The CUSA ego is starting to get a little bruised, having not had a team in Omaha the last two seasons. But these guys are never far off the radar and its only a matter of time before their muscles get flexed again. Don’t be shocked if the stars, sun and moon alight just right and that time is nigh.

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2011 in a Paragraph:

It was another odd year in the CUSA circles last season. Consider that seven of the nine teams had winning overall records and four teams made it to the NCAAs, in Southern Miss, Rice, East Carolina and Central Florida. But the bad part is that none of them saw the light of day of the second weekend in June, all losing out in the Regional round. If fact, only the Pirates were able to play their way to the title round of the Regionals, losing to homestanding Virginia. USM and Rice tied for the regular season crown, with Rice being the No. 1 seed in the CUSA tournament after taking down the Eagles in two-of-three in the final weekend of the regular season. UCF made the rocket-ride from last place in 2010 to the NCAA tournament in 2011, showing that this is a program that means business. Houston and Memphis made some strides, but Tulane was riddled with injuries which ruined a promising season. UAB and Marshall have to work out some issues after disappointing seasons that saw them finish as bottomfeeders.

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Conference ISR: 5

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HOW THEY’LL FINISH IN 2012:

- Conference USA.

1- Rice

2- UCF

3- East Carolina

4- Southern Miss

5- Tulane

6- UAB

7- Marshall

8- Houston

9- Memphis

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2012 in a Paragraph:

Could we be back to the days of Rice and the Little 8? Hmmm… I may get jumped in the parking lot if I say “yes” but then again, I’m bigger than most of you, so I’ll say it’s true. At least for this season. Lots of losses across the board at most of the contenders and a return of a lot of injured Owls means that Rice will be the overwhelming favorite this season. But look out for fast-rising UCF to make a lot of noise this year as second-year head coach Terry Rooney starts to settle in as a yearly contender for the Knights. ECU and USM are proud programs that may not be Omaha contenders this season, but aren’t going to turtle up and hide from any challenges. In fact, if they get some of their key recruits to out-perform expectations, they could be right in the mix as usual. Tulane was nearly as injury-riddled as the Owls and should make big strides this season. UAB and Marshall are both going to make a sizable jump this spring which could plant the seed for future success. Houston and Memphis are merely re-coiling this season and aren’t typical bottom-feeders as they could both be dangerous as well.

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Favorite: Rice

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Contenders: UCF, East Carolina, Southern Miss

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Darkhorse: Tulane

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Can’t-Miss Series of the Year: Rice at UCF, May 17-19. Final weekend of regular season.

Close Second: East Carolina at UCF, March 23-25. First weekend of regular season.

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Best Non-Conference Series: Rice at Stanford, March 9-11.

Close Second: East Carolina at Alabama Tournament (Bama, ORU, L’ville), Mar. 9-11.

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Hot Coach: Terry Rooney, UCF

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Hot Seat Coach: Rick Jones, Tulane

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The “You Gotta See” Pitcher: Austin Kubitza, Rice

The “You Gotta See” Player: 1B/RHP D.J. Hicks, UCF

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Three Non-Conference Series The C-USA Better Not Overlook:

1- Stony Brook at East Carolina, March 2-4

2- Troy at Southern Miss, Feb. 24-26

3- Indiana at Tulane, Feb. 24-26.

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Three Bold Predictions:

1- If Rice suffers any significant injuries to two or more of its key players, UCF will win CUSA.

2- Southern Miss will leave Tax Day with a losing record in conference play, before rebounding to contention.

3- CUSA gets five teams to the NCAAs, three to the Supers and one to Omaha.

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- ALABAMA-BIRMINGHAM (29-28, 9-15)

2011 ISR: 91

Starters Returning: 7

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

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All Conference Candidates:

RHP Dillon Napoleon (5-3, 2.87, 2nd Team All-CUSA)

RHP Ben Bullard (5-1, 3.42)

2B Patrick Palmeiro (.287-8-43)

OF Ryan Ussery (.301-3-26)

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The Good News:

