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Pitcher Helps Michigan State To Historic NCAA Bid…

Tony Bucciferro (photo courtesy MSU)

Multiple NCAA Tournament bids have not been common in recent years for the Big Ten. The conference has had just one NCAA representative in each of the last two years, so things were tense in East Lansing on Selection Monday as pitcher Tony Bucciferro and his Michigan State teammates waited to find out if they would receive an NCAA bid.

The Spartans did receive a bid to join Big Ten regular season and tournament champion Purdue as the Big Ten’s two teams in the 2012 NCAA field of 64. In this exclusive podcast with CB360 co-editor Sean Stires, Bucciferro discusses the nerves and excitement in the room on Monday as he and his team awaited their NCAA announcement, the nerves he had watching a 10-2 lead over Nebraska evaporate last week at the B1G Tournament, the excitement of going to the Palo Alto Regional this week and more!

Bucciferro.mp3.

Tony Bucciferro – 6’3 – 200 – Sr. – Joliet, IL

Head Coach: Jake Boss, Jr.

The Road To Omaha leads to TD Ameritrade Park and The Dugout – located right across the street from TDA’s home plate entrance. The Dugout has a ton of authentic college baseball caps – just like the ones the players wear on the field.

If you’re going to Omaha for the College World Series make sure to make your first stop The Dugout for all officially licensed CWS apparel. If you can’t make it to Omaha just follow our red links to The Dugout!

 

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Why The Conference & Some Of Its Coaches Are Barking Up The Wrong Tree…

By College Baseball 360 co-editor Sean Stires

It looks like the Big Ten, or “BIG” as it likes to moniker itself, is at it again. According to an Associate Press report, there are two ideas being floated by two different Big Ten coaches that would pretty drastically change the way college baseball is played.

The AP attributes one of the ideas to ABCA Hall of Fame coach, John Anderson, of Minnesota. Anderson’s idea is for teams in his conference to stop beginning their seasons in February like the rest of college baseball. Instead, BIG would begin play much later and play out its 56-game regular season into summer – while the College World Series is being played, meaning Big Ten teams would give-up the chance to play in the NCAA Tournament altogether.

“We’re never going to catch those people,” Anderson is quoted saying in reference to the four SEC teams that played at last year’s CWS. “The system works for them, and they’re not going to want to change it.”

The other idea comes from Purdue head coach Doug Schreiber. His plan would be for the SEC to allow schools to play 14 non-conference games in the fall, with those games counting toward the team’s 56-game regular season limit and won-loss record the following spring. IE-Fall 2011 results would have counted toward the current 2012 season.

With respect to both Anderson and Schreiber, their ideas are not completely without merit. Just like the BIG has been doing for the last several years, they are looking for a solution that they think college baseball’s current system has handed them. They all argue that the current system is keeping BIG teams out of the chance to be in and host NCAA Tournament games.

To a certain extent they are correct. The problem is, they are barking up the wrong tree.

You see, the BIG wants it both ways. Its commissioner, Jim Delaney, and the people who run the schools in the conference will not allow their school’s head coaches to over-sign prospective recruits. The practice allows a coach a safety net when highly touted signees opt for professional contracts rather than going to college. The end result is rosters that have a hard time consistently competing with top-notch opponents.

That, along with early extended road trips and early losses leads to bad RPIs and, ultimately, fewer at-large NCAA bids. As cited in the AP article. BIG has received just a single NCAA bid six times since 1999, two bids four times and three bids on three occasions.

BIG wants us to believe it’s all the system’s fault, but there’s another northern conference that defies BIG’s argument- the Big East, which has sent three teams to the NCAA Tournament each of the last two years, while BIG has had just one each (Anderson’s Minnesota squad in 2010 and Illinois last year).

Connecticut, Seton Hall and St. John’s all went to the dance last year. There was hardly tropical weather in any of those locales when the 2011 season began, but they all did just fine.  BIG is also the conference that has a better BCS windfall, thanks to several years with multiple teams (Michigan and Wisconsin this year) in BCS bowl games.

What really irks BIG is not just the fact that Michigan’s 1984 team was the last school from the conference to reach the CWS, but also the idea that they don’t think there are enough northern schools hosting NCAA Regionals every year.

The problem with the latter argument is that hosting guarantees nothing. Ask national seed Rice last year. UConn hosted a regional two years ago, only to see Florida State advance all the way to Omaha. The Huskies started on the road in the Clemson Regional last year, upsetting the Tigers and advancing to the program’s first Super Regional.

