(01-04-2017 02:06 PM)cr11owl Wrote:  Amusing that some people don't list Rice as the favorite. One slip up in 20 years and everyone starts getting hopeful huh

I'm sure Walt will write a detailed preview of Rice once we get closer to the season (there's already some discussion of lineups on our board). I'd say he's a little over optimistic usually but we will see. This Rice team should be the best offensive owls team this form of CUSA has seen but the pitching is less proven than last years staff. Still have one of the best stoppers/closers in the country in Glenn Otto and a few other guys who have shown top quality stuff against elite teams when they are on their games.

In case you missed it Rice went to Cuba in the fall to play 5 exhibition games. After a dominant first game Castro died and the rest of our games were cancelled. Historic time for the players and lucky fans who made the trip to experience but less helpful for evaluating our end of fall ball shape. We really need baseball to be consistently top 10 like our run in the 2000s but I have a feeling we've slipped to the 10-20 range instead. Owlmaha or bust!

It's not that people are overlooking Rice, it's that, as you say, they lost a lot of pitching. Their Friday night guy was sketch last year. It's going to be a tough year for Rice if their pitching doesn't improve from last year.

With that said, it's Rice and they always seem to find a way. I'm sure they'll be fine, but other teams bring back a lot more proven talent, especially on the mound.