I was poking around the Big 12’s website yesterday, and I saw something on the baseball standings page that really caught my attention.
Yes. It’s May 3rd and every single Big 12 baseball team is above .500.
Beyond just a 100% hit rate on winning ball clubs this year, every Big 12 team finds itself in the RPI Top 100 through May 2nd, with five appearing in the Top 25.
Big 12 RPI Ranks as of 5/3/17
School | RPI |
---|---|
School | RPI |
Texas Tech | #5 |
TCU | #9 |
West Virginia | #11 |
Baylor | #14 |
Texas | #22 |
Oklahoma | #27 |
Oklahoma St. | #53 |
Kansas | #60 |
Kansas St. | #96 |
The Big 12 is a combined 65-44 against that same RPI Top 100 (not including conference matchups), having faced 38 teams currently in the Top 100. The Big 12 is also 35-25 against the other four P5 conferences, and 35-29 against the RPI Top 50.
Big 12 vs. RPI Top 50 (as of 5/3/17)
Team | RPI Rank | Record vs. |
---|---|---|
Team | RPI Rank | Record vs. |
Virginia | #10 | 0-1 |
Stanford | #12 | 1-6 |
Arizona | #13 | 1-1 |
LSU | #15 | 2-1 |
Arkansas | #16 | 1-1 |
Mississippi St. | #17 | 1-1 |
Missouri St. | #19 | 3-0 |
Maryland | #20 | 0-1 |
Long Beach State | #23 | 2-2 |
Michigan | #30 | 0-3 |
South Carolina | #31 | 1-0 |
Houston | #32 | 2-1 |
Texas A&M | #33 | 3-1 |
Ole Miss | #35 | 3-0 |
St. John's | #36 | 0-1 |
Old Dominion | #37 | 1-2 |
Southeastern Louisiana | #38 | 0-1 |
New Mexico | #39 | 7-1 |
Nebraska | #42 | 1-2 |
South Alabama | #43 | 3-0 |
UConn | #46 | 2-1 |
Charlotte | #47 | 1-2 |
Total | 35-29 |
If you’re interested, here are the breakdowns by conference, and non-conference/non-P5 Top 100, 101-150, and 150+.
Big 12 vs. SEC (as of 5/3/17)
Team | RPI Rank | Big 12 record vs. |
---|---|---|
Team | RPI Rank | Big 12 record vs. |
LSU | #15 | 2-1 |
Arkansas | #16 | 1-1 |
Mississippi St. | #17 | 1-1 |
South Carolina | #31 | 1-0 |
Texas A&M | #33 | 3-1 |
Ole Miss | #35 | 3-0 |
Total | 11-4 |
The Big 12 has found great success against the SEC this season, going 11-4. This is, of course, largely in part to what took place at the Shriners’ Classic in Houston, Texas, as TCU, Baylor, and Texas Tech went a combined 7-2 against Ole Miss, LSU, and Texas A&M.
Big 12 vs. PAC 12 (as of 5/3/17)
Team | RPI Rank | Record vs. |
---|---|---|
Team | RPI Rank | Record vs. |
Stanford | #12 | 1-6 |
Arizona | #13 | 1-1 |
Washington | #52 | 1-2 |
UCLA | #63 | 3-0 |
California | #73 | 4-0 |
Arizona St. | #96 | 3-1 |
Total | 13-10 |
Against the Pac-12, we see sweeps of UCLA and Cal offsetting a 1-6 showing against Stanford. The Cardinal swept Kansas, and went 3-1 against Texas in back-to-back weekends at the beginning of the season. If that UT/Stanford series were played again, I think the Horns would split, at least.
Big 12 vs. ACC (as of 5/3/17)
Team | RPI Rank | Record vs.: |
---|---|---|
Team | RPI Rank | Record vs.: |
Virginia | #10 | 0-1 |
Georgia Tech | #55 | 0-1 |
Boston College | #98 | 1-0 |
Pitt | #105 | 2-0 |
Virginia Tech | #133 | 1-0 |
Total | 4-2 |
There hasn’t been much action against the ACC, but a 4-2 record is helped out with wins over not-so-great Pitt and Virginia Tech teams.
