With plenty of time still remaining in the 2012 college baseball season, teams across the country will be looking to make their move in hopes of ultimately earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Two such teams – Texas Tech and Ohio State – will be aiming to improve their NCAA resumes over the next few weeks, with some challenging (but RPI-boosting) games still on the schedule. front-page photo courtesy of Texas Tech
CB360 co-founder Pete LaFleur recently spent some time out on the road and had the chance to visit with Ohio State head coach Greg Beals, along with Texas Tech skipper Dan Spencer and the Red Raiders #2 starter John Neely. Links from video interviews with all three are included below – along with an archive of CB360 video and audio interviews from the 2012 season.
Ohio State was listed 37th on the most-recent NCAA RPI, with the Buckeyes set to play host to a key Big Ten series this weekend vs. Nebraska. Both teams are 5-4 in conference action, tied with Indiana for second behind Purdue’s 7-2. Entering the season, it seemed most likely that the Big Ten tournament champion would be the league’s only NCAA qualifier – but it now seems feasible the Big Ten could send multiple teams to the NCAAs (OSU is 20-12 overall while Nebraska is 23-12 and entered the week 77th in the official NCAA RPI).
Texas Tech played a strong schedule (with some key wins) leading up to Big 12 play, but the Red Raiders are only 3-9 in Big 12 action (19-15 overall; #99 RPI). They step outside league play this weekend, with a home series vs. Houston (RPI #69) – while a couple big series remain (vs. RPI #110 Missouri and RPI #4 Texas A&M) that will be RPI boosters, as will a midweek game with Dallas Baptist (RPI #43).
The Raiders – looking for their first NCAA bid since 2004 – clearly need to go on a run, first to earn a top-4 finish in the Big 12 while building on an NCAA resume that already includes wins over Missouri State, Houston, Arizona State, Oklahoma, Texas and Dallas Baptist.
Here are the video interview links (recorded in full-HD); scroll down for other CB360 video & audio from the 2012 season:
DAN SPENCER video interview
(Texas Tech head coach)
JOHN NEELY video interview
(Texas Tech sr. RHP)
GREG BEALS video interview
(Ohio State head coach)
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Other Recent CB360 Video Interviews (2012 season)
• Georgia head coach Dave Perno: Part-1 … Part-2
• Alabama head coach Mitch Gaspard: Part-1 … Part-2
• Jake Boss (Michigan State head coach)
• Mik Aoki (Notre Dame head coach)
…
Recent CB360 Podcast Audio Interviews (2012 season)
• Mark Appel (Stanford jr. RHP)
• Cliff Godwin (Ole Miss assistant coach)
• Mark Marques (Stanford head coach)
• Jim Penders (UConn head coach)
• Tyler Hannah (Troy sr. SS)
• Preston Tucker (Florida sr. OF)
• Paul Mainieri (LSU head coach)
• Brian O’Connor (Virginia head coach)
• Justin Jones (California jr. LHP)