Guerry,
I hate to do this again on this forum but I can't find another way. I tried to contact Rivals and got nowhere. It seems all contact is via email. I asked for a # so that I could talk with someone re: my concerns about the recruiting info and was told there is no phone #..I am old school and it bothers the heck out of me that I can't talk with someone. Is there a way I can contact you, even if by email, regarding my concern about the recruiting info?
Again sorry to use this space. Thanks for your help in advance.
Ernie

is it true that Dan Heffner at Dallas Baptist was an assistant at Northern Iowa while Dannen was AD? If so this could be an intriguing name.

Tulane is the highest profile job available right now with Texas concluding their search. What names will that draw? How long will the process take.

I was pretty sure Tulane would not lose David Pierce to Texas because I had been told (correctly) the Longhorns were convinced they needed a coach who had gone to the College Worlds Series and competed for national championships. My source was right, but after Texas struck out on at least six and possibly eight candidates (Mainieri, Schlossnagle, Florida, Virginia, Louisville, Oregon State, UCLA at the minimum), Pierce is back in the picture, as others have reported.

At this point, the smart choice would be Pierce, but I still have a feeling he won't get the offer. Houston's Todd Whitting reportedly was interviewed as well as Pierce, and Whitting won a super regional in Baton Rouge two years ago before losing in three to Texas in a super regional. He also is nine years younger than Pierce. There is some bad blood between Tulane and Houston as baseball programs, making this situation even more interesting.

Oklahoma State coach Josh Holliday, who is pursuing a national championship in the CWS, could still emerge as a viable candidate, too.

If Pierce gets the offer, I can't imagine him turning it down, but nothing is ever certain.

Fishers, Ind., four-star safety R.J. Potts was offered by Tulane in May. His sister is Tulane shot putter Taylor Potts. R.J. has been down to the school and says that connection with definitely get him to consider Tulane going forward. I wrote about that in an article I put out on R.J. today:

https://n.rivals.com/news/the-latest-on-four-star-db-r-j-potts

Mallory, a 6-3, 270-pound prospect from Guyer High in Denton, Texas, had offers from Fresno State and apparently Tulsa among others. He is in the Rivals database but with virtually no information and no stars, fitting the profile of the the recruits Willie Fritz and company are bringing in. He plays center for Guyer but likely will be a guard in college and should be a good fit for what the coaches want to do with the running game.

Particularly with offensive linemen, recruiting service ratings won't mean much because option-based systems want mobile blockers who do not necessarily project as NFL prospects.

Mallory's team went 10-4 last year, reaching the Division II regional final in Class 6A, scoring a lot of points while rolling up more than 500 yards per game on the ground in its first three playoff victories before losing 44-7 to Mansfield. Getting that far in the playoffs was unexpected.

Here's a story from the playoff loss, although it does not mention Mallory.

http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/spor...ters-from-playoffs-with-loss-to-mansfield.ece

“Star” inflation has pretty much gotten out of control. By my count, Tulane has now offered at least 237 high school players across the nation, with more seemingly every day. Rivals has rated 178 of them, giving 131 of them 3 or more stars. That’s 73.5%. But that’s not particularly high. Scout has rated 121, issuing 110 3+ stars for a 90.9% rate. ESPN is a perfect 85 for 85 in those they’ve rated, with every kid getting at least 3 stars. And, 247, who many people now swear by, has rated 149 players from our “offer list.” They’ve rate 148 of them (all but one kid by my count) as a 3 star or higher. Of course, a large number of kids have not been listed or, if listed, not rated by the services. Eventually, virtually everyone who signs with a D-1 school will get a rating. Those who don’t sign will generally be downgraded to 2 stars and those with no ratings will suddenly become 2 or 3 stars without, best I can tell, any analysis other than “who they signed with.” That ESPN and 247 have the nerve to differentiate each level by dividing them into 10 separate ratings is beyond ridiculous. And I simply can’t duplicate 247’s supposed “consensus” rating with anything I find from other sites. There is some “magic” going on there, too.

Looking at Tulane’s recent history, I chose to only view Rivals, since they, at least, have some differentiation between star levels. And, we haven’t fared very well. Only 25 of the 103 high schoolers we’ve signed since 2012 were awarded 3 stars by Rivals (less than 25%).

In 2012, Toledo recruited four players who eventually signed with Tulane with 3 stars: Doss, Thompson, Jacquet, and Van Hooser. CJ came on to sign Monroe (4 stars), LaFrance, and Batiste, who each had 3 stars.