UAB got out to another good start last season, which included a 20-13 mark, series wins over ECU and Houston, then a three-hit win over Mississippi State (I’m smiling for coach Polk here). Another stretch like that and the Blazers could be going places. The Blazers were third in CUSA circles defensively, sweeping at a .975 pace and held opponents to just 26 stolen bases all last season. Coming back from that D will be catcher Harry Clark (.256) and 2B Patrick Palmeiro, along with fellow infielders Keth DePew (.276) and John Frost (.246-3-40), so look for that lockdown defense to continue. The pitching staff returns Dillon Napolean (the CUSA Newcomer of the Year) and RHP Michael Busby (1-2, 5.85, 9starts) and LHP David Hayes (1-2, 6.75, 8starts), who are three arms that combined for 31 of the 57 starts last season. Behind them, ace reliever RHP Ryan Nance (2-5, 6.68, 8svs) is also coming back and should post better numbers in this, his senior year.

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The Bad News:

Playing in a conference that is so well-versed in post-season success it’s weird to see that the Blazers haven’t been to the NCAA tournament since 1991. Wow. Also think about this… for the second year in a row the Blazers limped down the stretch, going just 9-15 after that win over MSU on April 13th. That’s a bad rut to get into boys. This year they’ll have to make do without difference-makers like OF Jamal Austin, an All-CUSA pick, and a pair of 2nd teamers in INF Nick Crawford, who had 18SBs, and RHP Ryan Woolley, who was the staff horse and was picked up in the 13th round by the Tigers last June. The offense was pretty punchless last year and needs lots of improvement after hitting just .271 and will lose the top two leading hitters in Jamal Austin and Nick Crawford, who also combined for 44 stolen bases. Losing Ryan Woolley and Blake Huddleston means a lot of quality will be missing from the rotation. as they were two of only three pitchers with an ERA below 5.00.

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Schedule Note:

Tough start, tough end.

The Conference USA portion of the schedule won’t be kind to the Dragons as they’ll have to go to East Carolina and Central Florida in the first three weeks and then they’ll also have to deal with a trip to Rice and a homestand vs. Southern Miss to end the slate for their Conference USA hopes. Not easy. On top of all that, the Big Green will also open the 2012 season with three games at Clemson, a three-gamer vs. Ball State, a weekend vs. Utah and a weekend hosting Penn State. After all that, the Coastal Carolina Classic in mid-March will have UAB squaring off with the likes of UConn, Michigan and host Coastal Carolina. Ugh!

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- CENTRAL FLORIDA (39-23, 12-12)

2011 ISR: 33

Starters Returning: 7

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

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All Conference Candidates:

DH/RHP D.J. Hicks (.351-14-66/2-1, 8.03)

OF Ronnie Richardson (.312-2-34, 15SBs)

2B Travis Shreve (.309, 22SBs)

OF Erik Hempe (.307-7-29)

RHP Ray Hanson (4-2, 3.47, .255OBA)

LHP Joe Rogers (4-2, 4.79, 9svs)

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The Good News:

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Terry Rooney stamp of approval has officially been applied like a tattoo on a punk rocker. Coach Roons has made the big time turnaround in his three years as the big kahuna in Orlando, culminating in last season’s at-large bid to the NCAAs and a trip to the Tallahassee Regional. More good news is ahead as most of the batting order returns from last year, led by All American D.J. Hicks, who also doubles as an occasional reliever (12 appearances last season). A couple of awesome movers and shakers return as well in the ball of energy known as OF Ronnie Richardson and 2B Travis Shreve, who combined for 37SBs and flash great gloves too. The offense hit .307 last season (2nd in CUSA) and all the returnees hit .280 or better. Defensively, the Knights were outstanding (a CUSA-best .978 fielding percentage) and return the middle infield of Shreve and SS Darnell Sweeney (.288, 12SBs). The pitching staff has ace LHP Brian Adkins (6-5, 4.40) back, who began last season as the mid-week starter before evolving into the Friday man. RHPs Ray Hanson (4-2, 3.47) and Ben Lively (5-1, 5-30) started 21 combined games and both held their opponents to .257 batting averages. Former LSU LHP Chris Matulis (a 6’6″ low-90s flamethrower) is eligible and should make a huge impact. Also, LHP Joe Rogers has been named to the Stopper of the Year Award watch list for the second straight season. Coach Rooney and his staff also brought in another bling-filled class of recruits for this season, ranked at No. 24 by Collegiate Baseball. The highlighted stars-to-be are former MLB draftees LHP Eric Skoglund (16th round, Pirates), RHP Garrett Nuss (32nd round Yankees) and INF Tommy Williams (20th round, Dbacks), who all turned down the play-for-pay guys to be part of this resurgent Black Knight program.

