What is wrong with the Big10?

[JAD]

In reality it is a matter of investment more than it is weather or style of play or anything else. Not saying weather has no effect, just that the investment levels is a much bigger factor.

The SEC has passed the PAC12 simply because they decided to put a whole lot of money into facilities/broadcast/recruiting/etc... We are starting to see the ACC do the same thing - adding in teams from Duke and Clemson with new facilities is going to be huge over time and also I am hearing there is pressure on UofMiami as well to add a team especially since they have invested so heavily in baseball over the years. The PAC 12 has more talent locally, but they need to be real wary that they don't start to lag way behind. There is no excuse that explains why the PAC 12 is not broadcasting at least 4-6 games every weekend.

Big10 is lagging behind. If they WANT to invest, they could. Right now as a conference they don't appear to want to.

I will say that Purdue's new $13M softball facility is Mac Daddy!

 

[BobInMadison]

Not always the case.....Minnesota has 7 girls on the roster from MN (including 2 from SE MN...we get overlooked often) and only 5 girls on the roster from outside the midwest.

Good for them. Glad someone is supporting home cooking.

That being said, there are some great HS players in MN as well. It looks like the college and the TB teams are supporting each other.

 

[Ken Krause]

Yeah, lots of slappers in the B1G. I have heard stories of girls who weren't recruited because they didn't slap.

At one point the only real power hitter Wisconsin had was a local girl. I talked to her once at a football game. She really looked like she could whomp the ball into the lake. As I mentioned earlier, she tied the school records for HR and RBI.

After that girl graduated, I once saw a Wisconsin softball game where Wisconsin needed a power hitter, so they took out the DP and let the pitcher hit instead. The pitcher was about the only non-slapper batting that day.

That has definitely changed at Wisconsin this year. They've been putting up big numbers in their games so far, and have definitely gone to more power hitting. They signed the top HS player in Wisconsin, a power hitting freshman (Konwendt), although she is going to redshirt soon due to injury. Chloe Miller is hitting up a storm, and they had back to back home runs in a couple of games. So it seems they're changing. Maybe others will as well.

 

[spleen1015]

I will say that Purdue's new $13M softball facility is Mac Daddy!

Was there last summer for a camp. They have a really nice facility.

 

[reagansdaddy]

This is a really interesting thread to me as a resident of Central Ohio. I don't think there's a single reason the Big Ten struggles and many of the possible reasons have already been mentioned. What I do know is that it is about 15 degrees here this morning with wind chills at or below zero and our MS/HS teams likely won't see anything but the inside of a gym for a week. While in SEC and PAC12 country, their teams have been outside since January. It's just a fact. It can also become an excuse which is a problem as well. That said, it is tough playing the entire first half (or more) of your schedule on the road.

 

[slugger3]

This is a really interesting thread to me as a resident of Central Ohio. I don't think there's a single reason the Big Ten struggles and many of the possible reasons have already been mentioned. What I do know is that it is about 15 degrees here this morning with wind chills at or below zero and our MS/HS teams likely won't see anything but the inside of a gym for a week. While in SEC and PAC12 country, their teams have been outside since January. It's just a fact. It can also become an excuse which is a problem as well. That said, it is tough playing the entire first half (or more) of your schedule on the road.

I'll expand on what you said reagansdaddy...and I'm sure I'll get hammered for it...

Living in NW MN I know exactly what you are talking about when it comes to practicing/playing in the late winter early spring.
The example I'll give is in regards to hitting in a batting cage.
In colder climates, like the BIG 10 plays in, the majority of hitting starts out in batting cages.
When hitters are in a batting cage, it's almost instinctual human nature to hit the ball back up the middle up the cage at a low and level arc.
If you don't, the ball slams into the side, or the top of the cage and ricochets around and can hit the pitcher.
But balls have to go up to get over the fence to be a homer right?

(Didn't someone post a GIF recently of balls being hit in a cage from 0* up to a 45* angle?) To show where a ball should be hit for optimum distance i.e..HRs...

If a college teams in colder climates spend the majority of their early season batting practice in a cage then aren't they more prone to hitting the ball up the middle, or at lower angles which is not condusive to hitting home runs?
I'm not saying this is the only reason for the lower number of home runs hit by these teams, (in my opinion the primary reason is recruiting slappers/small ball hitters vs. power hitters), but it certainly could influence it.
Don't you want a ball to be hit at a minimum of 20 degrees to be a homer?
Well, if the BIG 10 schools are practicing in cages all early season, smacking balls up the middle of a batting cage at 0-5 degrees of inclination, they aren't doing themselves any favors in regards to hitting a HR.

The example I'll use is my 3 DDs staring HS practice this week...all 3 of them came back and said 3 of the 4 coaches are telling them to level the ball out when hitting in the cage. "hit the ball to the end of the cage," the coaches said...
The DDs just smiled and nodded, and said, "OK"...as they kept slamming the ball into the top/side of the cage at 20-30* angle, like they were hitting/pulling the ball into left center field...

Just a thought...

 

[Softball scholar]

Was there last summer for a camp. They have a really nice facility.

Speaking of Purdue, I live in West Lafayette and Purdue really upgraded their facilities. I know one of the intentions was to have facilities that qualify to host a Regional. They definitely have that.
I hope Boo De Olivera can put something together as a team that can qualify them for that. I think a good coach but going to take a couple of years to get there. Just cant do it over night.

Here's an interesting thought, Purdue spent 13MM on the field, but only play 13 games at home, at least in the spring schedule. From a fan perspective, there's very few opportunities to see them. How about this idea. Move the schedule back a few weeks so the Midwest schools have a chance to play more at home. The first month of the season is based on Midwest schools traveling to the south and west to play.

 

[let it be fun]

Not always the case.....Minnesota has 7 girls on the roster from MN (including 2 from SE MN...we get overlooked often) and only 5 girls on the roster from outside the midwest.

Looking at Minnesota's incoming recruiting class they have two girls from Minnesota, two from Iowa, one from Wisconsin, one from California, and one from Colorado. Five of seven from in-state or border states. Allister appears to be recruiting heavily close to home.

 

[JohnnyO]

Somewhere I saw that Minnesota's first 30 some games were away games. hard to play at home when there's snow on the ground. That's a lot of travel and school work stress.

 

[Lobster Birch]

I'm skeptical of the weather angle. Minnesota and Michigan have the two best teams in the Big10 and are ranked in the top 25. They find a way to overcome the supposed weather disadvantage. Why can't the other teams in the conference? Likewise, here in the Pacific Northwest it may not be as cold, but it's very wet. Washington and Oregon aren't practicing outside from January on yet they are excellent programs. I know Washington when they can't practice outside use a huge indoor facility; they are not stuck in constricted, tiny batting cages (the UW facility contains a turf football field with a track around the outside). I assume most bad weather schools have something similar, but maybe I'm wrong. Maybe not having those facilities is part of the problem?