September 14, 2008

Kendall Rogers
Rivals.com College Baseball Editor

For once the Big Ten and Big East have decided to be trendsetters.

The two conferences announced earlier this week that they'll play a joint head-to-head tournament in St. Petersburg, Fla., and Clearwater, Fla., early in the 2009 season.

Though the Big Ten and Big East obviously have made a conscious effort to play good competition early in the season, some coaches view the challenge as a development that could backfire on northern coaches.

While the challenge highlights this week's mailbag, we also take an inside look at Miami, San Francisco, Conference USA and Pepperdine's Nick Gaudi.

The Hurricanes enter fall workouts with some huge holes to fill and San Francisco added a potential contributor with Arizona transfer Robert Abel joining the program. Conference USA is also a major topic of discussion, while Pepperdine closer Nick Gaudi hopes to have a stellar senior season.

More to come

With the condensed schedule becoming a more heated issue, it actually surprised me that the Big Ten and Big East put this tournament together.

One part of condensed schedule and weather debate deals with the northern programs and their inability to get programs in other regions to travel North in late February and early March.

Instead of trying to attract teams to the region in the near future, the North's most prestigious conferences took matters into their own hands. I think the tournament is a great idea and is good for college baseball, but some coaches in other regions will likely take some sort of offense to it.

I'll probably attend this tournament at some point.

Though the Big Ten and Big East have decided to play a tournament challenge in Florida, I wouldn't look for other conferences to follow suit ? at least those conferences in the South and West.

Most SEC programs tend to schedule patsies early in the season and aren't willing to hit the road, while some ACC programs also adhere by the same rules. The Big 12 isn't much better, but the programs in Texas get a mulligan for often playing in the Astros College Classic. TCU, the one team that very seldom plays in the tournament, has a tremendous non-conference schedule.

Most programs in the West are used to playing rigorous schedules. Therefore, they may be willing to create a tournament challenge. Perhaps the Big West and Pac-10 can put together a deal similar to the Big Ten and Big West.

You may see a challenge involving other conferences in the near future, but I don't see the tournament being played at a neutral site.

Though some may disagree, I commend the Big Ten and Big East for at least trying to play good competition early in the season.

Miami just fine

When it came to my knowledge that Terdoslavich had left Miami, it certainly came a huge surprise considering the offensive contributors the Hurricanes must replace. But there's more to the story.

Though I won't delve into Terdoslavich's situation for respect reasons, it's now obvious that he wasn't in Miami's future plans.

We'll leave Terdoslavich's situation at that.

As for the Hurricanes entering fall workouts, this should be an interesting team to follow the next few months.

The 'Canes have the tough task of replacing first baseman Yonder Alonso, second baseman Jemile Weeks, outfielders Blake Tekotte and Dennis Raben and third baseman Mark Sobolewski, but welcome back an excellent pitching staff with Kyle Bellamy, Eric Erickson and Chris Hernandez leading the way.

Yasmani Grandal, Jason Hagerty and Dave DiNatale must rise to the occasion this fall, while shortstop Ryan Jackson is a guy that I expect to become an All-American type of player in the spring.

The Hurricanes certainly have some huge holes to fill, but this team will be much better than some people expect. Bank on it.

Dons doing alright

After hitting .264 with 22 RBIs as a freshman at Arizona, Abel didn't see much action as a sophomore this past season. He hit .267 with a home run and six RBIs. He also finished the season with just 45 at bats.

Though Abel didn't play much for the Wildcats, he should earn much more playing time for the Dons. Abel is a talented player, but the Wildcats had others such as Bryce Ortega rise to the occasion last spring.

It'll be interesting to see how much of an impact Abel makes at San Francisco. I'm going to predict that he'll be a consistent contributor.

As for San Francisco as a program, I have much respect for coach Nino Giarratano and his excellent coaching staff. The Dons don't have much in the facilities department and must deal with major construction constraints being nestled in the middle of San Francisco. USF is also an expensive school to attend, and lacks the star power of a school like Pepperdine.

Given his program's obstacles, Giarratano has done an excellent job. Most coaches I've spoken with agree with my assessment. Recently, a coach from a national power told me he thought the USF staff was doing an amazing job considering their disadvantages.

Just some food for thought.

Gaudi is good

After the spring he had for Pepperdine, I was very surprised that Gaudi didn't get selected in the MLB Draft. Gaudi, however, made it abundantly clear that he was going back to school for his senior season if drafted in the latter rounds.

With the Waves losing right-handed pitcher Brett Hunter to the draft at the last second, Gaudi's return is very important.

The senior right-hander had an excellent junior campaign in '08. Gaudi made 29 appearances last season and had a 2.68 ERA in 43 2/3 innings. He also finished the season with 15 saves.

Though opponents only hit Gaudi at a .261 clip, his stock likely didn't rise for at least one reason. The righty finished the '08 season with 36 strikeouts and 13 walks. Thirteen walks is impressive, but 36 strikeouts in 43 2/3 innings pales in comparison to highly drafted closers such as Georgia's Josh Fields and Ole Miss's Scott Bittle.

If Gaudi can increase his strikeout total in '09, I think he'll be drafted in the top ten rounds. If not, I'd look for him to get selected out of that area.

Gaudi may not be a highly touted pro prospect, but he's an excellent college pitcher. That's all that matters to Pepperdine coach Steve Rodriguez.

Rising conference

When it comes to conferences that have risen the past few seasons, Conference USA is near the top of the list.

The Big West and West Coast Conferences have shown improvement, while the C-USA has also made a splash on the national stage.

Rice obviously continues to be one of the nation's elite programs, but isn't alone in Conference USA. East Carolina, Southern Miss and Houston are perennial NCAA Regional teams, while Tulane recently made a trip to the College World Series.

Then there are programs such as UCF, UAB and Memphis.

UCF has experienced success in the past, but has taken a turn for the worst the past few seasons. The Knights made a coaching change during the offseason, and are very excited about new coach Terry Rooney. UAB has the ability to improve with coach Brian Shoop at the helm. The Blazers also added legendary coach Ron Polk to their coaching staff this past summer. Memphis is also a program to watch. We tabbed the Tigers as a program on the rise last season. The Tigers, however, enter fall workouts hoping to rebound from a miserable '08 campaign.

As for Southern Miss, I have a ton of respect for coach Corky Palmer. The Eagles aren't naive and realize they're not the top school in the state. Palmer, however, has done a tremendous job of attracting and developing good players in Hattiesburg. The Eagles also have an impressive facility and a fan base that any college baseball aficionado has to love. I'm not sure if USM will find itself in Omaha anytime soon, but it definitely has made an imprint in college baseball.

Kendall Rogers is the college baseball editor for Rivals.com. He can be reached at rogersk@yahoo-inc.com. Got a question for Kendall's Mailbag? Click here to drop him a note