. A 9-3 USC team beat the Big Ten Champion Penn State. And a crappy Florida team annihilated the 5th best team in the Big Ten in Iowa 31-3. And the 6th best team Nebraska got its ass kicked by Tennessee and lost by 14. The Big Ten was completely annihilated this bowl season across the board and was blown out. Congrats to Northwestern for knocking Pitts QB out of the game and winning a bowl game.

-The Big Ten looked like dogshit this bowl season. A total pile of dogshit, all of them, and Herbstreit and Desmond Howard looks like total morons after their Big Ten hypefest this year. The Big Ten had 3 legit playoff contenders? Hahaha. After this bowl season the Big Ten had zero legit playoff contenders.

 

[Malachi Constant]

It does for me.

It worked on a desktop and it did not work on mobile, if that helps.

 

[pitt-girl]

Because the Big 10 East has 3 team with a legit shot at the playoffs. And another team, Michigan State, that went to the playoffs last year.

The Big 10 is set up to fail in postseason. Their best teams are matched up against the best teams from the south, and the best team in the PAC-12, all played in the opposing team's territory.

You do realize as others have pointed out that this make no sense, right?

 

[steel_curtain]

Your continual inability to separate what has happened in the past from what is going on now is simultaneously amusing and laughable.

Maybe you should stick to posts about the Stillers trading two guys who won't be under contract for a top draft pick.

-Besides the Fact the Pac-12 goes deeper in the NCAA World Series Tournament than the ACC every year, wins the National Title almost every other year, has more titles then the ACC using a 50 year metric, 10 year metric, or 5 year metric, and has 2 Teams ranked higher than any ACC team once again in the preseason polls, the ACC baseball conference = Big Ten Football. A conference with zero legit National Title Contenders. A Big Fat Zero. But hey, you can pump your chest for getting 10 bids into the tournament just so you can watch all 10 of them lose to Pac-12 teams in the playoffs.

 

[TD_6082]

You do realize as others have pointed out that this make no sense, right?

No. It makes sense.

The Big 10 had 4 teams either in the playoffs or a major bowl game. We had 2. The Coastal Champ got an invite to the Belk Bowl to play a 7-5 Arkansas team with a 3-5 conference record.

 

[steel_curtain]

No. It makes sense.

The Big 10 had 4 teams either in the playoffs or a major bowl game. We had 2. The Coastal Champ got an invite to the Belk Bowl to play a 7-5 Arkansas team with a 3-5 conference record.

-And got their ass kicked against every P5 team they played. Big Ten should stick to playing midmajor teams like Western Michigan. That conference was the most overrated I have ever seen in the history of college football. Top 6 teams go 1-5, 4 of them getting blown out.

 

[Malachi Constant]

No. It makes sense.

The Big 10 had 4 teams either in the playoffs or a major bowl game. We had 2. The Coastal Champ got an invite to the Belk Bowl to play a 7-5 Arkansas team with a 3-5 conference record.

Fun fact: 20% of all sweet cherries picked in the US are from Michigan. Of course this doesn't include the massive amounts of cherry picking in this post.