Fansided

College baseball rankings: FanSided Top 25 – Oklahoma State leaps into top 15

By Ethan Lee

OMAHA, NE - JUNE 28: Oregon State's Kevin Abel (23) getting ready to pitch to the first Arkansas batter during the third game of the finals in the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. Oregon State beats Arkansas 5 to 0. (Photo by John Peterson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
OMAHA, NE - JUNE 28: Oregon State's Kevin Abel (23) getting ready to pitch to the first Arkansas batter during the third game of the finals in the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. Oregon State beats Arkansas 5 to 0. (Photo by John Peterson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Oklahoma State swept Oregon State over the weekend, launching the Cowboys into the top 15 of the latest FanSided Top 25 college baseball rankings.

There’s been some notable movement in this week’s FanSided Top 25 college baseball rankings. Oklahoma State’s sweep of the Oregon State Beavers drastically shifted the standings for each of these teams.

The Cowboys entered into the week unranked and have skyrocketed themselves right up to No. 14 this week. Oregon State, on the other hand, fell hard, dropping from being No. 4 down to No. 11 this week.

In the top five, UCLA still holds on to No. 1 while Stanford sits at No. 2. Arkansas is at No. 3, Vanderbilt moves up to No. 4, and Mississippi State closes the group out at No. 5.

FanSided Top 25 college baseball rankings

  1. UCLA
  2. Stanford
  3. Arkansas
  4. Vanderbilt
  5. Mississippi State
  6. East Carolina
  7. Louisville
  8. Georgia Tech
  9. Georgia
  10. UC Santa Barbara
  11. Oregon State
  12. Ole Miss
  13. Texas Tech
  14. Oklahoma State
  15. North Carolina
  16. Michigan
  17. Baylor
  18. North Carolina State
  19. Texas A&M
  20. Arizona State
  21. Miami
  22. Mizzou
  23. BYU
  24. Tennessee
  25. Indiana

Teams on the rise

It’s hard to say enough about Oklahoma State’s remarkable leap from being unranked to sitting at No. 14. The Cowboys took care of Oregon State in Corvallis in impressive fashion. What’s particularly impressive about this sweep is that Oklahoma State won all three games in different ways.

The series opened up for Oklahoma State with the Cowboys winning a 1-0 pitchers’ duel. The Cowboys then won game two by a score of 5-2 thanks to timely hitting and a couple of home runs. And then, to complete the sweep, Oklahoma State had to score eight runs, narrowly outlasting the Beavers in a relatively high scoring game.

Other teams that have improved lately: Mizzou (won a series against a surprisingly good Tennessee team in Knoxville).

Teams sliding down

Oregon State took the biggest hit of any team this past weekend. The Beavers were swept in their own stadium by the Oklahoma State Cowboys. The sweep dropped the Beavers out of the top 10 and simultaneously launched the Cowboys back up into the rankings.

But that wasn’t the only loss that hurt Oregon State in these rankings. The Beavers also lost a midweek game to Gonzaga last week, giving Oregon State a four-game losing streak.

But at least the Beavers weren’t alone in struggling.

The University of California Irvine Anteaters didn’t exactly have a great weekend. A trip to Iowa City to face the Hawkeyes resulted in the Anteaters dropping a series that they probably should have won.

UC Irvine lost its first two games of the series against Iowa by a combined four runs and then exploded to win the series finale by a score of 15-4. For the Anteaters’ sake, it’s great that they didn’t get swept, but this isn’t a series that this team should have lost. Congrats to Iowa for winning it, though.

Other teams that have struggled lately: Texas A&M (lost a close series against Mississippi State) and West Virginia (lost a series at home against TCU).