Bush(ey)-Whacked; Bucs Postseason Hopes?

After Derek Bushey's fantastic start against UNC-Asheville, I wondered whether it would be something he could repeat. After five more excellent innings against [deep, gritty voice] the Furman Paladins [/deep, gritty voice], and I think we've found a new Sunday starter come conference season.

Bushey fanned six in five innings, giving up just one run en route to his first win of the year. The guy who inadvertently denied Bushey his first win, Ben Booker, came in and pitched a solid inning. Dak Rissman struck out two, but did give up a run in one inning of work, but it wasn't enough for [deep, gritty voice] the Furman Paladins [/deep, gritty voice] to catch ETSU, especially when Reeder came in and slammed the door on them, striking out three of the four batters he faced for his fourth save of the year.

Offense by committee also continues: Reeder 2/4 with 2 runs scored, Trent 2/4 with an RBI, John Long 3/4 with an RBI and a run scored. Hoilman was only 1/4, but drove in a run on his third double of the year, and Pratt went 0/2 but came around to score on a walk. The defense was also solid, committing zero errors. No, that's not a typo. This game has been recorded in the memories.

Speaking of memorable moments, the Baseball Bucs are, at the time of this writing, 10th in the nation in RPI. That's right, we're ahead of the likes of Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, last year's Cinderella TCU, and perennial powerhouse Cal State Fullerton.

We're also well ahead of most of the rest of the conference. Take a look:

ETSU - 10
Jacksonville - 31
Stetson - 35
Kennesaw State - 37
Belmont - 89
Campbell - 104
Lipscomb - 108
Mercer - 118
USC Upstate - 146
North Florida - 148

Before anyone completely dismisses this due to Mercer's placing, consider the teams the Bears have played. They've played just two squads in the top 100 and are 2-2 against them (2-1 against Belmont with an 8-5 loss to Georgia), so the ranking is totally out of place based on what Mercer has done.

As a conference, the A-Sun also ranks 6th in RPI, ahead of BCS conferences the WAC, MAC, Mountain West, Big East, and the Big Ten, and well ahead of the SoCon.

Speaking of the A-Sun's place among conferences, here's a look at some of the upcoming pieces here on BB:BE.

-The Atlantic Sun: Rising or Setting? Campbell's departure will mark the sixth since Samford left in 2004, but the conference has managed to stay afloat. When the moratorium on Division I entries lifts in 2012, what should the conference do?

-A Decade in Review: 2001-2011 - A look back at the best - and worst - moments of a decade of ETSU men's basketball, featuring a slew of previously unused metrics to analyze squads from years' past.

-Bucs' Final Season Grades (Pending Postseason) - Unlikely to arrive for the men's team until after the postseason, but if the women have a blank dance card, theirs will arrive sooner. We'll offer full analysis of each player that hit the floor for these two squads, which could open the door to another question: just what went wrong in Macon?

-Football (working title) - This debate feels endless. Some say football is an impossibility for a university in the heart of Big Orange Country; others say the lack of football is holding the university back. Is there a compromise to be had? We'll examine the reasons for the program's dissolution, scenarios for revival, and comparable situations at schools across the country.

Plus continued coverage of baseball and softball.

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Time to look at the postseason picture for the basketball squads. It's still that time of year, after all. Since chivalry isn't dead just yet, let's look at the ladies first.

Women's Team
Record: 19-12 (15-5)
RPI: .5334 (103)
SOS: .5069 (130)
Record vs. RPI Top 50: 0-4
Record vs. RPI 51-100: 1-4
Record vs. RPI 101-200: 4-1
Record vs. RPI 201+: 14-3
Highest RPI: 88 (Week 16)
Lowest RPI: 128 (Week 9)
Key Wins: vs. Richmond (74)
Bad Losses: @ USC Upstate (189), @ North Florida (248), @ Campbell (259), vs. Jacksonville (215)

Sadly, I think the loss in the semifinals dashed any postseason hopes for the Lady Bucs. The teams they lost to - especially Campbell - don't really look that great when going through the application process for a WNIT at-large bid, and going 5-9 against the top 200 teams in the RPI doesn't bode well, either. Coach Kemp did really well to offset her weak conference slate with very high-quality non-conference opponents, but they still needed to win the conference if they wanted into the NCAA tournament. We'll see how things shake out, but I have a feeling their season is over.

Men's Team
Record: 21-11 (16-5 A-Sun)
RPI: .5458 (92)
SOS: .4926 (174)
Record vs. RPI Top 50: 0-1
Record vs. RPI 51-100: 1-5
Record vs. RPI 101-200: 9-3
Record vs. RPI 201+: 11-2
Highest RPI: 85 (Week 17)
Lowest RPI: 140 (Week 5)
Key Wins: @ Dayton (79), @ Mississippi State (115)
Bad Losses: @ USC Upstate (313), vs. Northeastern (180), @ Stetson (304)

Analysis: While the squad's 21 wins looks really impressive, half of them came against what are considered bottom-feeders by national standards, and against teams that were even slightly above them in the RPI, they really struggled.

This is obviously NOT an NCAA-caliber resume. I'm not sure it's even an NIT resume with the two awful conference losses to Stetson and Upstate, even if they were by one point. The Bucs have been extended a formal invitation to play in the CIT, which I firmly believe they should accept. This is a tournament geared towards mid-major schools, and the field is one they could probably have a great deal of success in. Other teams already invited include Tennessee Tech (who, as you may remember, got thrashed in the Mini-Dome on homecoming), Marshall, Air Force, and Davidson. Oh, wait, I forgot one:

[deep, gritty voice]the Furman Paladins.[/deep, gritty voice]