It’s high times for CUSA as these guys are quietly becoming regulars in Omaha and starting to give Rice a heavy dose of reality. So does that mean the Owls are off their perch for good? Well, don’t go crazy mate. But they’re wobbling a bit, yes.

2009 in a Paragraph:
Go ahead, ask Jeremy Mills. The guru of the college baseball standings at D1baseball.com had to withstand three or four calls from me this off-season, “Are you SURE your C-USA standings are right?” I would ask. “Rice isn’t at the top, ya’ know?” Yes, for the first time since coming over from the WAC, the Owls didn’t take the regular season title, finishing a game behind East Carolina in 2009 at 16-8. Considering they’d lost only seven games in the previous three years, you can see how last year was such a tough ride for Wayne Graham’s crew. Despite that, the REAL big story of the conference last season was Southern Mississippi. In Corky Palmer’s final go-round, the Eagles pulled off the greatest achievement in program history by making it to Omaha. The ride was rough in the regular season, but his senior-laden squad made a great final tribute to a great coach. And off he rides into the sunset with a Gene Autry song playing in the background.

2009 Results
1- East Carolina, 17-7
2- Rice, 16-8
3- Tulane, 13-11
3- Houston, 13-11
5- Southern Mississippi, 12-12
6- UAB, 11-12
7- Marshall, 9-15
7- Central Florida, 9-15
9- Memphis, 7-16

2010 in a Paragraph:
Between Rice, Tulane and Southern Miss, as mentioned above, Conference USA is being well-represented in the Mecca of college baseball. East Carolina… you ready to join the Final Eight Club? This could be the year to do so with Rice realizing their armor is thin, USM losing all those seniors and Tulane still just off the radar. Plus, the Pirates boast a lot of star power all over the field and a stable of good horses to put on the mound. It’s Giddy-Up time in Greenville. Worry not Rice fans, your Owls should regroup just fine with the usual array of incoming All Americans and the return of some banged up players from last year. Southern Miss still has enough around to make opponents sleepless on Thursday nights and look for Houston to go well beyond 30 wins this year since they return every-freakin-body. And, correct me if I’m wrong, but does that giant, scary monster just coming over the horizon have the initials “UCF” on its hat?

Collin Cargill and Joey Archer will keep USM intimidatingly good.

Favorites: East Carolina, Rice

Contenders: Southern Miss, Houston

Darkhorse: UAB

Can’t-Miss Series of the Year: East Carolina at Rice, April 23-25.
Close Second: East Carolina at Southern Miss, May 7-9.

Best Non-Conference Series: Virginia at East Carolina, Feb. 19-21
Close Second: Rice at Stanford, Feb. 19-21

Hot Coach: Billy Godwin, East Carolina

Hot Seat Coach: Daron Schoenrock, Memphis

The “You Gotta See” Player: 3B Anthony Rendon, Rice.

Three Non-Conference Series The C-USA Better Not Overlook:
1- Rice at San Diego, March 19-21
2- East Carolina at Pepperdine, March 11-13
3- Missouri State at Southern Miss, March 12-14

Three Bold Predictions:
1- ECU exacts revenge by hosting – and beating – North Carolina in the Regionals.
2- USM really misses the leadership of Corky and those seniors, falls back to the pack.
3- UAB upsets Mississippi State in the opener on Feb. 23rd and the players carry Asst. Coach Ron Polk off the field on their shoulders… as the MSU fans cheer.

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- ALABAMA-BIRMINGHAM (31-26, 11-12)
2009 RPI: 131
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 0
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
C Digger Towe (.353-9-61)
LHP Shay Crawford (5-2, 5.14)
RHP Nick Graffeo (2-2, 5.88, 6svs)
3B Andrew Manning (.318-10-44)

