College Baseball Rankings: Predicting D1Baseball's top 25 after Week 7

This weekend ended a little earlier than usual for most teams across the country due to Easter Sunday, with just a few teams playing a traditional Friday-Sunday series. But even with a different looking week, the baseball still delivered. We expect to see more changes in D1Baseball’s top 25 rankings on Monday as a result.

We had five series this weekend between two top 25 teams. Three were between a pair of SEC teams – No. 1 Arkansas vs. No. 8 LSU, No. 6 Florida vs. No. 21 Mississippi State and No. 16 Alabama vs. No. 18 South Carolina. The other two came from within the ACC – No. 11 Duke vs. No. 9 Virginia and No. 12 Wake Forest vs. No. 14 North Carolina.

Eight teams in D1Baseball’s top 25 rankings lost their weekend series. Plenty of others dropped at least one game during their week.

We have a new No. 2 in our D1Baseball top 25 predictions, while two new teams join our projected rankings. Here is how we are predicting the full top 25 to look on Monday morning.

1. Arkansas

Previous Ranking: No. 1
Weekly Record: 4-0
Overall Record: 23-3 (8-1 in SEC)

Arkansas has established itself as the top team in college baseball. That is especially true after a 4-0 week with a series sweep against a top ten LSU team. The Razorbacks won 11-0 against Little Rock to kick off the week, and then took on the Tigers at home. There, Arkansas secured 7-4, 4-3 and 7-5 victories to improve to an impressive 8-1 against SEC opponents.

2. Clemson

Previous Ranking: No. 3 (+1)
Weekly Record: 2-1
Overall Record: 24-3 (7-2 in ACC)

Playing against Miami in Coral Gables is not an easy task right now, and Clemson learned that quickly this weekend. The Hurricanes took the series opener 3-2, and hung tight in a 3-2 Clemson win in the second game. In the rubber game, Clemson prevailed with a 7-0 victory to clinch the series and avoid a losing weekend.

3. Texas A&M

Previous Ranking: No. 4 (+1)
Weekly Record: 4-0
Overall Record: 25-3 (6-3 in SEC)

Texas A&M enjoyed yet another successful week, with four wins and no losses. The week began by beating Houston Christian 6-3, before hosting Auburn over the weekend. The Aggies made it through with a sweep, winning 9-7, 12-8 and 10-9 in a pretty tight series.

4. Oregon State

Previous Ranking: No. 2 (-2)
Weekly Record: 0-2
Overall Record: 21-4 (5-3 in Pac-12)

For the first time this season, Oregon State stumbled. The Beavers hit the road for a trip to USC over the weekend, and immediately ran into trouble with a 2-1 loss to open the series. In the second game, USC dominated while winning 17-4, stunning Oregon State. Unfortunately for the Beavers, they did not have the opportunity to salvage the third game of the weekend due to a weather cancelation. Oregon State’s series loss has them falling a spot in our updated D1Baseball top 25 projections.

5. Tennessee

Previous Ranking: No. 5
Weekly Record: 3-1
Overall Record: 24-5 (5-4 in SEC)

After defeating Tennessee Tech 11-1 to kick off the week, Tennessee hosted Georgia for an intriguing SEC series over the weekend. There was no shortage of offense. The Vols fell 16-2 on Friday in a disappointing series opener, but responded on Saturday with a high-scoring 16-11 victory to even the series. In the rubber game on Sunday, Tennessee earned an impressive 7-0 victory to take the series.

6. Florida

Previous Ranking: No. 6
Weekly Record: 2-2
Overall Record: 16-11 (6-3 in SEC)

Midweek struggles continue to be a conversation surrounding Florida. This week, it’s because of a blowout 14-3 loss against Florida State. In previous weeks, the Gators have overshadowed the midweek struggles with SEC series victories. They needed to do the same this week against Mississippi State. Florida won 7-6 on Friday to kick off the weekend, but fell 12-2 on Saturday to set up a rubber game on Sunday. There, the Gators were led all-around by Jac Caglianone, who started on the mound and also hit the walk-off two-run homer in the ninth.

7. Vanderbilt

Previous Ranking: No. 7
Weekly Record: 4-0
Overall Record: 23-6 (6-3 in SEC)

Vanderbilt was looking to rebound this week after a poor weekend, and that’s exactly what they did. After a 3-2 win over Valparaiso,  The Commodores hosted Missouri over the weekend. It was a low-scoring weekend, but Vanderbilt came away with a sweep behind a pair of 3-1 victories and a 4-0 win. Vanderbilt holds firm at No. 7 in our D1Baseball top 25 predictions, keeping 5-7 in tact in our expected rankings.

8. Duke

Previous Ranking: No. 11 (+3)
Weekly Record: 3-1
Overall Record: 20-8 (6-6 in ACC)

Duke has had a bit of a rollercoaster ride in the first four weekends of ACC play, but this week was a good one. After beating a solid Campbell team 11-1, the Blue Devils hosted Virginia over the weekend. After winning 9-4 and losing 7-3 in the first two games of the series, Duke took the rubber game 7-4 and earned a top ten series victory. It was an impressive, and much needed showing, and the Blue Devils are likely to re-join the top ten after getting back to .500 in ACC play.

9. Dallas Baptist

Previous Ranking: No. 10 (+1)
Weekly Record: 4-0
Overall Record: 23-4 (5-1 in CUSA)

After joining the top ten in last week’s D1Baseball top 25, Dallas Baptist kept it rolling. They won 5-3 against UT Arlington to start the week, and then swept New Mexico State in a dominating weekend performance. Dallas Baptist outscored New Mexico State 35-6 over the three games. They now will likely move up even higher in D1Baseball’s top 25 rankings.

10. North Carolina

Previous Ranking: No. 14 (+4)
Weekly Record: 4-0
Overall Record: 25-4 (10-2 in ACC)

North Carolina has been on the rise, and now they are poised to go even higher. The Tar Heels won 10-5 against North Carolina A&T to begin the week, and then went to Winston-Salem to take on Wake Forest in a battle between two top 14 teams. UNC took the opener in a tight 6-5 victory on Friday, and then blew it open late to win 10-6. In Sunday’s finale, the Tar Heels were fueled by some late offense to finish the sweep behind a 14-10 victory. UNC hit 14 home runs on the weekend.

Predicting 11-25 in D1Baseball’s top 25 rankings

11. Virginia (-2)
12. Virginia Tech
13. LSU (-5)
14. East Carolina (+1)
15. Alabama (+1)
16. Kentucky (+8)
17. Florida State
18. UC Irvine (+2)
19. Coastal Carolina
20. Wake Forest (-8)
21. NC State (+1)
22. South Carolina (-4)
23. Mississippi State (-2)
24. Nebraska (NR)
25. Indiana State (NR)

LSU and Wake Forest were the week’s two biggest fallers, as the Tigers dropped five spots and out of the top ten down to No. 13, while the Demon Deacons dropped six spots from No. 12 to No. 18. We also predicted two teams to enter the top ten, as Duke and North Carolina take the places of Virginia and LSU.

Nebraska and Indiana State are the two new teams to join the rankings in our D1Baseball top 25 predictions. They take the place of Kansas State (previously No. 23) and Oklahoma (previously No. 25), leaving zero Big 12 teams.