In 2013, CJ signed Edward Williams, Tanzel, Smart, Santa Marina, Badie, Chris Taylor, and Brandon Godfrey.

In 2014, he signed Diaz, Veal, Marbley, Ardoin, and Cuiellette

In 2015, he signed Darius Wiliams, Leeward Brown, and Nigel Anderson

And in 2016, none of the recruits who committed to CJ who eventually signed were awarded 3 stars. Fritz, however, despite a late start, brought on Tre Jackson, P.J. Hall, and Jacob Robertson, who were all three stars.

The interesting thing is that many of the 3-stars through the years didn’t or haven’t to date done much. And several left early. From 2012, Van Hooser was injured and Jacquet hardly played until his fourth year. Batiste, of course, after a good start, left the program. From 2013, Williams and Godfrey also left early and Santa Marina hasn’t played much entering his redshirt junior season. From 2014, Diaz became a starter after a redshirt year. Veal played well before departing and Ardoin, after a redshirt year, has split time at TE with two other guys. Cuiellette has yet to prove anything. The 2015 class only retains Leeward Brown and none of the “three stars” from that class has yet seen the field. And, of course, we all hope the 2016 class can make a real difference. To me, it is our best class in years.

As to 2017, the jury is obviously still out. With the number of camps our coaches have attended, they have seen literally thousands of kids who they’ve measured, timed, and interviewed. They clearly know more about these players than any of the recruiting services. On the downside, these multi-school camps have given many other schools the same opportunity to evaluate players and, to date, most of our commitments have not impressed many schools at the G5 or P5 level.

Stay tuned, a lot will happen between now and February.

Roll Wave!!!

I received an email from the athletic department, something about a "Big Reveal" next week....
I am thinking it may have something to do with an athletic village, football locker room renovation (which should be underway already by the way)...who knows what else. Exciting times around here...

We’ve offered well over 200 high school players for 2017. I have no idea how many of those are serious, committable offers. Regardless, quite a few are to players who would obviously be “great gets.” But, seriously, 4 and 5 star recruits with offers from Alabama, Ohio State, Notre Dame, and 20+ other P5 programs are HIGHLY unlikely to come to Tulane. Louisiana kids with LSU offers are in the same category. It’s always a possibility, but not probable. So, in reviewing highlights from all of our “offerees” I’ve put together a list of kids who I think are underappreciated by the recruiting services and/or college recruiters. Of course, unlike those recruiters, I haven’t weighed them, timed them, measured them, or interviewed them. And I’m not aware of any academic or legal circumstances that would disqualify them from consideration. They simply look pretty good to me. Whether any of them are seriously considering the Wave or high on Coach Fritz’s list is also a mystery. Anyway, to my list:

Will Wallace is a DE/TE from Natchez, MS. He’s received one P5 offer from Kansas and a number of G5 offers. He’s generally listed as 6’5” and about 245#. If you look at his highlights (http://www.hudl.com/athlete/2980595/highlights/321308398), he’s a terror at defensive end and a ferocious blocker on offense. At a recent Rivals camp, he showed what he can do as a receiver also (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwkGBqfVcj4). It starts at about the 1 minute point. In a recent tweet he commented, “loved my visit to Tulane.” I’d love to get him, though the “squeamish” might be turned off since he’s rated only a 2 star by Rivals and Scout, and receives the standard 3 stars from 247. My guess is that he’ll receive many more offers; I hope we get him.

Gregory White is a lanky 6’3, 180# WR from Riverdale, GA. He purportedly runs a 4.5 40. I’d guess it’s closer to 4.6. From his highlights (http://www.hudl.com/athlete/2828592/highlights/331271433), he uses his size and body well against smaller defenders and blocks well downfield. He’s received one P5 offer from North Carolina and several G5 offers, but looks like the kind of player Coach Fritz would like. He’s rated a 3 star by 247 (nothing new there) but a 2 star by Scout and Rivals.

Andre Landry, is a good sized DT at 6’5” 260#, who also plays TE on offense for a good Acadiana team. He is either ignored or has no rating from any of the recruiting services but placed at #48 in James Smith’s most recent “Nifty 50” of Louisiana recruits. I haven’t seen a 40 time on him but he looks pretty quick on his highlights playing both DT and DE (http://www.hudl.com/athlete/3905835/highlights/307380386). He also plays TE but I’ve seen no film at that position. He has offers from Texas Tech and Kansas State and several G5 schools. We need at least one more DT and I’d be happy with him.