The Good News:
Looks like the hiring of legendary Ron Polk as an assistant was a boon to Coach Brian Shoop and the Blazers, as they clipped the 30-win mark for the first time since 2005. And look at it this way, the Blazers finished only a half-game behind College World Series participant USM (a team they beat 2-of-3 in Hattiesburg) in the C-USA standings. Lots a speed returns with blue streaks like SS Jonathan Merritt (.317, 20SBs), 2B Nick Crawford (.292, 15SBs) and OF Jamal Austin (.297, 20SBs).The pitching staff is junior-senior heavy, which is always a luxury, and has bullpenners like RHP Blake Huddleston (5-0, 5.37) and RHP Tristan Ferrell (3-4, 6.00) backing things up. Two players who sat out last season should make a huge difference in 2010. RHP Benji Waite (a former top 10 high school prospect in Alabama) returns after missing 2009 with an injury and RHP Ryan Woolley, a 6th round pick of the Braves last June, transfered from Georgia and should go big time this year.

The Bad News:
A 5-6 finish, including a 1-2 CUSA tourney showing, ended the ‘09 season on a sour note. The 3rd-to-last pitching staff (5.91) and 2nd-to-last defense (.957) were the main culprits as to why the Blazers finished CUSA play below .500. The 258 walks the staff issued was a tad on the high side as well. Cody McMurry and Brint Hardy provided solid power and speed bases for this offense and both have moved on to pro ball. Despite series wins over USM and Rice, there were also a lot of dubious losses as the Blazers showed some youth issues.

Schedule Note:
Polk returns to his old stomping grounds.
Will be interesting to see the crowd’s reaction as UAB goes to Starkville to play Mississippi State, the former long-time home of Ron Polk. (Wonder if the fans will beg coach to switch jerseys?). The trip to San Diego in mid-March should provide a great measuring stick for this team as they’ll face off with USD, Fresno State, San Diego State and Fullerton. Trips to East Carolina and the season ender at Rice will be tough, says Mr. Obvious.

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- CENTRAL FLORIDA (22-35, 9-15)
2009 RPI: 151
Starters Returning: 4
Weekend Starters: 0
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
C Beau Taylor (.335, 26 runners CS, Frosh All Am.)
OF Shane Brown (.341-6-44, 20 2Bs)
Plus a bevy of newcomers.

The Good News:
Brown and Taylor are blocks of granite for this team and are two of the top three hitters from 2009. Lots of new faces, but these are some talented faces too. My Gawd! With an incoming class rated No. 4 in the nation by Collegiate Baseball, Coach Terry Rooney, in his second season, has brought in an impressive haul including five guys that were previously drafted. Look for immediate impact from frosh OF Ronnie Richardson (11th round, Minnesota) and SS Darnell Sweeney (41st round, Marlins) who both can flat fly, and a pair of JC All Americans in power-hitting 1B Jonathan Griffin and 3B Derek Luciano. A trio of JC All American hurlers will help as well in righties Alex Besaw (32nd round, Tampa Bay, played at Oregon State in ‘08) and Owen Dew (33rd round, Angels) and southpaw Nick Cicio, who is undersized (5′10, 155) but has a combative heart on the mound.

The Bad News:
Lots of personnel losses up and down the lineup as a whole new team (21 newcomers) will wear the black and old gold this year. The mound crew was decimated, including the loss of all three weekend starters and the ace saves specialist. The team ERA of 7.47 and fielding of .958 can’t be repeated this season. The large amount of new faces will probably mean a lot of bumps on the road, especially early on. UCF hasn’t been to the NCAA tournament since coming over from the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2006, and have gone just 1-6 in C-USA tourney games to boot.

Schedule Note:
One way to pave the rough road.
The Knights have been notorious for a-thousand-suns hot starts, including 19-1 in 2008, 22-3 in 2005 and 28-5 in 2004. Despite all the youth, it may still be another big won-loss mark early in 2010. There are midweek games against Florida and Miami, but the weekenders are Savannah State, Siena, Central Michigan, Hartford and Presbyterian in their first five weeks.

