Eight Games Set For FSN…

32 Home Games Set For Cowboys…

Oklahoma State is the final Big 12 school to release its 2012 college baseball schedule. The Cowboys open their season Feb. 17-19 with a three game series at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, Calif.

OSU heads back to Stillwater for six straight home games, beginning with a Feb. 21 home opener vs. 2011 Super Regional team Dallas Baptist. After visits from St. Gregory’s, Bowling Green (three games) and Missouri State, the Cowboys travel lto Ft. Worth, Texas for a March 2-4 three game set against TCU. The Cowboys return the visit to Dallas Baptist on May 15.

A nine game homestand after the TCU series begins with three games against Alabama A&M and also includes a three game series with Houston.

Other notable non-conference games include two home games against Ohio State May 8 & 9 and home and home games with Wichita State.

Big 12 Conference play begins March 23-25 at Missouri. Other conference road series are at Baylor, Texas and Kansas State. OSU hosts Kansas, Texas Tech, and Texas A&M. The Bedlam Series with intrastate rival Oklahoma starts in Tulsa on May 4, with the last two games in Oklahoma City. The Cowboys also host the Sooners in an April 24 non-conference match-up.

Click Here to see our comprehensive schedule page, which includes links to every DI baseball schedule, roster and stats.

New Addresses, More Uncertainty For Many Teams…

By Collegebaseball360.com Editor Sean Stires

It’s all about football (and BCS money), but the latest round of conference shuffling – brought to you by the Big East Conference – will ripple through college baseball as well.

As of this writing, an official announcement is apparently imminent that Boise State, San Diego State, Houston, Central Florida (UCF), and Southern Methodist (SMU) will all join the Big East to bolster its sinking BCS football status. Boise State and San Diego State would join as football only members, while the other three would be full fledged Big East members in all sports. The planned moves would go into effect for the 2013-2014 academic year.

We’re not going to go into all of the football implications. You can find that on 800 other sites. We also won’t touch the irony that the new look “Big East” will include schools that are not even remotely in the “east”.

The question we are most concerned with is:  How does all this affect college baseball?

First, neither Boise State nor SMU have baseball teams, so those schools are out of this discussion (how SMU does not have a baseball team though is a head-scratcher). So, let’s start out west and work our way back east to look at how this latest conference shuffle will affect the college baseball landscape.

San Diego State currently plays in the Mountain West Conference in all sports. Since the Aztecs are joining the Big East in football only, the other sports are in line for a new landing spot. According to multiple reports, that landing spot will be the Big West Conference.

It’s a move that would make perfect sense for Tony Gwynn‘s baseball team. The farthest his team would travel for a conference game would be Hawaii (set to join the Big West for the 2013 season) every other year, rather than current jumps to Colorado Springs, Albuquerque and Ft. Worth.

Gwynn would also add another big name to the coaching ranks in the conference. The Big West already includes another former Big Leaguer – Ed Sprague (Pacific) – as well as Hall of Famer Mike Gillespie (UC Irvine) and a hot up and comer – Rick Vanderhook (Cal State Fullerton) – who is returning to his roots after helping UCLA reach the College World Series as an assistant.

The conference that will feel the most ill effects from all the maneuvering is the Mountain West. The conference, which has been somewhat underrated when it comes to college baseball anyway, has just five teams – Air Force, New Mexico, San Diego State, TCU, and UNLV – that will field baseball teams in 2012.

TCU, which was originally set to join the Big East, will leave the Mountain West after the current season to align with the Big 12. Fresno State and Nevada have agreed to leave the WAC for the MWC next year, but they could easily reconsider that move considering there will be no Boise State and no San Diego State in two years. And don’t forget, Utah left the MWC to help form the Pac-12 this season, while BYU left the conference for football independence, while baseball and other BYU sports are now in the WCC.

As it stands, the Mountain West would be left with just Air Force, New Mexico, UNLV and possibly Fresno State in 2014. Odds are those schools will either all be somewhere else or the MWC will align with another conference – the WAC? – before then.

From a baseball standpoint, it’s just a shame. The MWC, especially with the addition of Fresno State, was shaping into what would have been a great conference. The Bulldogs won the 2008 national championship, TCU went to Omaha in 2010, New Mexico is coming off back-to-back NCAA appearances, and Utah and San Diego State have each gone to NCAA regionals in the last three years as well.

Moving east…

Houston and UCF will leave Conference USA to join the Big East in all sports, including baseball starting with the 2014 baseball season.

