Coach Mainieri, because it's all about him.

This will be a pretty long post, so get ready. First I will look at Coach Paul Mainieri's first three seasons at LSU and break down his record, there are some interesting things in there. (If anyone doesn't want to read the whole thing, skip to the end for a funny picture of Mainieri while at Notre Dame)

Then I will talk about the upcoming schedule and discuss what I like and don't like about the schedule, as well as what I would rather see on there.

Part 1: Record breakdown of the last three years
Each category will only pertain to LSU's record under Mainieri. I will break it down by Conference, by State, and I will give LSU's record versus some individual teams we play on a regular basis.

Overall: 134-62-2
Home: 85-32-2
Away: 32-26
Neutral: 17-4
Post Season: 25-5 (Unbelievable)
SECT: 9-1
Regionals: 6-0
Supers: 4-1
CWS: 6-3

LSU record by Conference:
SEC: 61-39-2 (includes SECT and CWS games vs conf. opponents)
ACC: 1-2
Atlantic 10: 3-0
Atlantic Sun: 4-5
Big East: 3-0
Big Ten: 6-3
Big XII: 3-1
Big West: 2-1
CUSA: 16-5
Ivy League: 2-0
Southland: 11-2
SWAC: 10-0
Summit League: 3-0
Sunbelt: 6-4
West Coast Conf: 3-0

LSU record by state:
Louisiana: 29-9
Alabama: 15-5
Arkansas: 8-3
California: 5-1
Florida: 12-9
Georgia: 4-3-1
Illinois: 1-2
Indiana: 2-1
Kentucky: 5-3-1
Massachusetts: 2-0
Michigan: 2-0
Minnesota: 1-0
Mississippi: 21-7
North Carolina: 0-2
Pennsylvania: 6-0
South Carolina: 8-3
Tennessee: 5-13 (WTF?!?)
Texas: 7-1
Virginia: 1-0

LSU record versus regular opponents:
Alabama: 8-3
Arkansas: 8-3
Auburn: 7-2
Florida: 4-5
Georgia: 4-3-1
Kentucky: 5-3-1
Miss St: 7-2
Ole Miss: 6-4
South Carolina: 8-3
Tennessee: 2-7
Vanderbilt: 2-4

Tulane: 3-3
ULL: 2-1
UNO: 4-3
SELU: 3-1

That's a lot of raw data, so here's what some of it means:
-LSU will lose three games a year to in-state schools, get over it.
-The state of Tennessee hates LSU.
-The Atlantic Sun Conference hates LSU.
-Mainieri is a GREAT post-season coach.

Another interesting note is that Coach Mainieri is 6-0 against his former assistants. (2-0 vs David Grewe and Mich St, 3-0 vs Terry Rooney and UCF, and 1-0 vs Brian O'Connor and UVa.)

Part 2: The 2010 Regular Season Schedule
Who we play:
2010 Schedule

Where they come from
Conference:
Summit League (3)
West Coast Conference (2)
Ivy League (2)
Big XII (3)
Southland (5)
America East (1)
Colonial Athletic Association (3)
Sun Belt (3)
CUSA (3)
SWAC (1)
SEC (30)

State:
Louisiana (13)
Virginia (3)
California (2)
Rhode Island (2)
Kansas (3)
New York (1)
The rest are all from SEC states.

We play Binghamton out of New York, whose most famous alum is PTI's Tony Kornheiser.

We can double our win total (under Mainieri) against Centenary.

Likes/Dislikes:

-I like the three game set with Kansas, but I don't like the three game set with Centenary. Thankfully, they will be dropping to DIII soon so they won't be an RPI anchor for us much longer.

-I like that there is only one SWAC team on the schedule, but I don't like that it isn't Southern. Southern is the only SWAC team we should ever schedule, and we should play them every year.

-I like the two games vs Pepperdine, but I don't like the two games vs Brown. Ivy League baseball sucks, plain and simple.

-I don't mind the three games against William & Mary, but I would rather bring in a team from the Big South or the Southern Conference, that won't give us as much of an RPI hit from playing them.

-I liked the Big Ten teams we brought in before, too bad we got away from that, but if it means bringing in a Big XII opponent instead, then that's okay.

That's all I have for now. Later on I might post some links about the teams we play so everyone can get familiar with them. And here's the picture of Mainieri I mentioned earlier:

Geaux Tigers!