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- EAST CAROLINA (46-20, 17-7)
2009 RPI: 23
Starters Returning: 5
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Seth Maness (9-2, 3.27, 81Ks, 20BBs, Frosh All-American)
1B Kyle Roller (336-16-75)
RHP Seth Simmons (3-1, 3.69, 9svs)
RHP Brad Mincey (10-5, 3.16)
OF Trent Whitehead (.376-7-47)
OF Devin Harris (.344-14-48, 13SBs)
SS Dustin Harrington (.318-14-49)

The Good News:
How about this: ECU – Conference USA champions… all in the same sentence. Yep, it’s for real. It happened. And the better news might be that North Carolina has finally hit a down cycle, so the Pirates could be primed to take over as the best team in the Carolinas. And that also means they could have an even shot at hosting in the post-season and – gulp – actually having their best chance at making it to Omaha in their history. (There, I said it.). Coach Billy Godwin has to love the pitching depth since ECU will return 37 of their 46 wins from last season coming back on the mound, led by Maness and saves specialist Simmons. Mincey is as versatile as it gets, making 10 starts and 25 appearances overall. LHP Kevin Brandt (9-2, 3.64) was a freshman All American last year too. Roller will be one of the more intimidating bats in the country, after pulling MVP honors at the Cape last summer. He leads an offense that hit .339 last season, returns five .300+ hitters and will scare the piss out of just about anybody that dares to throw at them. Getting the hard-slugging Harris back in uniform was huge, as he spurned the pros despite getting drafted in the 8th round by Baltimore. NIce. The incoming class looks pretty solid as well, featuring 3B John Wooten (20th round pick of San Diego), INF Chris Gosik (49th round pick of Philadelphia) and RHP Joseph Hughes (40th round pick of Washington).

The Bad News:
We in the college baseball community see and hear you loud and clear Pirate fans. You’re one of the best fan bases in the country. But we still wonder if ECU will ever truly break through. Will the Pirates reach the promised land? (pause while the question just hangs in the air). Last year’s two blowout losses at UNC in the Supers was a painful ending to a great season. Losing home run bombers like All American Ryan Wood, Brandon Henderson and Stephen Batts is big. Three of the four infield starters must also be replaced (though Roller will take over the 1B role full-time).

Schedule Note:
I don’t know how they pulled it off, but they pulled it off.
How often do you see a school like East Carolina entice BCS big-wigs like Virginia and South Carolina to come play a road series at your joint? Strong, strong work on your part Pirates. That’s how ECU will open the season for six RPI-friendly contests. They’ll also make a Southern California trip with a return home-and-home with Pepperdine. ECU will also play a decent Monmouth team in mid-March… giving me further reason to think this may be the best non-conference schedule in the country.

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- HOUSTON (31-27, 13-11)
2009 RPI: 108
Starters Returning: 9
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
C Chris Wallace (.285-9-34)
SS Blake Kelso (.335, 12SBs)
OF Caleb Ramsey (.332-4-46, 16SBs)
OF Zak Presley (.301, 17SBs)

The Good News:
It may be tougher to find a more experienced team in the country than UofH will put on the field this season. All nine starters return to the order and most of the pitching does as well. Both RHP Michael Goodnight (5-5, 4.43) and RHP Jared Ray (4-4, 5.34) are going into their second years of starting on the hill and should improve their numbers. The defense fielded at an acceptable .966 last season, but with SS Kelso (who is also a great leadoff hitter) and 2B Taylor White bringing their double-play combo back, this year should be even better. Coach Raynor Noble loves the two-way talent of OF/LHP William Kankel (.284/2-1, 4.82, .261OBA) and OF/RHP Chase Dempsay (.275/4-0, 5.00, 2svs).

The Bad News:
A soul-crushing 3-14 start included some ugly blowout losses and bad injuries (especially that awful face-plunking I saw catcher Wallace take at the Astros Classic that made him miss a month of action). The Coogs readjusted, but never regained ground. There weren’t a lot of losses from last year but three-year staff ace Wes Musick and saves leader Donnie Joseph (11svs) will be big roles to re-fill. Dempsay was good last year, but pitching-wise, it’d be nice to see him revert to his Frosh All American form of 2008 where he went 8-3, 2.53. The team that stole 142 bases in ‘08 only ripped off 68 last season, getting caught stealing 36 times and adding some gray hairs to Coach Nobles’ dome.