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The Bad News:

Well, if you’re being picky, despite all the positive news above, the Knights still had a middle-of-the-road mark in conference play and had more losses than in 2010 overall (which was 22). So there is still plenty of improvement needed. Between Jonathan Griffin, Beau Taylor and Derek Luciano, the Knights will lose a lot of power at the dish as they combined for 30 of the 58 HRs last year. Reliever Nick Cicio and Johnny Sedlock are huge losses for this staff as they combined for 44 appearances and also were the only two pitchers with a sub-3.00 ERA. Though they will have saves leader LHP Joe Rogers (4-2, 4.79, 9svs) and Bryan Brown (2-1, 4.80) back, the rest of the relief corps will need to be developed with newbies. The only other problem might be the non-conference schedule, which has a tad too many lightweights on it, potentially dragging down the RPI.

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Schedule Note:

The anchor effect.

The Knights will play Long Island, Boston College, Siena, UMass and Harvard in the weekends leading up to Conference USA play that starts in late-March. They’ll have to hope that the numerous mid-week games with teams like Florida, Miami, Florida Atlantic and Stetson will help boost their Strength of Schedule come NCAA at-large time. In conference play, ECU and Rice visit Orlando, but UCF will have to go to Houston, Southern Miss and Tulane.

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- EAST CAROLINA (41-21, 14-10)

2011 ISR: 35

Starters Returning: 8

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 0

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

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All Conference Candidates:

C Zach Wright (.272-13-39)

UTL John Wooten (.298)

DH Chase McDonald (.314-4-31)

LHP Kevin Brandt (7-3, 2.26, .239OBA)

OF Ben Fultz (.303-4-26)

3B Corey Thompson (.328-6-47)

SS Jack Reinheimer (.311)

OF Philip Clark (.310-3-28, 15SBs)

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The Good News:

Last year’s season preview said that the Pirate ship was stocked with everything necessary for a bounce-back year. And sure enough, it was much smoother sailing for the Jolly Rogers as they got back to the post-season and pulled another 40-win season after coming up short of both goals in 2010. There are a lot of familiar hands to swab the deck of the ship this year, especially with the return of eight field starters. When I saw coach Godwin out in L.A. back in August, he was giddy over the fact that his block-of-granite catcher Zach Wright was ready to turn down the Phillies after being their 6th round draft pick. He got his very important wish to go along with a round-the-horn defense of 1B John Wooten, 2B Mike Ussery (.265), SS Jack Reinheimer and 3B Corey Thompson. Last year they fielded at a .970 pace, so once again the D should be a strength. Six sticks that went .298 or better return to a still-powerful lineup, new bats be damned. Wright could also be one of the most powerful hitters in the country, giving the order a hell of an anchor to build around as well. Pitching-wise there were a few hits, but three of the four returnees had ERAs of under 2.27. LHP Jake Harris (0-1, 1.15) only threw 15.1 innings last season but should take on a big role this season, same goes for Soph RHP Austin Chrismon (1-0, 1.93, .203OBA in 10.1inns). LHP Kevin Brandt (the Sunday starter for most of last year) should be ready for the Friday spot. The incoming class of newbies was a huge sigh of relief for coach Godwin, who will welcome in the 40th ranked recruiting class, according to Collegiate Baseball. DeShorn Lake (a 12th round pick of the Red Sox) and JC transfer Jharel Cotton (28th round, Mets) both hit near mid-90s mph in the fall and should take on big roles in 2012. Also look for infielder/outfield Nick Thompson, who was the Virginia state player of the year in 2011 and should help out the order immediately. Lots of young fillies are around to make sure this operation keeps hitting the high seas.

