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I came up with my own college preseason All-American team. The players represented all attended Perfect Game showcases duriing their prep careers:

www.perfectgame.org/2005/...ollege.cfm

Some college baseball on TV this week, kind of. CSTV, channel 118 for Time Warner Cable subscribers, is airing USC's media day, a 2-hour program, starting on Wednesday with multiple re-broadcasts throughout this week and next. I check Yahoo to get my TV listings:

tv.yahoo.com/tvpdb?d=tvp&...p;.intl=us

USC is a preseason top-25 ranked team according to BA, led by staff ace Ian Kennedy.

BA continues their college coverage with a look at Missouri's ace RHP Max Scherzer:

www.baseballamerica.com/t...erzer.html

Get used to hearing his name and seeing this face (picture below), as the only thing holding him back from being one of the top 2-3 picks this June is his rumored affiliation with Scott Boras.

They also offered their top 50 sophomore list. Tulane RHP Sean Morgan, an '04 25th rounder by the Brewers, was the 17th best soph, and the only former Brewers draftee on the list (there are several former Dodger draftees, including two of the top three). Next year should be a special draft year given some of the college players that will be available.

Since the Midwest was covered, I can tell you that UWM is projected by BA to finish second within the Horizon League, with UIC projected to finish first. UIC has Madison native and former Brewers draft pick Ryan Zink (the league's preseason pitcher of the year) as their staff ace, as well as Brookfield Central alum Ryan Schweikert, a transfer.

UWM had four players represented in the league's preseason All-Conference team:

Sophomore SS Grant Berkovitz
Senior OF Joe Nowicki (who nearly led the league in triple crown categories last year)
Senior DH Zak Rivera
Junior RHP Aaron Sorenson

Here's a handy link to UWM's baseball site if you want to check out the roster, schedule, etc. to plan your spring :

uwmpanthers.collegesports...-body.html

This is probably the first year in a while that Minnesota isn't ranked as one of the top two teams in the Big Ten to open the season. Ohio State is number one, as they usually battle for the Big Ten crown with Minnesota, with Purdue number two. The Gophers do have the league's best prospect in LHP John Gaub. Gaub is expected to move from the bullpen to the weekend rotation, and brings heat from the left-side as he's routinely clocked at 90-94 mph. Look for Katuluu to get excited about this Gopher this spring, as he struck out 102 batters in 63 innings as a sophomore.

Max Scherzer

is there anyplace i can find a schedule of all the ESPN televised college baseball games this year?

Check ESPN's site to see if they list their programming. Same goes for CSTV or the Fox regional channels (ESPN actually airs the fewest amount of games compared to those channels). Their schedule may not even be formalized yet. What I normally do is check Yahoo's TV listings to see what is on within the next two weeks. College baseball usually doesn't get much TV until March or April, and it definitely ramps up after college basketball.

BA looks at UNC's weekend rotation today. Pogo, I know you expressed interest in seeing these guys before since you're now in the UNC area:

www.baseballamerica.com/t...19unc.html

Daniel Bard, Andrew Miller and Robert Woodard

I've talked up Ian Kennedy before, so now it's up to someone else:

www.baseballamerica.com/t...nnedy.html

In this story, it is confirmed that Scott Boras is his advisor. He is my favorite draft eligible prospect throwing that aside, and while he doesn't have the greatest size nor the most overpowering of stuff, I guarantee you will fall in love with the way this guy pitches.

There's also a nice story on Oregon State. As much love as the pitchers from UNC get, OSU has quite the trio themselves:

www.baseballamerica.com/t...state.html

And the top 50 seniors were released. Last year's 16th round pick, Andrewy Bailey, a RHP that returned to Wagner despite having TJ surgery, checks in at #34, while West Bend (I think it is West Bend) native Ryan Rohlinger checks in at #42.

Ian Kennedy

I don't think that's a split. The finger wide of the baseball that you see I believe is the finger next to the pinkie (whatever that finger is called). A splitter is thrown between your index & middle finger.

That looks more like a changeup grip to me.

As BA's college preview winds down, there's not too much to share concerning the small colleges & JC's. Their feature story is on Jeff Maier, who is the guy who interfered with a ball in play in the 1996 ALCS.

DFE candidate Tim Smith was named to the preseason JC All-American team as an outfielder, after he hit .468 with 8 HRs & 55 RBIs a year ago, but he was not named as one of the top prospects from the junior colleges.

Waukesha native Tyler Beranek was also named to the team after transferring to Lake City CC (FL) from UNLV. Speaking of Lake City, they are listed as the preseason 7th best JC in the nation, which is of interest since DFE candidate Stephen Barnes fronts their rotation (Brookfield native Brandon Hall is also on the team). St. Petersburg College (FL) won the Florida JC tourney last year, and are listed as the #2 preseason JC in the nation. DFE candidate Ulrich Snijders, a catcher, attends St. Petersburg.