Schedule Note:
A tougher West coast trip than the Donner Party.
As if the Astros College Classic wasn’t going to be difficult enough, the next two weeks that follow sees the Coogs make the trek out beyond the Rockies to play three at Cal Poly, one at Cal, one at San Francisco and then a three-gamer at Arizona State. That’s either a confidence-killer or an RPI booster. Speaking of, a home weekend vs. TCU in early April will accomplish the same thing.

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- MARSHALL (22-32, 9-15)
2009 RPI: 168
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 4

All Conference Candidates:
3B Josh Valle (.337-4-35)
1B Victor Gomez (.332-18-62)
RHP Austin Coan (3-5, 3.49, .217OBA)
RHP Shane Farrell (1-7, 3.88, .232OBA)

The Good News:
With a deep and seasoned pitching staff, coach Jeff Waggoner hopes his 4th year of his Marshall Plan goes accordingly. Having the two top bats of Valle and Gomez will come in handy, especially the power of Gomez. OF Rhett Stafford (.293-8-30) adds some gap power as well. Though it is pocked with juniors and seniors, coach likes the upside of a pair of well-used sophomores in LHP Mike Mason (1-1, 6.43, .258OBA) and Sunday starter Greg Williams (2-5, 7.86), who should post great numbers this season. Look for the respectable team ERA of 5.45 (5th in CUSA) to get even better this season.

The Bad News:
Despite being my “darkhorse” pick before last season, the Herd skipped a beat last year, dipping to a 7th place finish and another losing mark. They went 7-13 after Tax Day, including limping home to an 0-2 finish in the conference tournament. Adam Yaeger and Nathan Lape were the identity of this offense with their speed and gap hitting at the top of the order, but both will need to be replaced. The hitting was 9th in the conference last year at a wimpy .280 and the defense really needs to be shored up, having the worst unit in the loop at .948. The return of three of the four infielders should ameliorate that eyesore.

Schedule Note:
The tour of Dixie.
The Herd will thunder out of their West Virginia mountains and spend the first four weekends of the season like those old barnstorming teams, visiting sun belt locales like Birmingham (to play Samford), Charleston (to play in the Citadel Tournament), Statesboro (to play Georgia Southern) and Knoxville (to play in the Tennessee Tournament). The first round of home games will be a winnable series vs. LeMoyne on March 19th-21st.

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- MEMPHIS (21-32, 7-16)
2009 RPI: 173
Starters Returning: 6
Weekend Starters: 3
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (25+inns.): 2

All Conference Candidates:
1B Trey Wiedman (.285)
2B Adam McClain (.288)
CF Drew Martinez (.309, 12SBs)
LHP Brennon Martin (6-4, 4.66)

The Good News:
Lots of seniors return, including all three weekend starters, the top saves specialist (Heith Hatfield: 1-3, 5.30, 3svs) and starting catcher (Shawn Ablett: .297-5-30). Martin has some serious upside as the Friday starter, having beaten Rice and Southern Miss last season. Watch for OF prospect Derrick Thomas, who was drafted by the Red Sox last June and should make an immediate impact. Also, all-new FedEx Park is ready to go with all the whistles and bells, marking a serious upgrade in the program’s home environs.

The Bad News:
After going to the NCAAs in ‘07, coach Darin Schoenrock’s troups hit rock bottom again, finishing in last place in CUSA for the second straight season. That’s tough. The most egregious reasons were the hit-and-miss pitching (6.30 team ERA) and faulty defense (.659). Okay, okay, so the team average of .272 wasn’t so hot either, especially since it was the weakest of all the CUSA teams. Lots of fixin’ to do to this team. Roll your sleeves up guys.

Schedule Note:
Not-so-welcome to the C-USA portion.
Conference play will be a rough ride from the word go with weekends against Rice, East Carolina, Houston and Tulane in the first five weeks. The final two weekends of the season will involve roadies to Oklahoma and Southern Miss too. Get your wins early guys.