Da’Vontavean Martin is from Houma (Ellender HS) and is another lanky WR at 6’4,” 170#. He uses his height to advantage on “jump balls” and when covered one on one near the goal line, the matchup is laughingly unfair. In his highlights (http://www.hudl.com/athlete/3305159/highlights/308966423), he also takes a direct snap out of the shotgun and in another receives a backwards “pass” that he then completes for a long gain downfield. He appears a little “raw” but his height and speed make him a good prospect in my view. He’s currently unrated by Scout, ESPN, and 247 and receives 2 stars from Rivals and has no P5 offers. I think he’s being overlooked.

Shahid Reece, is a linebacker from Brother Martin who is listed at 6’0” and 220#. He’s received the standard 3 stars from 247 and 2 stars from Rivals while not being rated by Scout or ESPN. He’s also received little recruiting interest other than Tulane and a couple of other G5 schools. But, on his highlights (http://www.hudl.com/athlete/4409838/highlights/297886467), he avoids blockers and runs to the ball well. He also makes several nice interceptions off of “tipped balls.” He reminds me a lot of Eric Thomas, which isn’t all bad. He’s probably not quite 6’0” but I think he would make a good signee.

Kayce Medlock, is a smallish RB at 5’9” and 186# from Arp, TX. He ran a 4.40 40 at a combine and in his highlights is clearly the fastest man on the field; he runs away from everyone. He is primarily used as wing back (slot back?) in a double wing T formation though he sometimes takes a direct snap from a shotgun formation. He’s rated a high 3 star by Rivals and a 2 star by Scout while receiving the standard 3 stars from 247 and no notice from ESPN. The best I can tell, he’s receive one P5 offer from Colorado and several G5 offers, including, obviously, Tulane. He looks good to me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7nWr31_RXA

Avery Showell is a really good-sized DB at 6’2” and 195# from Alpharetta, GA. He purportedly runs a 4.50 40 and his highlights support something in that range. He’s rated a 3 star by Scout but is unrated, though listed, by the other three services. He also has a number of P5 offers from the likes of Minnesota, West Virginia, Wake Forest, and Rutgers-- schools we must start defeating in the recruiting game. Most of his highlights show him at safety though he occasionally moves into a “cover” corner position. He appears to be a solid tackler and makes some nice plays on throws in his zone. http://www.hudl.com/athlete/3986901/highlights/286771379

Chris Ross is from Enterprise, AL. At 6’1” and 195#, he plays strong safety and outside linebacker in his highlights (http://www.hudl.com/athlete/3851096/highlights/315632382). In those he shows explosive speed (claims a 4.43 40) and terrific reactions and coverage skills as well as solid tackling. He’s rated a 2 star by Scout and I haven’t found him in the data provided by the other three services, so he’s relatively unknown, though he has offers from the likes of Southern Miss and others in the G5 schools.

I really haven’t found any “diamonds in the rough” at QB or Offensive Line though, from what I’ve seen, both Ledford at QB and Charlie Clark at OL, two of our commitments, would qualify. We certainly have offered some highly thought of QB’s and OL’s, so those key positions still have many possibilities.

Anyway, Roll Wave!!

By my count, we have 79 players currently on scholarship, 11 of whom are seniors. That would mean we have at least 17 openings for the class signing in February 2017. We have an additional 14 redshirt juniors (Kenneth Santa Marina, Sherman Badie, Serge Medina, Eldrick Washington, Eric Bell, Jason Stewart, Ade Aruna, Luke Jackson, Quinlan Carroll, Parry Nickerson, Jarod Franklin, Tristan Cooper, William Townsend, and Leonard Davis). Some of these are major contributors; some have contributed very little to this point. But, after four years in school, with graduation in sight, I expect some of these young men will be departing either voluntarily to get on with their lives, or with a gentle push. We can also expect some attrition from other underclassmen-- injuries/illness, academics, and a simple “lack of willingness”-- almost always affect a few players annually. To me, that suggests we should be able to sign at least 20 kids next February and probably more, maybe a lot more.

For 2016, we signed 23 players after eliminating the recently de-committed AJ Walker. Two players chose to enroll early, thereby counting towards 2015. That means we have four possible slots for “early enrollees” for 2017 and the potential to sign as many as 29 if early enrollees and openings on the roster permit. At this point, I’d guess we’ll sign close to 25, but there are too many variables to make a truly educated analysis. Regardless, it would be nice to sign at least a couple of kids who enroll early because we could have the potential for a really big class in 2018.