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The Bad News:

A 40+ win season and return to the Big Dance were nice, but you know those rabid Pirate fans, it’s Omaha or bust for them. And that goal is still the dangling carrot in front of the purple crew. But this year they’ll have to accomplish that with difference-making mound starters like Brad Mincey and Seth Maness no longer around. And those are two names that have long been recognized by Pirate fans. Seth Simmons added six saves to the staff last year, along with lots of leadership skills and will also be sorely missed, especially when it came to chewing up middle-innings. Despite a positive prognosis, it’s reported that mound stud Jake Harris could be out until mid-April after having arm surgery on his throwing wing in the off-season. So with all the losses/new arms coming in, don’t expect that super-low 2.67 ERA from last year to maintain for long. Though it could if the yearlings grow up quick.

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Schedule Note:

They are the Road Kings

It just doesn’t seem fair to the poor, rabid ECU fans out there, but the Pirates will hit the high seas for the most-important CUSA road trips to UCF, Rice and Southern Miss. Most of the weak-sister teams come to Greenville, so the good side of it is the ECU fans will get to see a lot of wins. Speaking of a lot of wins, the pre-conference sked isn’t too daunting for the Purple Gang either, with three gamers coming against Milwaukee, Stony Brook, Penn State and the Keith LeClair Classic featuring teams like Purdue, Western Carolina and Maryland (all on the uptick, but not quite to ECU’s level yet) before the CUSA slate commences. The Alabama tournament vs. the homesteading Tide, Oral Roberts and Louisville will be the biggest non-conference hoedown as all three will be pretty good tests for this pitching staff and will be key indicators to tell if this team is ready to reach the Top 25 again.

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- HOUSTON (27-32, 12-12)

2011 ISR: 85

Starters Returning: 3

Weekend Starters: 3

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

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All Conference Candidates:

SS Chase Jensen (.320-3-45)

RHP Jared Ray (1-1, 3.28, .236OBA in 5 starts)

LHP Jordan Lewis (5-3, 3.75)

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The Good News:

Though there was only a two-win improvement in Todd Whitting’s first season over 2010, there were plenty of signs this was a good improvement. The 2011 Coogs led the Conference USA crowd in triples (24), HBP (78) and was 4th in stolen bases (65). The team ERA jumped from a languid 6.54 in 2010 all the way down to 4.56, which is one of the biggest reasons for optimism. Especially since this appears to be a squad that will be led by its arms staff. Jared Ray is looking to play at a high level for the entire season this time around and will join Jordan Lewis and RHP Mo Wiley (4-4, 4.63) to form an all-senior rotation (insert coach Whitting’s smile here). The relief corps has a good bit coming back as well with leading bullpenner RHP Jordan Mannisto (4-4, 3.28, 4svs) and sophomores RHP Dustin Fuerst (1-0, 2.25, .205OBA) and RHP Chase Wellbrock (1-1, 5.52). Mid-week starter Codey Morehouse was 3-5, 5.26 in 10 starts and also hit .208 in 33 starts as an infielder. Add a pair of big time studs to this pitching staff as 10th round draftee Aaron Garza turned down the bigs to play in H-town and will join RHP Austin Pruitt, who led the JC ranks in ERA last year (0.81) pitching for the NJCAA national champions at Navarro JC.

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The Bad News:

2011 proved to be a long season and the Coogs can’t let that 5-10 finish have any carry-over effect (although a lot of that had to do with games against RIce, USM and ECU). But even though there are a lot of returnees on the hill, the Coogs also had some probes in the pitch staff, particularly giving opponents a .289 average and getting just 313 Ks as a team, both of which were at the bottom of CUSA. Lots of retooling will need to be done in the order and on the field around C John Cannon (.284-2-26), SS Chase Jensen and CF Landon Appling (.265, 22SBs), the only three returning starters. There will be over 20 new players in the program this year as the personnel turnover has gone full circle under the new staff.

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Schedule Note:

Tougher than a 2-dollar steak.

The Coogs will ramp up quickly in quality of competition this season. They’ll open with Delaware, then host Texas State and then head to the Houston College Classic to play Tennessee, Arkansas and Texas Tech. But it doesn’t start there. The first road trip of the season has them going Ole Miss and then to Oklahoma State in consecutive weekends. Oh, and as if that wasn’t enough, they’ll open CUSA play with Southern Miss, UCF and East Carolina on consecutive weekends. Ouch, man! Look for a bit of a bruise of an overall record early on. From April 20th onward, UofH will play 11 home games, three others in town (at Rice) and three in Birmingham at UAB.