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- RICE (47-15, 21-3)
2009 RPI: 10
Starters Returning: 8
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 1
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
3B Anthony Rendon (.388-20-72)
SS Rick Hague (.319-9-57, 11SBs)
C Diego Seastrunk (.288-7-45)
OF Stephen Sultzbaugh (.324-8-31)
OF Chad Mozingo (.319-8-50, 10SBs)
OF Michael Fuda (.359)
LHP Taylor Wall (7-6, 3.72)

The Good News:
The good news this year is the same good news the Owls have every year; Wayne Graham is still in control and working his magic. Say it with me, good pitching, good defense, good results. That type of formula will work for Rice again this year. If you get a chance to see Rendon play, do so. He’s worth the price of admission and a couple popcorns. Hague joins him to make an All American left side of the infield. Three seniors spurned the pros (which we like, of course) and came back to campus in Ojala (34th round, Milwaukee), Seastrunk (31st round, San Fran) and Sultzbaugh (41st round, Milwaukee). Wall became the Friday starter later in the ‘09 season and will make great strides in his second year as an Owl. He’ll be backed by a couple of seniors in RHP Mark Haynes (2-0, 4.35) and RHP Jared Rogers (4-1, 6.15) and a pair of imposing sophs in Andrew Benak (1-1, 5.70) and Matt Reckling (2-2, 5.84). With all the familiar names back in uniform, the defense could be even better than last year’s .971 unit that was the best in the C-USA. As for the newbies, according to what I’ve heard, incoming 2B Michael Ratterree (45th round, Washington) is Rendon-like in the skills department and LHP Tony Cingrani, a J.C. transfer, could push into the weekend rotation. Another J.C. transfer, RHP Boogie Anagnostou, should be good… or, well, with a name like that you sure as hell better be.

The Bad News:
While the entire Owl Nation holds its collective breath to see if No. 1 high schooler Jameson Taillon actually doesn’t sign with the pros by this coming August 15th, we’ll have to go ahead and play another season here in the meantime, painful as it may be for you Owl fans. And let me start this section off by saying, PLEASE don’t let the injury bug bite again in 2010. Who knows how good the rotation of Berry, Ojala and Wall would’ve been if they were intact all season long. Speaking of, Ojala is slated to return from Tommy John surgery in mid-season, hopefully in top form (though you never know with that kind of procedure). Without Berry and Ojala being healthy last season, the Owls dropped three straight Friday games in the month of May – which is almost blasphemy for this team. Keep an eye on Rendon, Fuda and Mozingo as each of them has had off-season ankle surgeries.

Schedule Note:
“The Meeting of the Minds”
(Sorry, had to steal that line from SID John Sullivan) Rice and Stanford prove why they are two of the smartest institutions in the country, because they are giving us college baseball fans what we REALLY want in an opening weekend of action – big time programs facing off mano-a-mano. This one will be in Palo Alto and should be a blast. The Owls will continue to challenge themselves (which is what we LOVE about Wayne Graham, he’s not a scaredy-cat) with games against Elon, Nebraska, Texas and TCU in the next two weeks that follow, plus weekend sets vs. Cal and San Diego… all before C-USA play kicks off. Bitchin’ man.

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- SOUTHERN MISS (40-26, 12-12)
2009 RPI: 31
Starters Returning: 5
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 2
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
RHP Collin Cargill (4-3, 3.55, 13svs, .230OBA)
OF Kameron Brunty (.335-7-53, Freshman All Am.)
RHP Todd McInnis (9-4, 3.73, .253OBA)
1B Joey Archer (.306-10-62)

The Good News:
Well the 2009 season finally put an exclamation point behind the Eagles name. It was a hell of a good time watching the Black and Gold make their run through the NCAA tournament and stride into Omaha like the cock of the walk. It was Cinderella wearing white slacks and cleats. A good bit of talent is still around and a lot of it senior talent too. The infield could be outstanding again with Archer, 3B Taylor Walker (.305) and SS B.A. Vollmuth, who only hit .237-8-28, but had a wicked good summer on the Cape and will have a breakthrough season. Beyond starters McInnis and the departed J.R. Ballinger, the Eagles went with a Johnny Wholestaff approach, so a lot of experience returns including seniors Jeff Stanley (4-2, 4.23) and LHP Cody Schlagel (5-1, 5.37) among others. But there’s no doubt about the closer as Cargill was an absolute stud last season. Collegiate Baseball had the freshman class ranked at No. 21 in the country and features a handful of draft dodgers who came to campus, including RHP Geoffrey Thomas (12th round, Houston), C Chase Fowler (16th round, Cincinnati) and J.C. All American OF Marc Bourgeois (42nd round, Minnesota). This marks the second straight recruiting class that was nationally ranked for USM. As if this program wasn’t on enough of a roll already, right?