There’s also the fact that other northern teams like Notre Dame, Nebraska, Missouri State, and even Oregon State have all been to Omaha in the last decade. Granted, Nebraska (which just left the Big 12 for BIG) and Oregon State both had the advantage of playing better teams in conference play, helping their RPIs. However, OSU beat Michigan in 2007 and Missouri State got past Ohio State in 2003 in Super Regionals to earn CWS berths.

Notre Dame rattled-off an unheard of eight straight NCAA appearances from 1999-2006 under then head coach Paul Mainieri. The foundation of his teams, which included future MLB pitchers Brad Lidge and Aaron Heilman in the late ‘90s, was pitching. Those two would have been teammates with current Chicago Cub Ryan Dempster had he not opted to go the pro route instead.

Mainieri’s Irish earned its CWS bid in 2002 after first beating Ohio State in the South Bend Regional and then going to Tallahassee and toppling No. 1 ranked Florida State (which carried a 25-game winning streak into the best of three series).

Delaney has tossed around the idea of a “Northern World Series” if the kind of “access” to the NCAA Tournament that he wants isn’t attained. That event could take place in the late summer if Anderson’s plan to push back his conference’s start date were to go into effect.

The event could even be televised. A Big Ten Network spokesperson told the AP “BTN will televise baseball wherever the Big Ten play it.” That is unless it’s at what the conference had hoped would be one of the premiere early season events, The Big East/Big Ten (or vice versa, depending on year) Challenge. Event organizers practically begged BTN to televise at least some games during the four year run of the Challenge to no avail.

I completely empathize with Big Ten coaches and the challenges they face. I have long said that it is ridiculous that with around 300 Division One college baseball teams (of which around half are northern) should start the season in February when pitchers and catchers are just reporting to spring training.

It is extremely challenging for every northern team to practice (mostly indoors) and hit the road for the first 3-4 weeks of every season, but it still no more challenging for Purdue or Michigan than it is for Notre Dame or Cincinnati. However, there was also a time (not so long ago) when there was no uniform start date to the college season. That set-up allowed warm weather schools to get double-digit games under their belts before the snowbird schools came south.

Give Schreiber credit though, he has put together a schedule that, if it wins 36 or so games, should be in the at-large discussion if it warrants at the end of the season. Purdue’s non-conference slate includes games against the like of East Carolina, Auburn, Southern Mississippi, Wichita State, Louisville, and a three-game series in May at UCLA. That doesn’t even include a Maryland team that has turned out to be pretty good so far.

Schreiber and Anderson are trying to help their teams and others in their conference. The problem is their conference needs to get out of their way.

After hearing from some coaches and readers the following was added after the initial post of this column:

As I hope I stated clearly enough (I know I have in the past anyway) the start of the season needs to be pushed back AT LEAST to the first weekend of March. Things will never be completely fair for northern teams as long as the college season starts before April. Schreiber’s plan to play 14 games in the fall is the best of these two options. Of the coaches I have talked to since this news broke, they favor that idea. One possibility could be putting both a minimum and a maximum number of fall games for all teams.

An idea we have mentioned here on CB360 before is allowing “exempt” fall games (exhibitions that would not count toward the 56-game limit) in an effort to give the college game more exposure, especially in the north where Big Ten schools and Big East schools with football could tie fall games in with a home football weekend. Playing regular season games in October would take it a step further, where schools like Notre Dame, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Cincinnati, Ohio State, and others could tie an entire weekend series in with a football weekend, thus killing three birds with one stone. They get to play some home games in the fall, they get more exposure for their baseball team and they don’t have to spend three weeks on the road in late February and March.

To be clear, the points northern coaches raise about the inequity of northern and southern teams in college baseball is valid. However, the Big Ten has more resources than any other northern conference, yet the conference has continually chosen to blame the NCAA for all of its woes rather than looking within at how it has hamstrung its baseball schools with self-imposed policies like not allowing over-signing and restricting junior college transfers to its baseball programs. (SS)

Preseason All-Conference Named As Well..

22 Home Games Set For Spartans…

Michigan State has released its 2012 college baseball schedule. The Spartans open their season Feb. 17-19 at the Big Ten/Big East Challenge in the St. Petersburg/Clearwater, Fla. area. Their three opponents at the event are St. John’s, South Florida and Louisville.

