Top 9 Online College Baseball Resources: NCAA.com/NCAA.org

We're taking a look at my top 9 favorite (in no particular order) online resources for College Baseball information.

If all else fails, you can always go to the NCAA.com Baseball page.

I say "if all else fails" because NCAA.com, like Big12Sports.com and most conference websites, is seldom the first online source on the mind of anyone who is seeking information about college baseball.

There is apparently an unwritten rule that being the official website of an athletics organization requires there to be nothing of high entertainment value on the website. No witty commentary and no speculation. Nothing of the sort of stuff that typifies the vast majority of sports-related websites.

And yet, when you really want to know something so arcane that the fun sites don't care about it,NCAA.com or NCAA.org may just be the sites you need.

The other unwritten rule about official websites, however, seems to be that actually locating the information you need is not necessarily easy or intuitive. The NCAA carries this to a new level, offering both NCAA.com and NCAA.org, which makes it difficult to know which site will have what you want. NCAA.com seems to being trying offer the sort of information (and relentless merchandise hawking) aimed at the fans, while NCAA.org seems to be more about the business of college athletics, aimed at the insiders and the truly obsessive fans (people like me).

Here are some links to my most-visited sections of NCAA.com and NCAA.org:

• NCAA official RPI rankings: About halfway through the college baseball season the NCAA begins posting their official RPI rankings. This is interesting, since those rankings play a part in the selection and ranking of teams for the NCAA Tournament field of 64. What the list doesn't show is the actual RPI numbers themselves, or the formula and methodology behind the statistic.
  
  
• NCAA Insider is a weekly blog highlighting the week's NCAA news, most of which is pretty dull. But occasionally you can find a nugget in the sand. Other Blogs cover other aspects of the arcane proceedings of the business of college sports.
  
  
• NCAA Baseball Official Rulebook: Yes, you can buy a copy and wait for them to send it to you. Better yet, just download the PDF file for free.
  
  
• NCAA Baseball D-1 Record Book: The official record of who did what the most and when - unless you're looking for obscure records (e.g., most consecutive scoreless innings pitched).
  
  

• NCAA D-1 Manual: This manual is for all NCAA athletics. It covers the rules of recruiting, playing seasons and the like. This is the short version of the NCAA rules that give ulcers to even the most conscientious of college coaches. Like any legal document, some of this stuff begs for explanation and interpretation. Again, you can buy a copy and wait for them to send it, or just download the PDF file.