The D1Baseball Podcast

Burkie and Roons open by discussing how baseball prospects generally face less hype and “bust” labeling than football stars like Arch Manning, while noting that high draft picks who choose college can still carry heavy expectations. They debate whether athletes would prefer today’s world of constant online scrutiny with the chance to make millions versus an earlier era with l...

Burkie and Roons discuss D1Baseball’s release of its biennial Top 100 Programs list. Roons describes the staff-wide process and internal debates, noting especially tricky evaluations outside the top tier.

The conversation highlights Texas at No. 2 as a projection based on sustained Omaha appearances and perceived title trajectory, and Oklahoma at No. 7 as a unique case...

Highlighted by seven College World Series appearances, including four-straight trips to Omaha from 2006-2009, Mike Fox built a consistent contender in Chapel Hill over his 22-year stretch. On this episode of Sunday Night Conversations, Mike Rooney is joined by Fox, Robert Woodard and Chad Flack to take a look back at what led up to the initial Omaha run in 2006.

See Pri...

Mike Rooney and Burkie discuss recent NCAA tournament expansions in college basketball and the College Football Playoff, weighing how added teams might affect entertainment value, regular-season stakes, and bowl relevance.

They then shift to college baseball, proposing an expanded field (e.g., 68 teams) with play-in games: the weakest recent auto-bid leagues playing at...

Burkie and Roons discuss why the baseball world has embraced Brewers manager Pat Murphy. They argue Murphy’s appeal is that he brings a “baseball coach” mindset to MLB, highlighted by his famous bunt story and Derek Jeter’s praise, and discuss broader differences between coaching in college baseball and managing in the pros. The conversation connects MLB postseason baseball t...