Houston has experienced an NCAA drought in recent years. The Cougars were a win away from a Super Regional in 2008, but that is their only NCAA appearance over the last five seasons. Houston improved from 25 wins to 27 victories in Todd Whittling’s first season as head coach in 2011.

UCF has made upward movement in head coach Terry Rooney‘s three seasons as head coach after helping LSU reach the CWS as an assistant in 2008. The Knights were one of four C-USA teams to receive an NCAA bid in 2011.

The move to the Big East for those two schools comes as Syracuse and Pittsburgh head to the ACC and West Virginia exits to the Big 12. Syracuse does not have baseball, while neither Pitt nor WVU have sniffed the NCAA Tournament in nearly two decades.

The argument can be made that the addition of two southern schools like UCF (located in Orlando) and Houston will make the Big East a better baseball conference. That argument was made when South Florida (USF-located in Tampa) joined the Big East after the 2005 season, but it hasn’t turned out that way.

USF has not received an NCAA bid in its six seasons as a Big East member. The Bulls compiled a 7-10 record at the Big East Tournament from 2006-2010, but did not qualify for the Big East’s postseason tournament in 2011.

Meanwhile, northern teams in the same conference have been more successful in that stretch. Notre Dame, Rutgers, Seton Hall, St. John’s, and UConn (all dugout space heater spots in March and early April) have all received NCAA bids since 2006, while UConn advancing to the program’s first Super Regional this past season. Louisville also earned NCAA bids from 2007-2010, but the Cardinals are the only Big East school not in Florida to play home games in February.

The losses of Houston and UCF leaves C-USA with seven baseball playing schools, while the net for the Big East is unchanged at 12 baseball schools (lose Pitt and West Virginia and gain UCF and Houston).

Other smaller conferences are set to shuffle as well. UT San Antonio and Texas State (as well as Denver, which doesn’t play baseball) will soon join the WAC. Houston Baptist will join the Southland after leaving the Great West Conference (a conference that does not an automatic NCAA bid), while Oral Roberts will leave the Summit League for the Southland Conference.

Dallas Baptist, which went all the way to a Super Regional in 2011 as a DI Independent, joined the Missouri Valley Conference this year, but will leave to join the WAC for the 2012-2013 season.

Nebraska is also in its first season in the Big Ten after leaving the Big 12 after last season, while Missouri and Texas A&M will jump to the SEC next year. As of now, the only change in the ACC will be the addition of Pitt.

The X-factor in the entire situation is the BCS contract will likely be redone prior to the 2013-2014 season, so this latest move by the Big East might not even keep the conference in the BCS.

Confused?

The only certainty in any of this is – there is bound to be much more uncertainty before the smoke clears.

Here’s a look at how many of the aforementioned conferences are currently aligned and how they will potentially look in 2014. Keep in mind that seemingly every move is tentative and all of this could be moot before any of the changes actually take place.

Potential College Baseball 2014 Conference Baseball Alignment

33 Home Games Set For Red Raiders…

Texas Tech is the latest Big 12 team to release its 2012 college baseball schedule. The Red Raiders open their season Feb. 17-19 with four games in their Red Raider Classic. They play two games each against both Tennessee Tech and Missouri State in the event.

The Red Raiders host the Brooks Wallace Memorial Classic the following weekend, with two games against St. John’s and three vs. Northern Illinois.

A trip across Texas for the Houston College Classic comes March 2-4. Tech faces Rice, Arkansas and Houston at Minute Maid Park.

The Raiders play a single game at Arizona State on March 6, followed by a March 9-11 series at TCU. Other notable non-conference opponents include two home games vs. Florida Gulf Coast, home and home games with Dallas Baptist, a three game home series vs. Houston, and a pair of two-game series with New Mexico. Each team will host two games.

Big 12 Conference play opens March 16-18 with a trip to Baylor. Other conference road series are at Kansas, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M. Conference home series are against Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, and Kansas State.

29 Home Games On Tap For Sooners…

Oklahoma has released its 2012 college baseball schedule. The Sooners open their season Feb. 17-19 with a three game series in Malibu, Calif. vs. Pepperdine.

The Sooners play their first home games the next weekend when they host three games with Hartford and then a single game against UT Arlington on Feb. 28.

OU heads to Albuquerque March 2-4 for a three game series vs. New Mexico. The Lobos played at Oklahoma in 2011.

