Jan. 17, 2006
NORMAL, Ill. -
Illinois State baseball head coach Jim Brownlee believes that in order to become an elite college baseball team, you have to play the best teams. With some savvy scheduling and some luck involved, the Redbirds' 2006 slate was ranked the No. 57 in the country in terms of strength of schedule by boydsworld.com.
ISU has the top-ranked schedule in the Missouri Valley Conference, finishing ahead of No. 76 Wichita State and No. 81 Missouri State. Brownlee is excited about how the schedule for 2006 has come about.
"I think this schedule is very attractive" said Brownlee. "The interesting thing about scheduling is that you're working three years ahead of time. You never know at the time you schedule if the teams will still be that good down the road. However, the quality of this schedule stayed consistent and I think this will really help us get ready for the Valley."
Seven teams which qualified for the 2005 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Championship Tournament appear on the 2006 ISU baseball schedule. Oral Roberts, Austin Peay, Missouri, Southern Mississippi, Nebraska and Missouri Valley Conference foes Creighton and Wichita State all saw tournament action in 2005 and will see the Redbirds on the field in 2006.
The combination of the competitiveness of the non-conference teams and Valley opponents led the `Birds to the national ranking. Brownlee believes that the level of competition his team will face in 2006 will help the squad in the long run.
"There's a good mixture of teams we face in the 20 non-conference games," said Brownlee. "Plus, it helps that our league is one of the most competitive in the country and I believe that we have the strongest schedule going into the season.
"Playing the elite programs shows you where you have to go if you want to be a Top 25 team in the country. I think you get better by playing these top teams and learning from both the wins and the losses that may occur. I've always had the philosophy to play good teams, because it gets your team ready for the end of the year when you have to play good teams in a tournament to advance."
The Redbirds kick off the season at the Texas-Arlington Tournament in Arlington, Texas, February 17-19, and will face the hosts, Oral Roberts and Kansas State in early non-conference play.