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- MARSHALL (20-31, 7-17)

2011 ISR: 187

Starters Returning: 4

Weekend Starters: 3

Mid-Week Starters: 0

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

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All Conference Candidates:

OF Isaac Ballou (.285, 20SBs)

RHP Mike Mason (3-3, 4.83)

RHP Joe Church (2-2, 8.31)

RHP Aaron Blair (2-3, 2.72)

C/DH Thor Meeks (.257-5-23)

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The Good News:

This can be taken as bad news, sure, but in the grand scheme of things, seeing Marshall have eight players drafted last June and to have two others sign with pro clubs as free agents shows that this is a program raising its profile in the tough-to-prosper surroundings of Conference USA. But a few of those draftees decided to come back to campus. Staff ace Mike Mason (23rd round, Rangers) is back, along with blazing OF Isaac Ballou (36th round, Pirates) and also RHP Joe Church, a mid-90s hurler who has been be-set by injuries. If he’s back 100%, it’s Katie-bar-the-door. Thor Meeks and Gray Stafford (.277-5-20) are two of the better power-hitters in the CUSA loop. If they get into a groove this spring it will free up the batting order around them, giving hopes to improving that .284 team average. On top of all this, for the second straight season, the Herd did have a really good recruiting class, led by middle-infielders Sergio Leon and Andrew Dundon, who both had great fall camps. Also look for LHP Wayland Moore, who went 9-0 at Seminole State last season, to give immediate help to the mound staff.

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The Bad News:

In last year’s preview I made the statement that the Herd was a big mystery team, capable of being a darkhorse contender or finishing in last place. Well guess which team they ended up becoming? Yep, the one stuck in the basement of the CUSA standings, despite having most of the team returning to the roster last spring. Unless the new crop of frosh and transfers comes up huge, this year may be even more of an uphill struggle.The top four hitters – who were the only ones to go .300+ – all hit the bricks to pro ball and won’t be there to lean on. The arms staff took lots of hits as well, including 13 game starter Arik Sikula and saves leader Ian Kadish. So with all this youth the Herd will have to depend on, its dicey to project a top-half finish in conference play.

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Schedule Note:

The Carolinas on their minds.

In the formative weeks of this season as the Herd is trying to gel the new with the old, one thing is for certain; they’ll do so in Carolina. A full 14 of the first 15 games of the season will come in either North or South Carolina, including the opening game with N.C. State. But most of them are winnable games too, since teams like Canisius, Bryant, Charleston Southern, Eastern Michigan and Gardner-Webb are some of the teams they’ll face. They’ll also have the fortune of “easing” into conference play as the first two weekends of CUSA play will come against UAB and Memphis.

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- MEMPHIS (30-27, 12-12)

2011 ISR: 102

Starters Returning: 5

Weekend Starters: 2

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

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All Conference Candidates:

1B T.J. Rich (.299-6-52)

RHP Dan Langfield (3-3, 4.32)

RHP Clayton Gant (4-3, 4.99)

LHP Sam Moll (3-1, 2.68, 1sv)

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The Good News:

There were a few shining moments in the 2011 season that makes us think there is a glimmer of big things to come. I mean, how many teams can say they pulled wins over Rice, Southern Miss, East Carolina and UCF, who all went on to the NCAA tournament. A little more consistency and this program will be ready for that quantum leap, right? Well first off, look to the offense for marked improvement from last year as the Tigers had the most ferocious bats in CUSA circles, leading the conference with a .309 team average. From the order they’ll get back a handful of power hitters like T.J. Rich (6HRs, 52RBI), 3B Jacob Wilson (.286-6-52) and DH Eli Hynes (.246-7-30). Also three-fourths of the infield that had the second-best defense in the CUSA at .977 percentage comes back with Rich, Wilson and SS Ethan Gross (.281). Two weekend starters return on the hill for the Tigers as Dan Langfield and Clayton Gant return to their posts. Backing them will be LHP Sam Moll (held opponents to a .223 average) and Erik Schoenrock (2-4, 6.28), as both were part-time starters and could figure into the weekend rotation as well. Be sure to watch for the return of RHP Charlie Joiner, who was the top reliever on the team in 2010 (2-0, 4.64, 22apps) but had to sit out 2011 with Tommy John surgery. He should be the go-to guy out of the ‘pen this season and back at 100%.

