Seeking clarification on Michigan baseball’s conference scheduling
Rainout against the spartys.
Which is stupid because they beat them in a "non conference" game.
Who’s the genius that classifies a game against a team in your conference a non-conference game?
Never mind. - Emily Litella
Completely overlooked that whole situation. Thanks for the clarification. For some reason I thought that game was always a non-con game, which never made sense to me. The fact the conference decided to designate the make up game as a non-con game when it was originally a conference game is baffling at best...
Non-conference game was something setup before the season and (I think) done to ensure an equal and/or proper number of homes games in the series.
i do not know the specifics, but guess that M and MSU did not have a home and home schedule this year so they added a 4th game in the non-con to even things out. Now what I do not know is why they didn’t setup a doubleheader to make up the conference rainout when they played the non-con game in the last few weeks....
My bad, so the non-con game was always on the schedule and they just chose not to make-up the conference game. Still baffled, but what’s done is done.
Hey there-
Some background.
I've been following/covering Big Ten baseball for over a decade now. Going back to at least 2006, Michigan and Michigan State always have a home-away-home format for their conference games. The Big Ten had four-game series until 2009. Prior to, each team would have two games at home and two away. Example, EL on Friday, AA x 2 on Saturday, EL on Sunday. Then, the next season it would flip. AA on Friday, EL x 2 on Saturday, AA on Sunday.
When the Big Ten moved to a three-game series format, the balance wasn't there, but they kept the home-away-home format. Under Bakich, they've added a midweek game to equal it out. So, the midweek game that was played on May 7 was a non-conference game set years in advance.
It's not uncommon to see this happen, especially with rivalries inside of the conference. Purdue and Indiana have committed to playing each other in midweek, regardless of if they have played in the conference season to ensure both fanbases see their rival in their ball park. And Iowa and Northwestern had a game on the books earlier this month but it was wiped out due to rain.
Anyhow, as previously mentioned, it just happens that there are conference games lost in baseball. Purdue and Penn State lost a game, Penn State and Rutgers did too. The conference will always say standings are determined by winning percentage, not wins or fewest losses.
And, the conference games are pre-determined and there is conference rules on how those are played. One, for example, a series must be completed within three days of its start. There are three-year calendars for the league schedule, and it's not as easy as making a previous non-conference game (which the conference has no control over) a conference game.
Hope that gives some background and insight.
Wait what. So there was a rainout against MSU and the next game was designated non conference against MSU that they won? What a load of shit lol.
I mean don't go 2-4 down the stretch including 1-2 at home against Indiana and this isn't a problem
True but imagine any other big ten sport being decided with different amounts of games played. Would never happen.
Happens in softball too and I'd imagine other sports like golf as well.
Exactly. This team choked fucking hard with a manageable schedule down the stretch and they couldn’t even go .500. They aren’t ready to be champions yet. That’s clear. They might be in time, but they aren’t now.
Exactly. This team choked fucking hard with a manageable schedule down the stretch and they couldn’t even go .500. They aren’t ready to be champions yet. That’s clear. They might be in time, but they aren’t now.
Michigan lot 2 of 3 to IU. IU deserves the regular season title.