With data provided from a variety of sources, I think we’ve offered at least 220 or so kids for 2017. Of those, we’ve got six public commitments, which may or may not be “firm.” And at least 73 others we’ve offered have already committed elsewhere. Again, the firmness of such commitments is not always clear. Significant, I think, is that roughly 75% of all the kids we have offered have also receive offers from P5 schools. So, we’re not afraid to compete. Unfortunately, our six successes to date (actual commitments) are all from players with no P5 offers and, in some cases, no other G5 offers either. It’s hard to put a good spin on that. Nonetheless, after watching film of each, I think all have potential, and I like the offensive lineman, Charlie Clark, a lot. I also like the DE/TE who recently committed, Evan Reese. That said, none of them are as impressive to me as several kids Coach Fritz signed late last year.

Most of us think we need help in the offensive line, at QB, and, by next year, at running back. To me, those positions could take as many as 10 or more of our incoming class. But, based on the number of offers (not necessarily a good indicator), those are not the positions we are pursuing the most heavily. Roughly half of our offers are to “athletes,” wide receivers, and defensive backs.

We have offered close to 20 QB’s/ATH’s, 23 RB’s, and 28 Offensive linemen (at least 71 total). Of course, the right 1-2 QB’s, 2-3 RB’s, and 4-5 OL’s would probably meet our needs.

On the defensive line, we’ve offered at least 24 players I believe are defensive ends and only 10 who I’d classify as defensive tackles. The latter is a surprise to me. With the departure of Tanzel Smart after this season, we’ll only have Sean Wilson as the only (to date) proven player on the interior defense. Eldrick Washington, Eric Bell, John Washington, and Brayton Edwards fill out our “depth chart” and I doubt all of them will be back for 2017. We NEED at least two more in my view.

We also probably need two linebackers to replace our seniors, Marley and Thomas, and we’ve offered at least 25.

We’ve also offered at least one kicker (he committed to Georgia Tech) and a couple of tight ends, though I ‘d hope we eventually sign at least one of the latter.

I look at our recruiting in more detail later.

Roll Wave

I am on vacation in Destin until next Friday and was not able to reach Sturdivant today after his commitment (I should be able go get in touch with him by Monday), but Tulane got another recruit from Hoover High near Birmingham, Ala., joining DB P.J. Hall, who will be a freshman this fall.

Unlike Hall, a heralded 3-star recruit, Sturdivant is under the radar and did not have any other significant offers yet although Southern Miss was looking at him. He is 5-10, 189-pound north and south runner who gained 695 yards (5.1 average) with nine touchdowns last year according to Al.com. He is not fast (4.6 40), but clearly Willie Fritz and his staff feel like he will be a good fit for Tulane.

Hoover went 10-3 last year, losing to crosstown Spain Park twice, including 7-6 in the semifinals of the Class 7A state playoffs as Hoover failed to defend its championship from 2014. Hoover also had won state titles in 2012 and 13.

Tulane now has four commitments, all from different states with Texas, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana represented. Of the four, John Ehret CB Darius Campbell has two stars and the others are unrated by Rivals. We'll see if that changes in the next few months and some of these guys get upgrades.

Strange ending to the LSU-Coastal Carolina game tonight with both teams blowing chances late before Coastal Carolina got the job done in the bottom of the ninth.

At the start of yesterday it looked like Tulane might have gone 5-1 against College World Series teams with a win over Arizona, two wins out of three against East Carolina and two wins against LSU. Instead, the Wave will settle for being 1-0.

Coastal Carolina is simply a better team than LSU, and now the SEC might get shut out of the College World Series while the Big 12 got all three of its entrants in Omaha. I'm pretty sure Florida will beat FSU tomorrow to give the SEC one entrant, but very little has gone as expected this weekend.

Either way, the two dominant conferences this year will have a combined two teams in Omaha with Miami and the winner of Florida-FSU even though almost all of them played at home throughout the postseason. What an epic fail.

What are you hearing on Pierce leaving. First it was Alabama this morning and this afternoon sources say he's close to signing with Texas. I'm not sure of the reliability of the sources. The bama one came from tigerdroppings. Not panicking as it's a good job and they'll be a host of very qualified candidates. Just curious.

Rogers went at No. 97 to the Astros, and Alemais went at 105 to the Pirates. They are as good as gone. No surprise there.

I was surprised that seven college catchers were taken before Rogers, whose defensive skills are off the charts, but his batting average scared away a lot of teams. Not many college players who hit .200 in conference play every make the Major Leagues, but hopefully he will be the exception. As he showed in the 9th inning at Ole Miss, he is better than his numbers indicate.