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The Bad News:

The Tigers need to get a little tougher from the eyes up, which showed big in a weekend loss to Eastern Illinois in mid-March that led to the 20-23 finish. Ultimately a cold month of May killed any post-season hopes, so don’t let that carry-over here guys. But it will be hard to deal with reality after the top four hitters, who all went .321 or better, have all moved on. The biggest loss of those was top hitter Chad Zurcher, who takes his national-best .443 average/12SBs to pro baseball, and his partner in crime in Drew Martinez, who was a 10th round draft pick after hitting .331 with 20SBs. Also, the pitching staff was dead last in the conference with a 5.20 team ERA and also suffered some big losses that will make for big concerns for the Tigers. Especially painful will be losing staff horse Ryan Holland and ace reliever Ben Paullus, who tied for the team lead with five wins. Paullus also had the team lead with four saves, while holding opposing batters to a minuscule .170 average. New blood on the mound, at catcher and in the outfield will be shaky for sure.

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Schedule Note:

The big litmus test.

Keep an eye on the Tigers and their three-game set at Baylor on March 9-11. Before that weekend, most of their schedule will be very winnable, including weekend sets against SIU-Edwardsville (the opener), Kennesaw State (who shouldn’t be too bad) and a homestead vs. Bradley. That tell-tale Baylor series will be followed by a home weekend vs. Rice to open CUSA play, followed by a visit from Tulane on consecutive weeks. We’ll know a lot about these guys by that time. Four of the final five series will be road tests at Southern Miss, at UCF, vs. UAB, at Missouri (out of conference… unless Mizzou is now a CUSA member, I can’t remember with all that conference realignment nonsense) and at Houston to end the regular season.

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- RICE (42-21, 16-8)

2011 ISR: 18

Starters Returning: 8

Weekend Starters: 3

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 3

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All Conference Candidates:

RHP Austin Kubitza (6-5, 2.34, 102Ks, .250OBA)

2B/OF Michael Ratterree (.327-6-53)

C Craig Manuel (.309)

RHP Matthew Reckling (4-1, 3.10, 96Ks, .214OBA)

RHP Tyler Duffey (8-2, 2.52, 2svs, .230OBA)

OF Michael Fuda (.255)

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The Good News:

We’ve been down this road before and it’s one that we like, seeing the Owls at the top of the CUSA standings, getting over 40 wins and being tabbed a national seed. The Old General never ceases to amaze us. And if you’re like me, you’re asking for more too. Well there’s a good chance this will be another typical Rice-like season with lots of impressive arms and a very capable defense. All eight fielders return to their posts which should make the defense a certain strength in 2012 and will improve the .963 fielding percentage. As you’d expect, the offense should be very capable as well with Michael Ratterree acting as the spark plug at the top of the order. Michael Fuda, Shane Hoelscher (.281-3-37) and former Rice football QB Ryan Lewis (.269) could help the offense become a special unit with improved numbers. Keep an eye on the big bat of 1B JT Chargois (.299-2-31), who could be a huge key to the ascendence of the offense in 2012 after spending all last season as the No. 2 hitter in the order. The pitching staff gets a big boost with RHP Matthew Reckling (22nd round, Cleveland) and LHP Taylor Wall (1-0, 3.60 and a change up specialist) returning for their senior seasons. Reckling led CUSA in opponents’ batting average giving up a minuscule .215 last year and Wall threw 29 innings vs. Top 25 teams last season and held them to a .214 average. They’ll join the wildly talented Austin Kubitza, who was named the CUSA Freshman of the Year, and RHP John Simms (3-2, 3.32), who is a highly-regarded former Washington Nationals draftee. Having a senior backstop like Craig Manuel to throw to will be comforting as he got better down the stretch last season. Another good influx of new talent has made its way to campus again this season from a group that was rated No. 28 in the country by Collegiate Baseball. JC All American infielder Christian Stringer is expected to come in and start at 2nd base, prompting the move for Ratterree to OF. And this may be shocking to read, but there are a few more wicked-good pitchers coming to Rice again, led by RHP Jordan Stephens, a low-90s flinger who coach Graham says could start on the mound immediately, and RHPs Ryan McCarthy and Evan Rutter, who should both make big inroads from the ‘pen. I got a good feelin’ about these guys this year. I’m tellin’ ya’.