The defending Big Ten regular season co-champions head to Greenville, SC for the second weekend of the season to play two games each against Miami (OH) and Furman.

MSU heads to both Texas and Florida for its spring break trip, which starts March 2-4 with a three game series at Texas A&M. After a March 7 game at Baylor, Michigan State heads to Port Charlotte, Fla. for games in successive days against Xavier, Seton Hall and Pittsburgh.

The Spartans play a three game series at Cincinnati March 16-18 and then play their first home games when they host Oakland (MI) March 23-25.

Other non-conference games include the May 15 Clash at Comerica vs. Central Michigan in Detroit and an April 10 home game against Notre Dame.

Big Ten play begins March 30-April 1 with a home series against Ohio State. Other conference home series are against Minnesota, Iowa and Penn State. Conference road series are at Indiana, Purdue and Illinois. MSU will split its series with Michigan. The first game of the series will be in Ann Arbor on April 6 and the last two games will be in East Lansing over the next two days.

Marquee Games Highlight Non-Conference Slate…

Michigan has released its 2012 college baseball schedule. The Wolverines open their season February 17-19 with games against Pittsburgh, Seton Hall and West Virginia at the Big Ten/Big East Challenge in the St. Petersburgh/Clearwater, Fla area.

In fact, the Wolverines play their first 12 games of the season in the Sunshine State. They play four games against Iona in Port St. Lucie the following weekend, play Florida Gulf Coast on Feb. 29, and then face Ohio State, Chicago State and Xavier (2) in Port Charlotte from Feb. 29-March 2. Ohio State and Michigan will not meet in Big Ten play this season, so their game in Florida is their only scheduled meeting this year.

Michigan goes to Baton Rouge March 9-11 for games against LSU and Notre Dame March 9-11. The Wolverines play each of those teams twice. They face Coastal Carolina, Alabama-Birmingham and UConn March 16-18 in Myrtle Beach, SC at the Coastal Carolina Tournament. Michigan will also host two games with Coastal Carolina May 8 & 9 in Ann Arbor.

After playing its first 20 games on the road, Michigan plays a home opening three game series vs. IPFW (Ft. Wayne) March 23-25.

Big Ten play opens March 30-April 1 with three games at Minnesota. Other conference road series are at Penn State, Iowa and Purdue. Michigan hosts Northwestern, Indiana and Nebraska in conference play. They will host two of their three games against Michigan State, with the middle game of the series on April 7 to be played in East Lansing.

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Switch Could Mean More Northern Exposure…

OpEd By College Baseball 360 Editor Sean Stires

(July 19, 2011)

We could be playing college baseball right now.

If the college baseball season started in late March instead of February the College World Series would have started this past Saturday  instead of its traditional Father’s Day weekend.

If Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney had his way that’s exactly how things would go. Delaney has been joined by others to push back the start of the college baseball season by at least a month to help level the playing field for northern teams, and it’s actually one of the best ideas he has had.

Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney

Delaney wants to see more northern representation at the College World Series. His other ideas to help that cause include placing less emphasis on RPI when it comes to NCAA Tournament selections and expanding the CWS field from eight to 10 teams, with the additional two teams being from the northern part of the country.

If my support for his ideas was measured in fastballs, Delaney would get a 95 (mph) for the schedule, an 88 for the RPI and a crafty lefty’s 67 for his plan to rubber stamp two teams from the north for the College World Series.

Let’s take them one at a time.

A Summer Schedule

Roughly half of the 300 Division One college baseball teams come from the northern part of the country, yet college baseball began its season on February 18 in 2011.

Who plays baseball in February?

Major League Baseball pitchers and catchers are just beginning to report when college baseball is cranking-up its schedule in late February. Where are the MLB guys reporting? Florida and Arizona. You know, where it’s actually warm in February!

That’s exactly where northern teams have to go, again and again, until the snow and ice thaws at the start of the season. It doesn’t take much to figure out that Michigan State, Ohio State, Connecticut, et. al have to go on the road more than their counterparts at places like Florida State, Arizona State and UCLA if they want to play in late February and early March.

Do you think folks in  Tallahassee and Tempe could even identify a snow blower if I walked down the street with one (maybe the retirees who’ve transplanted themselves, but that’s another story)? I’m not talking about the snow plows that clear the streets, I’m talking about the ones my neighbors use to clear their driveways in February and March after that white stuff hits the ground…again and again.