I also was surprised that no college shortstop went in the top 50. I guess the elite high school shortstops--the best player on most teams plays shortstop at that level--head straight to professional ball, but I admit I haven't paid enough attention to know the answer. Alemais was the fourth college shortstop taken. He has a level swing and the superior athletic ability that will help in the minor leagues, but he has to clean up the errors and sloppy footwork that got him in trouble from time to time.

There are no real facts in the story as it relates to Pierce, and the idea that Tulane is a small baseball program like Dallas Baptist ignores history, but obviously Texas would be very intriguing to Pierce and maybe a can't- turn-down offer if he got it.

http://www.burntorangenation.com/20...ce-texas-longhorns-baseball-tulane-kevin-osul

Tulane faced three pitchers who were taken in the first round of the MLB draft. That's unusual.

Justin Dunn, who was picked 19th, dominated the Wave in the opener of the Oxford regional.

Cody Sedlock, from Illinois, gave up two runs (one earned) in six innings of the season opener and had a no decision. He was taken 27th.

Anthony Kay, from UConn, gave up two hits in seven innings while striking out eight, but he did allow a grand slam to Grant Witherspoon after walking the bases loaded.

I already like the Mike Dunleavy era because the shroud of secrecy has been lifted. Inexplicably, Tulane always was one of the last handful of teams in the country to release its non-conference schedule under Ed Conroy. I never figured out what the deal was, and I know it irritated a former basketball SID to no end when the the coaches would have the schedule in hand but refuse to let him release it until some point in August.

As for the actual schedule, getting North Carolina to play in the Smoothie King Center is cool, and playing in a real tournament instead of those artificial ones Tulane signed up for in the past few years is nice. The Wave will play three games in Puerto Rico with first through eighth place determined by results against a good field --Oklahoma, Xavier, Arizona State, Clemson, Northern Iowa (Dannen's old schools), Missouri and Davidson are the other teams in the tournament, with no pairings announced yet.

The rest of the schedule is humdrum but still an improvement on what Tulane usually faced under Conroy.

Keeping in mind that outside of the AAC and a few teams in the SEC, I cannot name one player in college baseball, here are my predictions for each of the 16 regionals. Sometimes I think it helps to know so little about the players because it takes away all the bias I exhibit when I pick the NCAA basketball tournament, usually favoring the players I like.

OXFORD REGIONAL

The pick: Ole Miss
second choice: Tulane

Analysis: If Tulane hits and gets terrific performances from its starting pitchers, it will have an excellent chance to win a regional for the first time in 11 years. The presence of sterling defensive catcher Jake Rogers gives the Wave a huge advantage. But Ole Miss easily could have been a national seed and will be playing at home in front of rowdy fans. The Rebels are the safe pick. I do believe Utah has a reasonable chance to knock off the Rebels. The Utes crushed the ball during their practice today but have to fight the "happy to be here" syndrome.

CORAL GABLES REGIONAL

The pick: Miami
second choice: no one.

Analysis: I'm not saying the Hurricanes are a lock to win, just that I'm not impressed with the other three teams in the regional. Maybe one of them will prove me wrong and step up and beat the Hurricanes, which would guarantee Tulane a home super regional if it wins in Oxford. Despite winning Conference USA, FAU likely is the fourth best team in that league. Long Beach State, the No. 3 seed, is part of a weak West Coast contingent.

LAFAYETTE REGIONAL

The pick: Louisiana-Lafayette
second choice: Sam Houston State

Analysis: I was impressed by ULL in both games against Tulane this year, and the rest of the Cajuns' regional is week. Arizona finished fourth in a down year for the Pac-12. Sam Houston State is white hot right now but not particularly talented. And if that team could not win a regional in three years under David Pierce, it's hard to see it winning one without him.

STARKVILLE REGIONAL

The pick: Mississippi State
second choice: Louisiana Tech

Analysis: Because of history, a lot of people are high on Cal St. Fullerton. Have they paid attention to West Coast baseball this year? This is hardly a vintage Fullerton team, although its pitching numbers are excellent. La Tech, which has not been to a regional since 1987, got hot at the end of the year and can ride that momentum to an upset of the Titans, but no one is beating Mississippi State here.

CLEMSON REGIONAL

The pick: Clemson
second choice: no one

Analysis: Are you kidding me? Okahoma State was the third best team in a down year for the Big 12. Nebraska was the least deserving at-large team in the field and is below .500 against top-100 RPI teams. Clemson caught fire late in the year and should roll through this regional.

