Photo: James Nielsen, Houston Chronicle
With an absolutely packed schedule, we came into weekend knowing that a shake up could occur around college baseball, and that’s exactly what happened.
In Houston, the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic showed us the potential that TCU holds and that Arkansas is more than deserving of being in the top 25 at this stage. As a result, the Horned Frogs moved up five spots to 10 in the rankings. Arkansas enters the rankings for the first time at 16. At the same time, Houston, Rice, and Louisiana-Lafayette all took it on the chin in the tournament. The Cougars go from 16 to 24, the Cajuns drop from 9 to 17, and the Owls drop from 23 to out of the rankings completely.
The big upset of the weekend was the Mississippi Rebels taking two of three from Louisville. With the series win, the Rebels move from 22 to 14. Given how close the series was and because Mississippi is clearly a quality club, Louisville holds its position at number 2 for now.
North Carolina, just as they were last weekend after winning a series against UCLA, were big upward movers, going from 13 to 7 after a series sweep over Oklahoma State. With the series sweep, OSU moves down from 18 to 21, with it being tough to move them down further given that it was three one-run losses and the fact that the backend of the rankings were somewhat soft this time around.
Other fallers include the Virginia Cavaliers, from 8 to 15, after a series loss to East Carolina, Michigan from 21 to out of the rankings after dropping games to Cal Poly and Santa Clara, and Kentucky after losing two out of their three games in the Tony Gwynn Classic.
Cal State Fullerton and East Carolina join Arkansas as first-time entrants into the rankings after the Titans swept a series against Indiana and the Pirates won two out of three over Virginia.
1. Florida Gators (7-1)
Last week: 1
Results: Eastern Michigan W 12-4, Eastern Michigan W 8-7, Miami W 5-0, Miami L 5-3, Miami W 7-3
2. Louisville Cardinals (5-2)
Last week: 2
Results: Eastern Kentucky W 14-2, Mississippi L 6-5, Mississippi W 4-0, Mississippi L 4-2
3. Vanderbilt Commodores (8-0)
Last week: 3
Results: Tennessee-Martin W 11-6, Eastern Illinois W 9-1, Illinois-Chicago W 9-0, Illinois-Chicago W 6-5, Illinois-Chicago W 20-8
4. Texas A&M Aggies (7-1)
Last week: 4
Results: Stephen F. Austin W 21-1, Prairie View A&M W 11-0, Pepperdine L 7-5, Pepperdine W 6-0, Pepperdine W 4-0
5. Oregon State Beavers (7-1)
Last week: 6
Results: Utah W 10-2, Kansas State W 7-5, Kansas State W 14-0, Kansas W 9-3, Kansas W 3-1
6. Miami Hurricanes (5-2)
Last week: 5
Results: St. Thomas W 7-6, Florida L 5-0, Florida W 5-3, Florida L 7-3
7. North Carolina Tar Heels (5-1)
Last week: 13
Results: Oklahoma State W 2-1, Oklahoma State W 7-6, Oklahoma State W 4-3
8. North Carolina State Wolfpack (5-2)
Last week: 10
Results: Morehead State W 7-5, Wright State L 10-8, Wright State W 6-1, Wright State W 8-4
9. Oregon Ducks (6-1)
Last week: 11
Results: Illinois State W 8-5, Illinois State W 4-2, Illinois State L 3-2, Illinois State W 3-1
10. TCU Horned Frogs (6-1)
Last week: 15
Results: Arkansas-Pine Bluff W 17-3, Louisiana-Lafayette W 7-1, Rice W 10-0, Houston W 10-1
11. Florida State Seminoles (5-1)
Last week: 12
Results: College of Charleston L 2-1, College of Charleston W 8-3, College of Charleston W 11-2
12. California Golden Bears (5-2)
Last week: 14
Results: San Francisco W 5-4, Purdue W 10-0, Purdue W 4-0, Purdue W 15-5
13. LSU Tigers (5-2)
Last week: 7
Results: Lamar L 12-11, Sacramento State W 6-0, Sacramento State L 5-4, Sacramento State W 11-1
14. Mississippi Rebels (6-1)
Last week: 22
Results: Arkansas State W 4-3, Louisville W 6-5, Louisville L 4-0, Louisville W 4-2
15. Virginia Cavaliers (4-3)
Last week: 8
Results: VMI W 18-1, East Carolina L 8-5, East Carolina L 6-1, East Carolina W 4-2
16. Arkansas Razorbacks (8-0)
Last week: NR
Results: Mississippi Valley State W 21-4, Mississippi Valley State W 20-0, Rice W 5-2, Houston W 12-3, Texas Tech W 10-6
17. Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns (4-3)
Last week: 9
Results: Louisiana Tech L 6-2, TCU L 7-1, Texas Tech L 5-3, Rice W 4-2
18. Mississippi State Bulldogs (6-2)
Last week: 19
Results: Massachusetts-Lowell W 4-2, Massachusetts-Lowell W 4-2, Nicholls State W 5-0, Nicholls State W 8-0
19. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (4-2)
Last week: 20
Results: Marshall W 9-3, Ohio State L 6-4, Duke W 10-6
20. UCLA Bruins (3-4)
Last week: 17
Results: Long Beach State L 10-1, Cal Poly W 7-6, Cal Poly W 19-0, Cal Poly L 6-2
21. Oklahoma State Cowboys (2-5)
Last week: 18
Results: North Carolina L 2-1, North Carolina L 7-6, North Carolina L 4-3
22. Cal State Fullerton Titans (4-2)
Last week: NR
Results: Indiana W 8-3, Indiana W 3-2, Indiana W 6-1
23. East Carolina Pirates (6-1)
Last week: NR
Results: North Carolina A&T W 11-2, Virginia W 8-5, Virginia W 6-1, Virginia L 4-2
24. Houston Cougars (4-3)
Last week: 16
Results: McNeese State W 14-1, Texas Tech L 3-2, Arkansas L 12-3, TCU L 10-1
25. Maryland Terrapins (3-3)
Last week: 25
Results: Rhode Island W 1-0, Rhode Island L 2-1, Rhode Island W 13-10
Out: Michigan (21), Rice (23), Kentucky (24)
Others Considered: Texas Tech