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The Bad News:

Okay Owl Nation, so Anthony Rendon is done here. That’s the first hurdle you have to get over. He can’t be replaced, but you already knew that. There were other losses though, including weekend starter Abe Gonzales and master closer Tony Cingrani, who coach Graham told me last season that his emergence was huge to the success of the Owls. I have to admit, that kerplunk-of-a-post-season wasn’t a huge shock, since I wasn’t certain the Owls were truly worthy of a national seed, so they can’t let that bummer run in the Regionals get caught in their heads. A couple of key players need to ratchet things up a bit, especially OF Michael Fuda, who hit .346 in 2010 but dipped to just .255 last year. Also, Jeremy Rathjen (who was .317-13-69 as a frosh) needs to be back at 100% after playing just 16 games last season and a player who Wayne Graham calls “one of the better outfielders in the country.” Chase McDowell is another player to watch after going 2-1, 5.14, 1sv on the mound and only having 16 at-bats due to injury last year. The Owls need to take on a tougher mentality, sure they won 12 games by one run, but they also lost 11 games by a run or two last season. If my math is right (always questionable), you turn a couple of those outcomes around and you’ve got a 50-win team.

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Schedule Note:

In a word, YES.

I love these guys. There’s nothing boring about the Owls’ 2012 slate, no-siree-bob. Fringe teams like FIU, New Mexico State, Dallas Baptist, Texas State and Sam Houston State will get their RPI-boost from taking on the Owls in pre-conference and mid-week play. But there is also plenty of big game to bag too as Rice will travel to Stanford and host Arizona in mid-March, and they’ll take on Texas, Texas Tech and Tennessee at the Houston College Clastic in the third week of the season. The conference schedule is a red carpet rolled out as they’ll have contenders Southern Miss and East Carolina coming to Reckling this year. The Silver Glove series vs. Houston will also be a three-game home weekend in early May. Go get ‘em boys.

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- SOUTHERN MISS (39-19, 16-8)

2011 ISR: 26

Starters Returning: 4

Weekend Starters: 0

Mid-Week Starters: 2

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 2

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All Conference Candidates:

OF Kameron Brunty (.301-5-34)

INF Isaac Rodriguez (.288-2-34)

RHP Boomer Scarborough (1-1, 2.89, .247OBA)

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The Good News:

Dare I say, Todd Berry is not just maintaining this program at a high level, he’s actually ramping things up even more. Last year’s CUSA co-title was big. Bringing in a recruiting class chock-full o’ studs is even better. The Eagles have their talons extended and aren’t going to fly the coop anytime soon. Just deal with it people. The core of this year’s team will be built around the consistent play of CF Kameron Brunty, SS/2B Isaac Rodriguez and C Chase Fowler (.233), who will assume full time duties behind the dish. Despite some losses, the arms corps still has some potential stars coming back in RHP Boomer Scarborough, who will move from mid-week to the weekend, RHP Josh Thompson (2-3, 3.83) and LHP Dillon Day (1-2, 5.35), who also had 31 starts in centerfield as a freshman before concentrating more on pitching last year. The best news is the freshman class that coach Berry and his staff have put together. Rated No. 13 by Collegiate Baseball, they picked up an immediate replacement for B.A. Vollmuth at short with 3rd round draftee (yes, 3rd round!) Connor Barron and also got a fill-in for leading hitter Tyler Koening in the stoutly-built, 20th round draftee Mason Robbins. Also look for big impact guys like 3B Brad Roney (18th round, Orioles) and lanky RHP Taylor Nunez (20th round, Pirates) to leave their mark right away. Better days are ahead for this program.

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The Bad News:

Like a couple other teams in the conference here, the post-season was not kind to the Golden Eagles, as they went a combined 1-4 in the CUSA and NCAA tournaments. In fact, USM just ran out of gas last year, going 2-8 in their last 10 games, so let’s hope there is no carry-over effect into 2012. This could be as close as it gets to a “rebuilding” season in Hattiesburg for the Eagles, having lost four of their top five hitters (all of which hit .300+), all three weekend starters and their ace All American Collin Cargill, who had eight saves last year. it’s the loss of stalwarts like do-it-all SS B.A. Vollmuth, Adam Doleac and staff ace Todd McInnis (a former CUSA Pitcher of the Year) that will hurt the most since they were not only team leaders, but also holdovers from that outstanding 2009 College World Series team.