COLUMBIA REGIONAL

The pick: South Carolina
second choice: UNC Wilmington

Analysis: Probably another cakewalk, and yes, I realize I've picked all No. 1 seeds so far. I like picking upsets, but this has been a top-heavy year in college baseball. UNCW, as we all know after last year's Baton Rouge regional, can rake, but it gave up 13 runs to South Carolina in a loss earlier this year and has a weak pitching staff. Duke is the least talented of the 10 ACC teams that made the NCAA field.

NASHVILLE REGIONAL

The pick: Vanderbilt
second choice: no one

Vanderbilt would be very vulnerable if it had not been handed such a weak group of opponents. The Commodores won only one series against an NCAA tournament team. But UCSB, the No. 3 seed, barely finished above .500 in the Big West, played poorly down the stretch and lost almost all of the best players from a more formidable team that hosted a regional and flopped a year ago. Washington gave up more than 30 runs in the last 10 innings to Utah last weekend. I actually could see Xavier, which is barely above .500 but got hot in the last month, upsetting Vandy in the opener, but the Commodores probably would win four straight anyway.

LOUISVILLE REGIONAL

The pick: Louisville
second choice: Ohio State

Ohio State I definitely would have picked in a few other regionals--the Buckeyes were by far the best team in the Big Ten down the stretch--but Louisville lost only one home game all year. The bottom two teams appear weak for their seeds--Wright State at No. 3 and Western Michigan, a MAC bottom feeder that won its league tournament, at No. 4.

COLLEGE STATION REGIONAL

The pick: Texas A&M
second choice: puh-leez

What do you get when you combine one of the hottest teams in the country with pitiful opposition? A weekend of blowouts at Texas A&M. Minnesota won the Big Ten, which is the only reason the Gophers received an at-large bid with an RPI in the 50s. Good for former UNO coach Tom Walter at finally guiding Wake Forest to the NCAA tournament in his seventh year on the job, but the Demon Deacons don't scare anyone except for No. 4 seed Binghamton.

FORT WORTH REGIONAL

The pick: TCU
Second choice: Oral Roberts

I would not be surprised if Oral Roberts puts a huge scare into TCU on opening night, but the Horned Frogs are too well coached, even in a rebuilding year, to lose twice at home. The No. 2 seed, Arizona State, gave up 31 runs to USC on Sunday. The No. 3 seed, Gonzaga, earned its at-large bid by being road warriors while playing only 10 home games, but the talent level is not there. Look for 4 seed Oral Roberts in the championship round but for TCU to advance.

CHARLOTTSVILLE REGIONAL

The pick: Virginia
second choice: East Carolina

It would be funny if Virginia fell short at home a year after winning the College World Series after beginning regional play as a No. 3 seed in California. It might happen, but I can't pull the trigger. I like East Carolina to knock off No. 2 seed Bryant behind terrific pitcher Evan Kruczynski, but the Pirates played their best ball earlier in the year. A lot of experts say Bryant is dangerous, but I can't get past the ridiculously weak schedule that led to it having the nation's best winning percentage.

LUBBOCK REGIONAL

The pick: Dallas Baptist
Second choice: Texas Tech

Finally, I go away from the chalk. Texas Tech has an all-freshman weekend starting pitching rotation and lost two straight in the Big 12 tournament. Dallas Baptist hosted a regional with a better team last year --getting upset in the championship game by 4 seed VCU--but the returning players know what it takes to win. The bottom two seeds, New Mexico and Fairfield, will be cannon fodder.

BATON ROUGE REGIONAL

The pick: LSU
second choice: Southeastern Louisiana

LSU was more vulnerable last year and still cruised through its regional while hardly giving up a run. No. 2 seed Rice fell apart at the end of the regular season, giving up a ton of runs, and the Owls are rarely strong offensively. Southeastern is not playing as well as it did earlier in the season, but it has the pitching and hitting to make the championship round, where its inferiority complex to LSU will kill any chance it has to win.

RALEIGH REGIONAL

The pick: Coastal Carolina
second choice: NC State

NC State is a host almost exclusively because of its RPI and stopped playing well more than a month ago. Coastal Carolina, which has been perennially strong, deservedly lost its chance to host by getting swept at Georgia Tech last month, but that's not the fair representation of the Chanticleers' ability. They just had a bad series. They'll get their ACC revenge this weekend, unless capable St. Mary's trips them up in the opener. NC State might lose to Navy on opening day. The Middies' starter had four shutouts and nine complete games this year.

