Dirtbags Baseball - Long Beach State 49ers

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Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Non-Conference 2006 Schedule Looks Strong

The Tentative 2006 Dirtbags schedule is out, and it looks to be fairly strong, at least based upon outcomes this season. (I've also added the link to the sidebar). At this point, the schedule has 54 games on it, so I assume 2 more will be added to bring the total to the maximum permitted. The Big West Conference schedule is out of the control of LBSU (including the series with UC Davis, a provisional member). So it's important to schedule strong non-conference opponents. Take a look at how Coach Mike Weathers and his staff have done:

Date    Opponent           2005 RPI*
2-3     USC                   11
2-4     @USC                  11
2-5     USC                   11
2-10    @Cal                  61
2-11    @Cal                  61
2-12    @Cal                  61
2-14    @Pepperdine           32
2-17    v. Lamar#             69
2-18    v. Oklahoma#          37
2-19    @ Rice#               14
2-24    Illinois-Chicago     149
2-25    Illinois-Chicago     149
2-26    Illinois-Chicago     149
3-3     Baylor                 3
3-4     Baylor                 3
3-5     Baylor                 3
3-10    @Texas                 1
3-11    @Texas                 1
3-12    @Texas                 1
3-14    San Diego State      170
3-17    Wichita State         35
3-18    Wichita State         35
3-19    Wichita State         35
3-24    @CS Fullerton%        10
3-25    @CS Fullerton%        10
3-26    @CS Fullerton%        10
4-5     @San Diego State     170
4-18    @UCLA                181
5-2     Pepperdine            32
5-9     @Loyola Marymount    102

* As calculated by Boyd'sWorld.com.
# Tournament at Rice University, Houston, TX.
% Non-conference series.

On a weighted basis, this works out to an average opponent's RPI of 53.9, including 12 games against teams in the top 11 in RPI this season. Only 3 games against schools over 150 are included (though Illinois-Chicago is close at 149), and a total of 7 over 100 (though Loyola Marymount just missed that cut at 102). Here's how it breaks out:

Opponent's RPI 1-10       9
Opponent's RPI 11-25      4
Opponent's RPI 26-50      6
Opponent's RPI 51-100     4
Opponent's RPI 101-150    4
Opponent's RPI 151-200    3
Opponent's RPI 201-up     0

How does that compare with last season? The weighted average RPI of 2005 opponents came in at 63.5, so the 2006 intended strength looks much better at 53.9. There were 7 games against opponents with RPI's over 150 (3 against St. Mary's [169], 3 against San Diego State [170], and 1 against UCLA [181]), and there were another 2 to add in for the over 100 total (2 against Loyola Marymount [102]). The top end was somewhat similar, if not quite as top 10 heavy, with 3 against Baylor [3], 3 against CS Fullerton [10], 3 against USC [11] and 3 against ASU [13]. On the last, I must say I'm a bit disappointed that Arizona State is not coming to Blair to reciprocate for the Dirtbag's trip to Tempe (maybe the Devils didn't like the outcome?).

Update: I meant to add this. Here are the teams the Beach played in 2005 that are not on the schedule for 2006:

Arizona State
St. Mary's
Houston

The 49ers will also play 1 fewer in 2006 against San Diego State, and also against Loyola Marymount. New to the schedule for 2006 are:

Lamar
Oklahoma
Rice
Illinois-Chicago
Texas

posted on 6/29/2005 by Jeff Agnew

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