USCBA Pick 'Em Challenge

[John]

Gentlemen,

College baseball season is about to begin! The USCBA - PEBA's version of the NCAA - will be playing its first slate of games beginning "tonight" (Feb. 16, our current position within the game).

In celebration of PEBA's first-ever baseball games to be played, I'm officially announcing the USCBA Pick 'Em Challenge. Entering is simple: pick one team out of the 40 USCBA schools that you believe will win this year's USCBA World Series. Include with your post your brief take on which player(s) on your chosen team will be the key to victory, and why (a sentence or two will do).

The reward: A shiny bonus CP of your very own! The catch? Each school can only be picked once. So beat your fellow PEBA owners to the punch and make your selection right away!

USCBA teams share the school names of their NCAA counterparts but sport fictional nicknames that in some way relate to the school. Waste some time today figuring out as many connections as you can.

I'm about halfway done adding accurate colors/uniforms/caps to each team. The remainder will be complete by Saturday night's sim. I will also be posting a very large and very optional player picture pack specifically for USCBA players. Look for that soon.

[Dinosaurs]

i will take Washington

[John]

i will take Washington

Can you give us a sentence or two about why you're picking them? Which player(s) do you think will be the Montlake Malamutes keys to victory?

[Coqui]

I'll take the Georgetown Stonewalls. (I will assume they are named for Thomas Jackson, who hailed from the area). I think the pitching they have should do the trick.

[James Bowman]

The Cincinnati Unifiers will take the USCBA title this year and I can tell you why in four words:

Curt Turner
Ernest Baker

These two pitchers will be pitching professionally this time next year and I think it's obvious that pitching wins championships. Add on the fact that Cincy has a dozen major-league prospects on its roster and they should walk away with this thing.

[Cole]

St. John's

[Reg]

Tulane...

they have some good pitching, a little bit of pop, and a good bit of speed....

GO GREEN WA....I mean Jade Breakers....

Plus they are from Louisiana how could I go against them, and jinx that good ole cajun magic

[Denny]

I am picking the Lucky Rodents of Minnesota to win it all! Not for any actual baseball reason, but just because I live a few minutes away from the Rodents' main campus.

Incidentally, why are the PEBA school colors different from those used by the colleges in real life? Were they just assigned randomly?

[John]

Incidentally, why are the PEBA school colors different from those used by the colleges in real life? Were they just assigned randomly?

I'm about halfway done with getting accurate colors/jerseys/caps to all the USCBA teams. They'll be ready in time for Saturday's sim and there will be an optional player picture pack (BIG) available to download that will reflect the changes.

[Denny]

I'm not sure if it's funny or frightening that not only had you previously noticed that but were already working furiously to "fix" it!

[Tyler]

I'll take UConn. They're number 2 in power rankings and I don't really have any other reason.

[John]

So the USCBA playoffs have arrived and it's time to see how everyone's doing with their Pick 'Em Challenge selections!

Fargo: The Washington Montlake Malamutes finished in 7th place in the Western 9 Conference with a record of 26-28.
Canton: The Georgetown Stonewalls finished in a 3-way tie for 4th in the Eastern Seaboard Conference with a record of 27-27.
Charleston: The Cincinnati Unifiers finished tied for 7th in the Eastern Seaboard Conference with a record of 26-28.
Kalamazoo: The St. John's Kaisers finished 3rd in the Eastern Seaboard Conference with a record 32-23, barely squeaking into the playoffs as the last wild card. They're currently on the brink of elimination, down 3-0 to Rice in a best-of-7 series.
New Orleans: The Tulane Jade Breakers finished 3rd in the American Heartland Conference with a record of 31-24. They had a chance, but losses to Michigan and St. John's in the last two games kept Tulane from a playoff berth.
Palm Springs: The Minnesota Lucky Rodents finished in a 3-way tie for 6th in the Perfect 10 Conference with a record of 24-30. The P10 was awful as a whole this year; only Ohio State finished with a record above .500.
West Virginia: The UConn Klondikes finished in a 3-way tie for 9th in the Eastern Seaboard Conference with a record of 24-30.

Kalamazoo was the only one to pick a playoff team this year (though the Rice Puddings are about to make his celebration short-lived). Don't you guys know that the best college baseball is played in warm climates?

It doesn't look like we'll have a winner this year, but I hope this got some of you looking at the USCBA box scores a little bit. Remember that the USCBA standouts of today may be PEBA's top draft picks come June. The more you learn about these fellows now, the better prepared you'll be when the draft rolls around!

[Denny]

The Rodents just had some bad breaks; they'll win it all next year!

I'll take UConn. They're number 2 in power rankings and I don't really have any other reason.

I'd just like to point out for next time, Coal Sox, that before the season starts the power rankings are just an alphabetical list of teams. They were ranked number 2 because Connecticut starts with the letter C

[Tyler]

The Rodents just had some bad breaks; they'll win it all next year!

I'll take UConn. They're number 2 in power rankings and I don't really have any other reason.

I'd just like to point out for next time, Coal Sox, that before the season starts the power rankings are just an alphabetical list of teams. They were ranked number 2 because Connecticut starts with the letter C

So far this season I have:

1. Relocated the team, twice, because I thought the Charleston franchise was in WV, not SC
2. Signed a 16-year old to a ML contract
3. Not understood what an empty data set is

Am I the Bill Veeck of the league? No, he KNEW he was insane. [/list]

[John]

Am I the Bill Veeck of the league?

We'll know for sure if and when you send a midget up to bat for the Coal Sox or run a Disco Demolition Night promotion at Allegheny Field.