Okay, so last time around, I talked about Points Per Play (PPP) as the football version of Slugging %.  In baseball, OPS (On-Base + Slugging) is one of the most telling, easy, reliable stats around.  It's great because it's flexible.  There are two different ways to put together a strong OPS--either by getting on base a lot or by hitting for power--and the best hitters do both.  You find consistency and explosiveness in one measure.

So if PPP is equivalent to Slugging % (explosiveness), what's equivalent to On-Base % (consistency)?  Success Rate, that's what.

In its most basic form, Success Rate is simply the percentage of time in which a play is deemed `successful'.  It is a measure I culled from Football Outsiders and tweaked to fit my own purposes.  How is `success' determined?

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Hey, this is The Boy from Rock M Nation.  I posted this over at Sunday Morning QB a couple days ago, but I figured I might as well post it on the Big 12 blogs too...let me know what you think.

OFFSEASON PROJECT!  Over at RMN, I've been playing with the `Beyond the Box Score' idea (calling it that as an ode to the wonderful SBN sabermetrics blog of the same name) as it applies to college football stats.

I've been cranking out play-by-plays for 2007 games as fast as possible--as I post for a Mizzou blog, I've focused on Big 12 teams, Mizzou opponents, and teams with fellow Heisman finalists--but this is a massive undertaking, and I need some volunteers to enter play-by-play for the games I have yet to enter from the 2007.  They take about 30-45 minutes each, and I'm figuring I'll need about 6-10 volunteers to finish this stuff in a timely enough fashion to do something about it before the 2008 season starts orbiting everybody's attention span, so...actually, how about I just show you why I'm doing this?

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Hi Sooner fans--

My name is Erik, I am working as an intern on a knowledge-base project with a major league club. Simply put, we are trying to find baseball experts - thoughtful baseball people- who are interested in sharing their evaluations of D1 players defensive skills with us. We have created a website which makes it very easy for you to share your well informed opinions with us. The results of the collaboration are available free to all that are interested.

If you would be interested in participating and you are a regular or even semi-regular attendee of OU baseball games, or another D1 school's games, please contact me at eriknmanning@gmail.com

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Bumped from the Diaries

I write about the KU baseball team at Rock Chalk Talk and try to occasionally share baseball updates that are of interest to the whole Big-12.  I have posted a new KU baseball notes story at Rock Chalk Talk which contains a few stories that are of conference wide interest.  Now that football has ended, maybe it is time we start focusing a bit more on the upcoming baseball season.  Opening day for most teams is February 22nd.

The first story covers Kendall Rogers' (Rivals.com) pre-season Big-12 rankings.  Rogers is one of the best informed national writers covering college baseball so his projections carry some weight.  He predicts:

1. Texas
   
2. Missouri
   
3. Baylor
   
4. Texas A&M
   
5. Oklahoma State
   
6. Nebraska
   
7. Kansas State
   
8. Oklahoma
   
9. Kansas
   
10. Texas Tech

The second story breaks down an interesting Baseball America evaluation of the major conferences.  Baseball America has the Big-12 ranked as tied for second with the ACC.  They pick the SEC as the best conference.  The BA article if four pages long but well worth the time for those who follow college baseball.

So, what do you think?

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Hey, Al here from the Crimson & Cream Machine's sister SB Nation Chicago Cubs site Bleed Cubbie Blue.

As I did last year, I was at the Fiesta Bowl last night; you can read my recap here.

Sorry your team lost again. I'm guessing that since I have now attended two straight OU losses in the Fiesta Bowl, you might want me to not go any more. I'm taking up a collection. (Kidding!)

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With the way Bradford took the reins and ran with the opportunity (34 td's-8 int's), I can't see Nichol beating him out.
That's not to say Nichol may not be a good QB, but Bradford had better numbers than Heisman Finalist, Chase Daniels.
Rivals had Bradford rated the #12 Pro-Style QB, and Landry Jones is the #8 Pro-Style QB ranked for 2008.
Nichol was the #6 Dual-Threat QB.

Based on what type of QB has had the most success at OU during the Stoops era, it would have to be the Pro-Style QB's.  Which is another reason why I would hope to keep the Landry Jones commitment.

It would be great if Nichol stays for insurance, but I won't be surprised to see him transfer.

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Hadn't heard about this until now.  Not sure how much this has been reported, but this is some crazy stuff.  

The Coaches Poll should definitely be taken out of the BCS equation and I'm frankly surprised that this still goes on from year to year.

Check it out and get the word out, then maybe the system will finally be changed.

http://www.bleacherreport.com/articles/4429

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I am a member of Rockmnation and I just created a profile on Crimson and Cream because of this recent post by a sooner fan. Is this representative of Sooner Nation?

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I just wanted to stop by to send my congratulations to the Oklahoma Sooners. The Sooners earned the right to be called the best in the Big 12 and they outclassed the Tigers tonight. No excuses, no debates about validity of turnovers, no cries of disrespect. The Sooners played like champions.

Having seen Mizzou-OU in person earlier in the year, I was awe-struck at how athletic, physical, and fast the Oklahoma defense is. They took that to a whole different level in San Antonio.

So a tip of the cap to Oklahoma, and if it ends up being OU-KU in the Fiesta, do us a favor and beat the living piss outta the Jayhawks.

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There was a baseball game played by Missouri and OU on November 17, 1958 on "Dad's Day" at OU. I have a ticket stub from that baseball game with Mickey Mantle and Billy Martin autographs, does anyone know why they were at this game during the prime of their careers? Please help this trivia question get answered.

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10.        John Blake doesn't recruit for OU anymore

9.         Mike Stoops left for Arizona and now beats top 20 teams

8.         Coach Stoops, now uses a Halloween mask to now scare opponents

7.         2.5 million dollars lessens the sting of losing

6.         The defense makes big hits only after the opponent has gained 10 yards

5.         The opponent's best receiver can always get behind the OU secondary.

4.         Coach Wilson needs a least two quarters to make adjustments instead of using a supposed beavy of running backs and huge offensive line.

3.         Our backup QB never plays as Stoops pads statistics instead preparing contingency plans.

2.         Our defense likes to make games exciting be letting teams stay in games.

1.         And the number 1 reason OU can't and won't win a BIG game is

Please print and post all over the great state of Oklahoma. A change is needed......

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     I believe that football success comes in cycles, and following such logic that tells us that inevitably OU and texas will not rule the Big 12 forever.
     This season that has come to pass, with kansas and mizzou the two teams with the best records and the front runners OU and texas hopeing to spoil their BCS dreams in the title game, this was not unexpected but the teams that have accomplished it are not who you would have expected coming into the season and also note if you will the teams that have beat OU and Texas (TT, CU, KSU) are not even in Championship consideration.
OU has managed to get through their schedule relativly unscathed mostly due to luck (like having mizzou at home this year)but as this road loss at TT tells us, the dynamic is shifting, how it will shift only time will tell, but for OU fans it is not for the better.
Unfourtunatly the North (and the bottom of the south) has said "No means NO" to a one sided Big 12, and I forsee the North rising again next season as well.

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