Big 12 vs. Big 10 (as of 5/3/17)
Team | RPI Rank | Record vs. |
---|---|---|
Team | RPI Rank | Record vs. |
Maryland | #20 | 0-1 |
Michigan | #30 | 0-3 |
Nebraska | #42 | 1-2 |
Minnesota | #74 | 0-1 |
Iowa | #102 | 2-1 |
Ohio St. | #157 | 1-1 |
Penn St. | #213 | 3-0 |
Total | 7-9 |
I’m not exactly sure what’s going on here, as the Big 10 overall is a rather weak baseball conference. Somehow, though, the Big 12 has a losing record against the B1G. We’ll just blame it on Oklahoma getting swept by Michigan back in mid-April.
I’m not going to go too much in depth on these next three tables, but you should be able to discern how the Big 12 has performed rather easily. top to bottom, the Big 12 has pretty much handled non-P5 teams, regardless of their RPI, with relative ease. Of course there are a few outliers, but over the course of a season, a good team can be expected to lose one or two games they probably shouldn’t.
Big 12 vs. Non-Con/Non-P5 (RPI Top 100) as of 5/3/17
Team | RPI rank | Record vs. |
---|---|---|
Team | RPI rank | Record vs. |
Missouri St. | #19 | 3-0 |
Long Beach State | #23 | 2-2 |
Houston | #32 | 2-1 |
St. John's | #36 | 0-1 |
Old Dominion | #37 | 1-2 |
Southeastern Louisiana | #38 | 0-1 |
New Mexico | #39 | 7-1 |
South Alabama | #43 | 3-0 |
UCONN | #46 | 2-1 |
Charlotte | #47 | 1-2 |
Dallas Baptist | #51 | 4-1 |
Liberty | #56 | 2-1 |
Louisiana Lafayette | #57 | 0-1 |
Coastal Carolina | #64 | 2-0 |
Rice | #75 | 3-2 |
Jacksonville | #76 | 2-1 |
Sam Houston St. | #77 | 1-1 |
Tulane | #82 | 1-2 |
UT-Arlington | #100 | 3-1 |
Total | 39-21 |
Big 12 vs. Non-Con/Non-P5 (RPI 101-149) as of 5/3/17
Team | RPI rank | Record vs. |
---|---|---|
Team | RPI rank | Record vs. |
Oral Roberts | #103 | 3-3 |
Samford | #106 | 1-2 |
Marshall | #108 | 2-0 |
Grand Canyon | #113 | 3-2 |
UTSA | #115 | 2-2 |
Morehead St. | #123 | 1-0 |
New Mexico St. | #124 | 3-0 |
New Orleans | #128 | 3-0 |
Central Arkansas | #129 | 0-1 |
Houston Baptist | #135 | 2-1 |
UC Riverside | #136 | 1-2 |
Lamar | #137 | 1-1 |
SFA | #141 | 1-1 |
Ball State | #142 | 1-0 |
UC Irvine | #143 | 1-2 |
Kennesaw St. | #146 | 3-0 |
Total | 28-17 |
Big 12 vs. Non-Con/Non-P5 (RPI 150+) as of 5/3/17
Team | RPI rank | Record vs. |
---|---|---|
Team | RPI rank | Record vs. |
Wichita St. | #150 | 6-2 |
Saint Louis | #152 | 0-1 |
Nicholls | #155 | 1-0 |
Central Conn. St. | #163 | 4-0 |
Texas State | #164 | 6-2 |
Delaware | #165 | 1-0 |
Creighton | #174 | 0-1 |
Niagra | #183 | 3-0 |
Murray St. | #185 | 3-0 |
Eastern Illinois | #188 | 3-0 |
Eastern Michigan | #195 | 1-0 |
George Mason | #196 | 1-0 |
Buffalo | #197 | 4-0 |
Northwestern St. | #215 | 7-1 |
Arkansas-Little Rock | #219 | 1-0 |
Texas A&M - CC | #220 | 2-0 |
Georgia St. | #224 | 1-0 |
Nevada | #227 | 1-0 |
UNLV | #232 | 2-0 |
UT-Rio GV | #233 | 3-0 |
The Citadel | #235 | 1-0 |
Northern Illinois | #241 | 1-0 |
South Dakota St. | #248 | 2-1 |
Villanova | #250 | 2-0 |
Abilene Christian | #253 | 4-0 |
Richmond | #260 | 1-0 |
Western Illinois | #268 | 2-0 |
Texas Southern | #273 | 2-0 |
Grambling St. | #282 | 2-0 |
Arkansas-Pine Bluff | #284 | 1-0 |
Total | 68-8 |