TALLAHASSEE REGIONAL

The pick: FSU
Next choice: Southern Miss

This is another vulnerable host I can't pick against because of its regional opponents. Southern Miss, a Tiger at home, has a losing record on the road. South Alabama, which swept a pair of midweek games against the Golden Eagles, has not won a weekend series in more than a month. Fourth seed Alabama State is intriguing after destroying the SWAC, winning all 28 games, usually by lopsided margins. I could see FSU losing its opener to Alabama State, then rebounding to win the regional anyway. Southern Miss has the offense to get to a super regional, but it's doubtful to happen in Tallahassee.

GAINESVILLE REGIONAL

The pick: Florida
second choice: Connecticut

This is the most interesting regional outside of the Oxford regional because of the real possibility of a shocking upset. Florida was No. 1 almost all year and is loaded, but if UConn gets past slumping Georgia Tech Friday, I really like the Huskies to beat Florida on Saturday behind AAC pitcher of the year Anthony Kay. He's unhittable when he's on, and the Gators are not a great hitting team. The problem is Florida would have to lose twice, and with the the best pitching depth in college baseball, the Gators easily could come out of the losers' bracket to win. In fact, that's what will happen.

My super regional picks are Ole Miss over Miami, Mississippi State over ULL, Clemson over South Carolina, Louisville over Vandy, Texas A&M over TCU, Virginia over Dallas Baptist, LSU over Coastal Carolina and Florida over FSU. That's five SEC teams and three ACC teams. Man do I hope I'm wrong.

My national championship pick is Florida over Louisville, but UConn could wreck those plans this weekends.

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Just posted on Twitter...he was offered last weekend I believe. Led his team to the Texas Class 4A-D1 final this past season. 91 SPARQ rating...I think Tulane was his first FBS offer

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http://247sports.com/Player/Dane-Ledford-87959

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Guerry,

Do you know anything about Mr. Ledford?

https://twitter.com/daneledford3?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author

Here's what they said in the interview room a few minutes after Boston College eliminated Tulane 6-3 on Sunday night.

PIERCE

"We struggled with J.P. France today as a starter. He's been really good for us but he could not get the ball down early. You have to credit Boston College. They took the breaking balls both times we played them, and they made every play. When we made a mistake with the fastball, they hit it. I credit Boston College and I'm proud of our team for all of our accomplishments all year. Unless you win the national championship, you're going to end with a loss if you're in the postseason."

On infield errors by Stephen Alemais and Hunter Hope that led to three unearned runs:

"It's the second game of a doubleheader and I think we were beat up emotionally, and we had very little time (in between games), less than an hour to get going here. It's hard to regroup. Steph ran the ball up and we just couldn't handle another one. They were very opportunistic the entire weekend."

On the call on Alemais when he tried to get into third and what he thought about Alemais trying to get to third:

"He made the call that he saw. He saw him out and that's what he believed. I thought it was a mistake to try to advance there down by 4, but he's been an aggressive player for us since we've been at Tulane and it's kind of hard to rein him in."

On where the program is:

"It's on the uprise. We have kids who are committed.

On winning regular season championship and beating Ole Miss in hostile environment

"Winning the outright regular season championship, taking another step in a regional and playing in the championship, those are stepping stones. We'd like to have won the regional, but Boston College was better than us today."

How many of the juniors do you expect not to be back:

"The draft is next week and a lot of people will be affected, so I know we'll have some. I'll know more at that time."

WILLIAMS

on what made BC starter effective:

"He mixed up his pitches and his fastball. He made some mistakes and we just didn't capitalize on his mistakes. I thought we barreled a lot of balls today and they didn't fall. He just got us out."

On hitting three home runs in regional:

"I was seeing it pretty well and felt good out there. I wasn't trying to do too much. I was trying to find a way to help the team win, and that's all that matters. It was a tough loss."

On quick turnaround from Utah to Boston College:

"It was tough, but you have to find a way to battle through it. We had like an hour break, which is not much time to recover after being out in the heat all day. We came back and were a little flat at first, and that kind of hurt us and bit us in the end. It's definitely tough. It's not easy to have a big win like that out in the hot weather. Everybody's drained. I know Jake (Rogers) was drained out there, and we had to come back and try to win another game."

On whole year:

"It's been a great experience, but we're not satisified now though. We definitely wanted to win that regional. It was in our grasp almost. We could taste it and then we just couldn't pull it out. We'll be back. That's what we're going to do. We're going to build off this and try to move forward and keep progressing."

Not that anyone cares, but The Advocate had a version of my story online for several hours tonight that said Tulane would face Boston College at 1 and that Utah had beaten Boston College.