There are plenty of schools in smaller conferences like the Ivy League and America East Conference (to name just a couple) that have foregone even playing the first couple weeks of the season, because it just doesn’t fit into the budget.

Delaney’s idea to push back the start of the college baseball season by at least a month just makes sense, and he’s not the only one who’s floated the idea.

Sunny Golloway

Oklahoma head coach, Sunny Golloway, has vocally floated the idea of shifting the season into the summer as well. Golloway, who is one year removed from taking the Sooners to Omaha, thinks college baseball currently gets lost in the shadow of March Madness with its current start date. He also thinks there would be a better chance to get college baseball more TV exposure by pushing the season further into the summer months.

There are a few obstacles to this idea. The increased cost to schools to house and feed their student athletes while most other students are gone for the summer is one reason.

Another obstacle would be the actual scheduling of games. It’s easy for the Big Ten and other northern conferences to say they want to push back the start of the season to ease their travel woes, but starting the season in late March doesn’t give SEC and ACC schools any incentive to actually go to Columbus or Ann Arbor.  Delaney could get his wish for warmer weather in Ann Arbor to start the season, but that won’t make Texas or Florida want to go there to play.

Probably the biggest obstacle to the schedule shift though is…drum roll…TELEVISION. Nobody wants to hear it, but ESPN and Omaha both want the College World Series exactly where it is- in mid June.

Think about it, as it is the CWS fits perfectly into an open window for programming on ESPN, and more and more television drives the bus when it comes to sports (how about that 8:40 p.m. ET first pitch for last week’s All-Star game).

Less RPI Emphasis At Selection Time

Delaney’s biggest argument here is that because of their location, northern teams don’t have the inherent advantage that teams in the south have to play strong competition and build RPI during conference play. Northern schools aren’t the only ones who say the RPI formula favors southern schools though. Schools on the west coast, which obviously have the advantage of warmer weather, say the current system puts them at a disadvantage as well.

The NCAA did seem to make a step toward placing less importance on RPI this year though with the at-large selection of St. John’s rather than LSU, despite an RPI gap of about 30 spots.

It’s hard to have sympathy for Big Ten schools though who don’t even try to build early season RPI by playing a challenging early season schedule.

Michigan State and Illinois tied for the Big Ten regular season crown, while Purdue finished third in the regular season standings. Michigan State’s games against Clemson and Boston College and Purdue’s game at Vanderbilt were the only regular season games among those three teams in 2011 against schools from conferences that sent teams to Omaha (in fairness to Illinois, they did play three games at LSU two years ago).

Contrast that to Stanford, which went into the season knowing it would have to play conference series vs. UCLA and Arizona State (both 2010 CWS teams). The Cardinal started its 2011 season with three game series at Rice, at Vanderbilt and at Texas.

Or how about New Mexico? The Lobos played a total of 12 road games this past season at Arizona State, Arizona, Oklahoma State, and Oklahoma. Big Ten schools could make those same trips (and get paid in the process) if they wanted to.

Those Lobos come from the same Mountain West Conference that Delaney has continually stiff-armed when the conversation of a Division One college football playoff comes up.

That’s right, while Delaney has pounded the pulpit to get more exposure (and the TV money that comes with it) for his Big Ten brethren, he has also stood in the way as the biggest road block to breaking-up the BCS football system (and the money that it funnels into his conference).

Add Two Northern Teams To The CWS

This is the absolute worst idea of the bunch. Prior to the 1980s, NCAA Tournament Regionals were exactly that-“regional”. That’s why teams like Minnesota, Michigan and Maine were regulars in Omaha, because they were playing other northern teams, so they were guaranteed that one of them would make it. That’s what Delaney wants to go back to.

Four Regionals and two Super Regionals would be dedicated to northern schools under Delaney’s proposal, thus guaranteeing two teams from the upper part of the country a clear road to Omaha.

Delaney’s north-south line would be drawn between Oklahoma and Kansas, though I’m not really sure how teams on the west coast would fit into the equation. But that’s part of the problem.

Under the Delaney plan, a school like Virginia would be a “northern” team even though they play in what’s considered a “southern conference” (the ACC). Seems like the Cavaliers have done alright over the last three years with two trips to Omaha and another Super Regional under their belt.