A trip to Oregon for four games comes March 9-11 at the Nike Showcase 2012. OU faces Connecticut, Oregon and West Virginia in Eugene and Oregon State in Corvallis.

Mid week non-conference games are scheduled against Dallas Baptist, TCU, Oral Roberts, Arkansas, Oklahoma State, and Air Force (2). The Sooners will also host Samford and Alabama State in a pair of weekend three game series.

Big 12 Conference play begins March 16-18 when the Sooners host Texas. Other conference home series are against Kansas State, Missouri and Baylor. Conference road series are at Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Kansas, and Oklahoma State.

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34 Home Games Slated For Bears…

Baylor has released its 2012 college baseball schedule. The Bears open their season February 17-19 when they host a three game series with Oral Roberts. That series is followed by a Feb. 21 home game against TCU and a neutral site game on Feb. 22 in Round Rock, TX against Texas State.  That game will be played at Dell Diamond, the home of the Texas Rangers Triple-A affiliate.

The Bears make a Feb. 24-26 trip to California for a three game series at UCLA and then return home the next weekend to host the QTI Baylor Classic March 2-4. The Bears will play UC Irvine and Lamar twice each at the event.

More good non-conference play continues March 6 & 7 with a game at TCU and a home game against Michigan State, respectively. The Spartans won the Big Ten regular season championship in 2011. Memphis then visits for a March 9-11 three game series.

Baylor will also host two game non-conference series against Texas A&M Corpus Christi, New Mexico State and Louisiana-Monroe.

Big 12 Conference play begins March 16-18 when Baylor hosts Texas Tech. Other conference home series are against Kansas and Oklahoma State. Conference road series are at Missouri, Kansas State and Oklahoma.

Baylor will again split its conference series with Texas and Texas A&M. The first game of the A&M series is on the road with the last two at home, while the first game of the Texas series is at home, with the last two in Austin.

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25 Games Set vs. 2011 NCAA Opponents…

Kansas has released its 2012 college baseball schedule. The Jayhawks start the season by playing in five different tournaments over the first five weekends of the season. It starts with games against Middle Tennessee State, Belmont and Lipscomb in the Nashville Tournament February 17-19.

The Jayhawks are at Mississippi State‘s tournament the next weekend with two games each against the host Bulldogs and Mississippi Valley State Feb. 24-26.

KU is in San Antonio March 2-4 at the UT San Antonio Tournament. It plays the host Roadrunners as well as Gonzaga and Lafayette.

A March 9-11 trip to the Metrodome for the DQ Classic has the Jayhawks facing Minnesota, Stony Brook and a yet to be determined opponent.

The Jayhawks head back to San Antonio March 15-18 for games against Indiana State, Notre Dame, Houston Baptist, and a TBD opponent in the Notre Dame Tournament.

Kansas finally plays its home opener March 20 when it starts a two game series with Southern Utah.

Big 12 Conference play opens March 23-25 when the Jayhawks travel to Baylor. Other conference road series are at Oklahoma State, Texas and Kansas State. KU hosts Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and Missouri in conference play.

The Jayhawks play a home and home series with intrastate rival Wichita State April 10 & 11 as well as a non-conference game vs. Missouri in Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium on April 18.

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Fresh off a trip to the 2011 College World Series, the Texas A&M baseball team has announced its 2012 college baseball schedule.

The Aggies open the new season February 17-19 with a three game series against Illinois-Chicago. The series is part of a 21 game homestand to begin the 2012 campaign.

Notable non-conference series in that stretch include three games against Michigan State March 2-4. The Spartans were the regular season Big Ten co-champions in 2011. Big West champion Cal State Fullerton also visits College Station for three games. March 9-11.

The Aggies go on the road for a three game set vs. Pepperdine March 23-25. They will also host San Diego State for three games May 10-12. TCU, Rice and Texas State are among other non-conference opponents.

A&M opens Big 12 play at home March 16-18 against Kansas State. Other three game conference home series are against Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas Tech. Three game conference road series are at Kansas and Oklahoma State.

There are two traditional split conference series on tap in 2012. The Aggies will host the first game of their series with Texas, with the last two games to be played in Austin. A&M will also host the opener of their series vs. Baylor with the last two games to be played in Waco.

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The Big 12 Conference has announced its 2011 baseball schedule on FSN. Six games, highlighted by the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship, will be broadcast.

CLICK HERE for a listing of more college baseball broadcast information for the 2011 season.

2011 FSN BIG 12 CONFERENCE BASEBALL TELECAST SCHEDULE

(All Times Eastern)