I sent that story in during the middle of the Utah game but called a correction in the second the game ended and well before the deadline for the print edition, so it reads right there. But I did not realize they already had posted my game story online, and no one there thought to correct it. It's fixed now.

Tulane will throw freshman Ross Massey against Utah lefty Josh Lapiana in the 1 p.m. game. Lapiana has a 4.18 ERA and is 4-5, giving up 114 hits in 92.2 innings but only three home runs.

Boston College will be waiting at 5 p.m. with starter Jacob Stevens, who is 3-3 with a sterling 2.04 ERA, allowing 50 hits in 66.1 innings. He has given up two home runs. He also has not made it through the fifth inning in his last four starts, but BC's bullpen is rested and ready to go. Tulane presumably would pitch J.P. France unless he is needed in the first game, which is unlikely because the path to a regional championship needs to involve him as a starter before a Charley Wholestaff approach on Monday.

David Pierce, Emerson Gibbs and Hunter Williams came into the interview room. I requested Lex Kaplan because I wanted to ask him about the catch/non catch, but Tulane was required only to bring in two guys and elected not to bring him in. After watching a replay of Kaplan's play, I do not think it was a catch. The ball was moving around in his glove and when he reached to take it out, it popped over his hand. It was a very close call, though.

After the Ole Miss game, Tulane revealed that Alex Massey will pitch tomorrow against Ole Miss. The Rebels are going with lefty David Parkinson, who was terrific as a reliever for the first half of the year but has struggled since moving to a starting role, particularly lately. If Tulane's bats don't wake up tomorrow, they won't have the excuse of facing an elite pitcher.

Here's what they said right after the game:

PIERCE

"I just thought we did not play a very clean game. It just affected us. We give up a double, and we hadn't had too many wild pitches or passed balls, but we had a wild pitch/passed ball right there to make it two (runs), but we were still OK. And then the play in right field cost us two runs. If the ball game was at 2 right there, we would have had a chance to tie it up, and we did (score two runs), but it didn't turn out that way."

What was the umpire's interpretation of the play in right field?

"He just said that he dropped it, that it wasn't on an exchange."

How did you see it?

"I thought it was a caught ball, since you asked."

What are you thought on Dunn, and what was your game plan against him?

"Well, we've seen a lot of good Friday night guys, and he's no exception. He was as good as any of them. The thing is, he's so clean in his delivery, it's easy. He was sitting on 94 or 95, and when he needed to throw the breaking ball, it was good. We got something going when we got the two runs when he got behind. He's just a quality arm and did a great job."

There were a lot of strikeouts again. How big of a concern is that?

"It's always a concern. We've lived and died on the long ball. We just didn't come up with them today, but you'd like to see us put the ball in play a little bit there with two strikes, but it's what we've been all year. When we've pieced it together, it's worked, but it hasn't worked the last few games."

What's your message to your team?

"I've been here before. It's a little bit like Hunter Williams said. You can't see the big picture. We have to go out and understand our backs are against the wall. What we need to do is go out and pitch and play good defense and be clean and then trust ourselves at home plate."

On the throw threw on the stolen base when Jake Willsey cut it off, was that the plan because of the guy on third?

"Yeah, we've been good there when we've thrown through and gotten the runner, but I just didn't feel like we were in a position (to go for the out) with the (potential) double steal there and go behind by 3 with the guy on the mound. I trust Jake. I just felt like its as the right call at the time. I think if we let it go through, he's out and the (other runner) is still at third base, but that's what happened."

HUNTER WILLIAMS

What made Justin Dunn so effective?

"He was a really good arm up there. He was throwing good off speed and he has a good fastball. He kept us off balance, throwing his pitches which we couldn't really hit. We didn't square as many balls as we needed to and find a way to get on base."

How did Dunn compare to some other pitchers you faced this season?

"Everybody is different. Everybody has a good arm, but facing a quality arm like that with a fast ball and a really good breaking ball, we've seen guys like that before. We just have to stay with a good approach and get base hits when we need to. We got some guys on base and couldn't drive them in."

You've been scuffling at the plate lately. How confident are you the hitting will come around and give you a chance to stay in this regional?

"We have to take it one pitch at a time and not worry about the big picture. We have to find a way to get on base and find a way to get them over and get them. If we do that, slow it down and take one pitch at a time, we'll be all right."

EMERSON GIBBS

How did you feel like you pitched today?

"I felt good. Boston College made me throw the ball over the plate. They were laying off my curveball. I don't know if that was the game plan going in. Overall I felt all right."