The Bad News:
Well it was nearly a mass exodus from last year’s team, including the lovable, aw-shucks coach Corky Palmer and a bevy of seniors like the Ewing brothers, Brian Dozier, J.R. Ballinger, Bo Davis and Corey Stevens. I suspect the program won’t wilt away under new head man Scott Berry , but you know how sometimes those transition seasons can be a little bumpy. Remember how this team kind of wilted down the stretch, going 4-8 in the last three weekends of CUSA play? That was an oddity compared to how well they played in the post-season. For an Omaha team, the ERA of 5.14 and defense of .966 were a bit odd. C Travis Graves (.254), needs to step up his game after being a J.C. All American in ‘08.

Schedule Note:
Mid-major tested, mid-major approved.
Although normally I like to see teams that are College World Series caliber test themselves against some big boys in weekend pre-conference play, I’ll give an “attaboy” to the Eagles for this slate. USM is not afraid to travel and not afraid to put its reputation on the line with weekend roadies at Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisiana Tech and also home dates with Missouri State and Northwestern State. All of those teams should challenge for conference titles this year.

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- TULANE (34-25, 13-11)
2009 RPI: 66
Starters Returning: 2
Weekend Starters: 2
Mid-Week Starters: 0
Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

All Conference Candidates:
C Jeremy Schaffer (.311-14-56)
OF Nick Boullosa (.298, 22SBs)
RHP Nick Pepitone (2-5, 3.26, 9svs, .250OBA)
RHP Conrad Flynn (8-3, 3.93, .267OBA)

The Good News:
The Green Wave had some high-quality wins during the 2009 season, including Ws against the likes of USC, UC Irvine, LSU, East Carolina (series win) and Southern Miss (series win), so you KNOW this team can play with anybody. Schaffer is a serviceable backstop and will catch weekend starters Flynn and LHP Matt Petiton (5-3, 5.13). The coaching staff also thinks senior RHP Preston Claiborne could have a breakout final season, be it as a starter or joining the tough-as-nails closer Pepitone in the bullpen. Either way, the Green Wave could have a solid arms corps. The Mean Green fans will be relieved to see the return of Rob Segedin, who was a Freshman All American in ‘08 (.322-6-59/1-2, 4.66, 5svs) as a 3B and reliever. Also coming back after a season on the shelf will be RHP Robby Broach, who went 5-2, 5.15 in 57 innings of work in ‘08. The incoming class wasn’t nationally lauded but Aaron Fitt at Baseball America says that RHP Kyle McKenzie from Boston should be a stud worth watching and may work into the weekend rotation.

The Bad News:
It’s weird to see a Tulane team not make the post-season. But they just had too many untimely losses and black eyes that cost them in the view of the selection committee.
Huge amounts of losses in all phases of the team from last year, including six of the top eight hitters from a team that hit a (relatively) light .292. Other than Schaffer’s strong stick we’re looking at a power outage as just 19 of the teams’ 70 home runs is back in uniform. Incoming new blood will need time to gel.

Schedule Note:
Home Turchin home.
Tulane is taking a page from the LSU’s and Arizona State’s of the world and will play only 16 games outside the city this coming spring. In fact, 23 of the first 25 games will be at Turchin Stadium. The season opening weekend vs. Boston College and a visit from Ole Miss in week three will be of utmost interest. They’ll also have important home weekends with both Rice and Southern Miss in conference play. I tell ya’ what, if you want to get some newbies into the flow of college baseball, this schedule is the way to do it.