Senior infielder Adam Walton will be a key player for Illinois in 2016
With one more month before the college baseball season starts, more and more pundits and pollsters are weighing in on the 2016 campaign. Previews, pre-season polls and updates are crossing my news feed. The fact that everyone is talking about college baseball is really getting me in the mood for opening day!
I have always viewed pre-season polls and rankings with a cynical eye. That said, everyone loves lists and rankings (myself included) so when Perfect Game came out with their pre-season Top 25 teams, I couldn’t help but to check it out. Illinois didn’t make the list but hey, they did make PG’s Top 50 at #38.
Here’s the rub. The Big Ten is going to be quite the competitive division in 2016. As FightingIllini.com points out, a total of six B1G teams are ranked in the top 50, five of them above Illinois.
Big Ten Teams Ranked by Perfect Game
23. Michigan
26. Maryland
33. Indiana
35. Iowa
38. Illinois
40. Nebraska
On the one hand, this will bode for a very tough Big Ten schedule for the Illini who finished a conference-best 50 wins in 2015. On the other, this shows that the Big Ten is really coming into their own in the sport of baseball. It wasn’t too long ago when baseball was a seen as a weak spot when it came to this conference. Sure it will be tough row to hoe (for every team, not just Illinois) but overall, hopefully it will reflect positively on each of its members.
So in short, I’m seeing this as a very positive thing. The Big Ten Conference is moving on up.
Illinois Baseball’s Hot Stove Banquet is in just two days. In less than a month, the team will take on Tulane in New Orleans, Louisiana. I’m counting the days!