College Baseball Rankings: Projecting D1Baseball Top 25 with big changes after first SEC weekend

Five weeks are now in the books across college baseball, and most conferences have begun league play now. This weekend brought the start of SEC play, and those series will have a massive impact on D1Baseball’s top 25 rankings.

The weekend featured four series between two ranked teams, all of which come from the SEC. Those series were No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 7 Florida, No. 13 Ole Miss vs. No. 3 Arkansas, No. 25 Auburn vs. No. 16 Vanderbilt, and No. 19 Texas A&M vs. No. 17 Alabama.

We were also gifted with an awesome midweek slate this week. The action was headlined by No. 5 Florida State vs. No. 7 Florida.

Entering Sunday, just nine teams were 2-0 in their respective series, in addition to three teams who had already wrapped up their weekend. With ten teams entering Sunday 1-1 and another two at 0-2, we are projecting the rankings to see a pretty notable shakeup on Monday.

1. LSU

Previous Ranking: No. 1
Weekly Record: 4-0
Overall Record: 20-1 (3-0 in SEC)

LSU’s week began with an 18-4 midweek victory against Xavier on Tuesday, leading into the start of SEC play over the weekend. The Tigers played host to Missouri, and won Friday’s opener 12-5 before winning a tight 7-6 game on Saturday to clinch the series victory. LSU was aiming for the sweep on Sunday, and got it with a 10-5 victory.

2. Tennessee

Previous Ranking: No. 2
Weekly Record: 4-0
Overall Record: 20-0 (3-0 in SEC)

Many have been upset all year that Tennessee isn’t ranked No. 1 in D1Baseball’s top 25. That noise is only getting louder. The Vols, after a 4-2 win on Tuesday against West Georgia, made an emphatic statement over the weekend against No. 7 Florida. Tennessee won 5-3 on Friday and 10-0 on Saturday to clinch the series. Going for the sweep on Sunday, the Vols came from behind to win 7-4.

3. Arkansas

Previous Ranking: No. 3
Weekly Record: 3-1
Overall Record: 18-2 (2-1 in SEC)

Arkansas’ week began with a midweek victory against Central Arkansas, and then a huge SEC series awaited them on the road against No. 13 Ole Miss. It was the Rebels that took the opening game of the weekend, winning 10-6 on Friday. But the Razorbacks responded with a 12-3 win on Saturday to even the series. In Sunday’s rubber game, Arkansas came back to win 12-9 and take the series.

4. Georgia

Previous Ranking: No. 4
Weekly Record: 3-1
Overall Record: 21-2 (2-1 in SEC)

Georgia started its week by defeating ETSU 8-6 on Tuesday in a midweek battle, and then hosted Kentucky over the weekend to begin SEC play. The Bulldogs won the opener 12-6, but it was the Rebels that won 10-7 on Saturday to even the series. That set up a decisive rubber game on Sunday, which Georgia won 17-10 to clinch.

5. Florida State

Previous Ranking: No. 5
Weekly Record: 3-1
Overall Record: 18-1 (3-0 in ACC)

Tuesday brought us a ton of intriguing midweek matchups, none better than Florida State against No. 7 Florida. Unfortunately for the Seminoles, it was the Gators that came out on top, 7-2. That didn’t stop FSU from having a strong weekend, though. They beat Boston College 8-2 on Friday, and then took both ends of Saturday’s doubleheader, 14-0 and 6-2, to finish off the sweep to begin ACC play, keeping them very highly-ranked in the D1Baseball Top 25.

6. Oregon State

Previous Ranking: No. 8 (+2)
Weekly Record: 5-0
Overall Record: 15-3*

Oregon State has held firmly in the back half of D1Baseball’s top ten in recent weeks, and the Beavers are playing great baseball right now. They picked up a pair of midweek wins over Washington State to start the week, and then played host to Grand Canyon and Santa Clara over the weekend. Oregon State beat Grand Canyon 6-4 on Friday and Santa Clara 8-0 on Saturday. The Beavers ended the weekend with a 3-1 over Grand Canyon on Sunday.

7. Oregon

Previous Ranking: No. 9 (+2)
Weekly Record: 3-2
Overall Record: 17-4 (5-1 in Big Ten)

After moving up in D1Baseball’s top 25 last week, Oregon’s week started with a pair of midweek games against Grand Canyon, losing 4-2 on Tuesday and winning 16-6 on Wednesday. The Ducks then hosted Minnesota over the weekend, winning 5-2 on Friday and 4-2 on Saturday to clinch the series. Oregon was aiming for the sweep on Sunday night, but instead fell 9-1.

8. Clemson

Previous Ranking: No. 10 (+2)
Weekly Record: 4-1
Overall Record: 19-2 (2-1 in ACC)

Clemson started its week off with a pair of midweek wins against Liberty, 6-4 on Tuesday and 8-2 on Wednesday. The Tigers then hosted Notre Dame over the weekend in their first ACC series of the year, and won 2-1 on Friday and 11-7 on Saturday to clinch the series. Clemson was attempting to finish the sweep on Sunday, but fell 7-3, falling just short of the perfect week.

9. Texas

Previous Ranking: No. 11 (+2)
Weekly Record: 4-0
Overall Record: 17-1 (3-0 in SEC)

Texas is a strong contender to slide into the top ten in this week’s D1Baseball top 25 rankings. The Longhorns have just kept winning, and that continued this week starting with a 7-4 win over UT-Arlington on Tuesday. They then hit the road for a trip to Mississippi State for its first SEC series, and won Friday’s opener 8-7. The two teams concluded the series with a Sunday doubleheader, where Texas won the first game 5-3 and the second 4-1.

10. Oklahoma

Previous Ranking: No. 12
Weekly Record: 3-1
Overall Record: 17-2 (2-1 in SEC)

Oklahoma continues to surge in D1Baseball’s top 25, and could now slide all the way into the top ten. The Sooners beat Louisiana Tech 9-5 on Wednesday to begin the week, and then traveled to South Carolina over the weekend in its first SEC action. Oklahoma won 8-5 in Friday’s opener, but fell 11-5 on Saturday. That set up a rubber game on Sunday, where the Sooners won 6-5 in extras to take the series.

D1Baseball Top 25 Projections: 11-25

11. Wake Forest (+2)
12. Alabama (+5)
13. Stanford (+5)
14. Florida (-7)
15. Auburn (+10)
16. Louisville (NR)
17. North Carolina (-11)
18. Dallas Baptist (+2)
19. Southern Miss (+3)
20. Ole Miss (-7)
21. Troy
22. Virginia (+1)
23. Coastal Carolina (+1)
24. UC Santa Barbara (-9)
25. Vanderbilt (-8)

Louisville is the lone new team in our D1Baseball Top 25 projections. They take the place of Texas A&M (previously No. 19), who tumble all the way down from preseason No. 1 to out of the rankings after five weeks.