Oregon State, Wichita State, Nebraska, and Notre Dame are other schools north of that line that have all been welcomed to Omaha. Connecticut came within spitting distance of the CWS this year as well by winning the Clemson Regional before falling to eventual national champion South Carolina in Super Regional play.

Maybe pitting UConn against Virginia would have been the more “fair” thing to do (for the Huskies anyway), but that’s still a net of one northern team at the CWS.

Solutions

Hey, we’re equal opportunity here, we don’t just rip apart ideas without having other options. We have beaten this drum in different ways over the last couple of years, but we’ll keep beating it anyway. For change to happen guys like Delaney have to think outside the box in other ways. Rather than asking college baseball to drastically change its landscape, Delaney must first be willing to till his own immediate terrain.

If You Build It…

Assuming the college baseball calender/schedule is going to stay the same (which it is for the foreseeable future) then Delaney and the Big Ten (and possibly his counterparts in the Big East) have to step up to the plate in a big way to make something happen.

Build a domed stadium.

That’s right, build a 15-20,000 seat retractable roof stadium near Chicago and play college baseball in it from mid-February right on through the month of March (and for as long as the thermometer dictates).

Chicago could be the backdrop if the Big Ten shelled out the money for a retractable roof stadium.

The Big Ten could take that BCS money that Delaney doesn’t want to relinquish and sink it right into the college baseball programs he wants to help. He would have the most unique structure in college baseball.

The conference could host multiple Big Ten series in the same weekend in the building. Minnesota vs. Northwestern at Noon Friday-Sunday and Michigan-Illinois at 7 p.m. those same days. The Big Ten could lease the place to Horizon League, Summit League and MAC teams for mid-week and conference series as well. Even schools like St. Louis (Atlantic 10) and Eastern Illinois (Ohio Valley) could get in on the action.

The one of a kind building could also be used for conference post season tournaments (to include the Big Ten as well as potentially the other aforementioned leagues) as well as a potential Regional or Super Regional host site.

Delaney has also floated the idea of a northern answer to the College World Series, and the new building could host the event if it ever comes to fruition.

While we’re at it…

Challenge Yourself…

The Big Ten (which of course is now really 12) has taken part in the Big Ten/Big East Challenge for the last three seasons in Florida. It was a good idea, because teams from both northern conferences got to start the season on equal footing (and in the sunshine to boot) against each other. It was also great for pro scouts, because they could see nearly every big prospect from those conferences by making just one trip.

But maybe it’s time to take it up a notch. If a retractable roof stadium is in play, then think big. Ditch the games against Big East schools and crank-up the Big Ten/Pac-12, ACC, Big 12, and SEC Challenges (not all at the same time, but in varying seasons).

The season could start with Arizona State, Stanford and Oregon making the trip to Chicago to play three games in three days against Michigan, Minnesota and Illinois. At the same time, Illinois, Purdue and Ohio State would be in the San Francisco Bay or Los Angeles area playing games against Cal, UCLA and Oregon State. The rest of the teams from the two conferences could play their “Challenge” games the following weekend.

Such an event reduces travel, keeps scouts interested, creates early season college baseball publicity, and builds RPI.

The draw wouldn’t be exclusive to Big Ten teams though. How about an event similar to the Houston College Classic, which is held annually at Minute Maid Park? Invite teams from all corners of the country to take part in the domed event. Considering it would be in Chicago, it would be easily accessible for most schools.

But don’t stop there…

Lights, Camera…

In case you hadn’t heard, the Big Ten has this thing called…(wait for it)…The Big Ten Network. On this network they televise Big Ten sporting events, including…(wait)…Big Ten baseball games!

The Big Ten could televise all of the previously mentioned games on its own TV network-further promoting its own product.

Cha-ching!

A New Format

The idea to add two more teams to the College World Series is just too drastic. If we’re going to guarantee two northern teams (regardless of merit) two slots at college baseball’s biggest event we might as well just have Michael Roth and Preston Tucker go hand out ribbons at youth soccer games and call it a day.

Rather than reworking the entire NCAA Tournament format to meet the needs of a few, there is a better compromise.

Augie Garrido

A plan to rework the NCAA Baseball Tournament’s format has been floated recently, and it’s gaining traction. Texas head coach Augie Garrido is among those who favor the change, which would keep the tournament field at 64 teams, while giving more people in different parts of the country the chance to go to the games.

It goes something like this:

Round One: The 64 teams in the NCAA Tournament would play at 32 different locations. Two teams at each site would play a best-two-of-three series (like the current Super Regional format). The winners would move on to the second round.

