Fansided

College baseball rankings: FanSided Top 25 – Louisville, Ole Miss fall hard

By Ethan Lee

DURHAM, NC - MAY 27: Louisville Head Coach Dan McDonnell during the ACC Baseball Championship game between the Florida State and the Louisville Cardinals on May 27, 2018, at Durham Bulls Stadium in Durham, NC. (Photo by Jaylynn Nash/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
DURHAM, NC - MAY 27: Louisville Head Coach Dan McDonnell during the ACC Baseball Championship game between the Florida State and the Louisville Cardinals on May 27, 2018, at Durham Bulls Stadium in Durham, NC. (Photo by Jaylynn Nash/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

After getting humiliated by the Virginia Cavaliers, the Louisville Cardinals have fallen right out of the top 10 in the latest FanSided Top 25 college baseball rankings.

Louisville had a rough time last week. The Cardinals lost a midweek game to the Vanderbilt Commodores and then fell apart against the Virginia Cavaliers. Louisville’s pitching imploded and gave up a multitude of runs over the weekend, leading to the Cardinals’ demise against the Cavaliers.

That said, even though the top 10 shifted around a bit, the top 5 teams remain the same from last week to this week.

UCLA is still sitting at the top with Stanford right behind at No. 2. The SEC then rounds out the rest of the top five as Arkansas, Vanderbilt, and Mississippi State complete the grouping.

FanSided Top 25 college baseball rankings

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

Teams on the rise

By sweeping Oregon State, the Oklahoma State Cowboys came out and proved that they might be the Big 12’s best team this season. This past weekend, the Cowboys took a series from the Oklahoma Sooners, claiming the in-state rivalry win. Though the Cowboys don’t appear to be in a realistic position to win the Big 12 title in the regular season given where they stand at 3rd in the conference right now, Oklahoma State has become a force to be reckoned.

The Mississippi State Bulldogs went into Oxford and confidently swept their in-state rival, the Ole Miss Rebels. The Bulldogs looked clearly better throughout the series and came alive at the right moments at the plate to be able to sweep a huge series.

Other teams that have improved lately: Vanderbilt (won a series against Mizzou) and North Carolina State (won a series against Clemson).

Teams sliding down

The Louisville Cardinals were stunned over the weekend as the Virginia Cavaliers defended their home turf pretty well. Louisville gave up a total of 29 runs to Virginia and, despite the fact that the Cardinals scored 15 runs to open the series, Louisville only scored a couple of runs in game two and then was outmatched in game three. That dropped the Cardinals out of the top 10 this week.

The Ole Miss Rebels, swept by their in-state rival, Mississippi State, dropped from No. 12 last week all the way down to No. 20 this week. The Rebels looked helpless at times against the Bulldogs and are now hoping to get a chance to bounce back this coming weekend on the road at Tennessee.

Back over in the ACC, the North Carolina Tar Heels dropped their series against the Pittsburgh Panthers. Pitt claimed the first game and the rubber match of the series, winning in dominant fashion both times.

Other teams that have struggled lately: Mizzou (lost a series to Vanderbilt), Stanford (won a series and remains as the No. 2 team but gave up an eye-opening 18 runs in game two to California) and BYU (lost a midweek game to San Diego State as well as a game to San Francisco, but still won its series over the weekend).

Next. 2019 NCAA softball tournament bracket: Who has the easiest path to Oklahoma City?. dark