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Schedule Note:

More mid-majors than normal?

Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like the Eagles are going to play a lot more “gimme” type games in the pre-conference portion of this year’s schedule. Mid-majors are everywhere, including the season-opening weekend vs. Nicholls State, a good week two matchup with Troy, another return engagement vs. Louisiana (played in Lafayette this time) and hosting Murray State the week before CUSA play kicks in. The only big-time measuring sticks will be at the Auburn Tournament the first weekend of March (against the host Tigers, Purdue and Charleston Southern) and a  pair of single games played at Alabama and at Ole Miss in mid-week action. The Eagles will also play in-state SWAC champions Alcorn State for their off-weekend from conference play. And FYI, this year’s series with Rice is in Houston, March 30-April 1st.

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- TULANE (31-26, 10-14)

2011 ISR: 90

Starters Returning: 7

Weekend Starters: 1

Mid-Week Starters: 1

Key Relievers (20+inns.): 5

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All Conference Candidates:

C Jeremy Schaffer (.338-6-37)

1B Nick Schneeberger (.301-2-35)

RHP Alex Byo (3-2, 3.32, .252OBA)

RHP Alex Facundus (8-2, 3.43, .225OBA)

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The Good News:

If the Waves can pull off a similar start to last year, where they jumped out to a 17-4 mark which included series wins over Ole Miss and Wichita State, it would do a lot for the psyche of this youthful team. I think they’re ready to handle that kind of success in 2012. Ten-game starter Alex Byo is back as the only weekender (who played the whole season) back for 2012. He’ll have Freshman All American Alex Facundus, along with relievers like LHP David Napoli (1-3, 3.86) and RHP DJ Ponder (3-1, 4.18), who combined for 35 appearances. The defense was pretty stout with a .971 percentage and returns All-CUSA catcher Jeremy Schaffer and all four infielders in 1B Nick Schneeberger, 2B Bowen Woodson (.272-3-28), SS Garrett Cannizaro (.240) and 3B Brennan Middleton (.254). A trio of well-lauded incoming pitchers have the coaches peaked for this coming season in frosh RHP Alex Massey (27th round pick, Red Sox) and LHP Jordan Gross (40th round, Red Sox) and incoming JC transfer RHP Tyler Mapes (49th round, Yankees), who helped lead Navarro College to the JC national title. Again if we’re talking about an injury-free season (or something relatively close to that), this team could shock, stun and surprise.

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The Bad News:

When I saw the Green Wave beat Wichita State at Turchin Stadium last spring, I would’ve never guessed they would end the season with even more losses than in 2010 and even end conference play sub-.500. Injuries, weak sticks and lethargy took their toll on the Greenies, ruining what looked like a promising season. From the start of CUSA play, the Wave went 14-22 the rest of the way. Of course, the Greenies MUST stay away from the injury bug too. I mean, they lost uber-talented pitchers Randy LeBlanc (a 16th round draft pick out of high school) and Kyle McKenzie (2-2, 4.63 at the time) in the month of March, thinning their arms corps in the early going. The Wave will need those two to come back 100% since they’ve lost two weekend starters in Conrad Flynn and Drew Zizinia and also said goodbye to 14-game save specialist Nick Pepitone.

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Schedule Note:

Is this the perfect schedule?

The Green Wave will play what I call very nearly the perfect schedule, a good mix of tough, easy, home and road. They’ll start easy with a home series vs. Siena – who may be playing their first games/practices outdoors – and then host a decent Indiana team. Week three will find SEC monster-in-training Alabama coming to Turchin Stadium. Nice. In week four, they’ll return the trip to Wichita State, one of the toughest places to play in the country. In conference play, they’ll have the luxury of playing at home against Rice and Southern Miss. Trips to East Carolina and Houston will be a challenge, but by that time, these guys will be road warriors. They’ll also have home-and-home mid-weekers vs. LSU, Southeastern Louisiana and Louisiana.