Round Two: The remaining 32 teams would again play a best-two-of-three series in 16 different locales. The winners would move to round three.

Round Three: The remaining 16 teams would play a best-two-of-three series. The eight winners would advance to the College World Series.

Under this format 32 different teams would have the chance to host a first round series, compared to the current 16 teams that get to host. Second and third round match-ups would be predetermined by seeding, so first round upsets would give more teams the opportunity to host in the next two rounds-meaning northern teams would have a much greater chance to host an NCAA event than they presently do.

Connecticut, Ohio State, Michigan, and Notre Dame (northern schools who also play in “northern conferences”) are among the select truly “northern” teams that have hosted even a Regional over the last decade.

The landscape of college baseball has changed drastically since Michigan last represented the Big Ten in Omaha in 1984. If Delaney and the Big Ten want to think big, it’s time to think big and step-up to actually make things happen.

PARK RIDGE, Ill. – After winning the Big Ten’s regular-season and tournament titles last season, Minnesota has been named the conference favorite for 2011, the Big Ten announced on Tuesday. For the first time in conference history, the Big Ten baseball coaches voted on the top six teams and also selected three players from their teams for a Players to Watch list. Also among the top six projected finishers for the season were No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 Indiana, No. 4 Michigan State, No. 5 Iowa and No. 6 Ohio State.

CHICAGO, IL – The Big Ten Network will offer its most extensive baseball and softball coverage ever, with at least 140 events on television or online in 2011. This year’s streamed schedule at www.BigTenNetwork.com will include at least 30 more events than last year’s schedule. Every telecast will be produced in high definition.

The network will nationally televise up to 30 Big Ten baseball games, including the entire Big Ten Baseball Tournament, and stream a minimum of another 50 games for www.BigTenNetwork.com. The network will also broadcast 25 Big Ten softball games this spring to a national audience and stream at least another 37 games online. A selected number of streamed games will be televised on delay through the network’s Student U initiative.

ClICK HERE for the current television and streaming schedule for Big Ten baseball in 2011. Some games may be added to the schedule at a later date.

“We’re pleased to expand our coverage yet again this year, and give Big Ten baseball and softball teams a tremendous level of national exposure,” Big Ten Network president Mark Silverman said.

The network’s live baseball coverage begins with the Michigan-Michigan State series in Ann Arbor. Game one of the series is slated for 5 PM ET on Friday, March 25, and will be streamed live at www.BigTenNetwork.com. The network’s first telecast of the season will be at 2 PM ET on Sunday, April 3, as Ohio State hosts Northwestern at Bill Davis Stadium.

At least 60 games on the Big Ten Network baseball schedule will be conference matchups, including the entire Big Ten Baseball Tournament, played Wednesday, May 25, through Saturday, May 28 (or May 29, if necessary). The 2011 tournament will be played at Huntington Park in Columbus, Ohio.

Minnesota finished atop the 2010 Big Ten baseball standings, winning the conference regular season crown and tournament title. With the tournament win, the Gophers secured the Big Ten’s automatic bid to the NCAA Baseball Championship, making their conference-leading 30th appearance in the bracket and the program’s third appearance in the last four years.

The Minnesota baseball team has scheduled a three-game series against Gonzaga on Mar. 11-13 at Sacramento State, which will take the place of the three games it was going to play at the Metrodome Tournament.

Illinois has released its 2011 baseball schedule. The Fighting Illini will play their first nine games of the season in the state of Florida. The season starts February 18-20 with games against Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and West Virginia at the Big East/Big Ten Challenge in Clearwater and St. Petersburg.

CLICK HERE to see the complete 2011 Illinois baseball schedule.

Illinois gets out of the sun and into a dome when it plays three games at the Metrodome Tournament in Minneapolis, MN March 11-13. Its three opponents there are Gonzaga, Butler and Minnesota.

Big Ten play opens April 1-3 with a three-game series at Penn State. Other conference road series are at Michigan, Northwestern and Purdue. The Fighting Illini hosts Iowa, Ohio State, Michigan State, and Indiana in conference action.

The Big Ten Baseball Tournament is May 25-28 in Columbus, OH.

CLICK HERE to see our SCHEDULE PAGE, which includes links to all 300 DI 2011 schedules (as they become available) as well as 2011 rosters and 2010 team stats.

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