This was likely the most challenging Power 10 ranking in college baseball this season. Clemson, Florida State, Oregon State, Arkansas, Tennessee and Vanderbilt, six of last week’s top 10, either lost their series or were swept.
So this one was rough.
1. Texas (Prev. 1)
Texas remains the only sure thing at No. 1 once again. The Longhorns swept Texas A&M, winning every game by one run. Adrian Rodriguez hit a homer in the bottom of the 8th in the series finale to help close out a 6-5 win and series sweep.
2. LSU (Prev. 5)
LSU moves up to No. 2 after winning the series over Tennessee, with several teams dropping. After losing Game 2, the Tigers came out and run-ruled the Vols in the rubber match. Freshman Derek Curiel was 4-for-4 at the plate with a homer, two doubles and five RBIs in the finale.
READ MORE: Busy weekend in college baseball ends with four top-10 teams dropping series
3. North Carolina (Prev. 9)
Three was a tough spot to rank with Clemson getting swept by NC State. I threw North Carolina up here, who won the series over Pittsburgh. Gavin Gallaher hit four bombs last week, and Jason DeCaro threw seven shutout innings in the finale.
4. Clemson (Prev. 2)
I dropped Clemson two spots to four with a top 10 win mid-week over Georgia, but the Tigers had a disappointing weekend, getting swept by NC State. They still held Georgia scoreless in the midweek.
5. Florida State (Prev. 4)
FSU is at five after losing the series to Louisville last week. The Seminoles had five homers and a great start from Jamie Arnold in Game 1 of the series before dropping the next two by a lot.
6. Oregon (Prev. NR)
Welcome back Oregon, in a big way. The Ducks made a huge statement, sweeping Oregon State. They had two really impressive weeks after winning the series over UCLA the week prior. After a dominating 13-1 win with four homers in Game 2, the Ducks came from behind in Game 3 to win it 3-2. Jacob Walsh homered in all three games,
7. Oregon State (Prev. 3)
Oregon State drops from three to seven with the three losses, as it is only fair that it falls behind Oregon, which has just re-entered the top 10. They do play again on Tuesday.
I do think you can justify Oregon and Oregon State being ranked higher, but it would be a huge jump for the Ducks to leapfrog Clemson and FSU.
8. Tennessee (Prev. 7)
Tennessee drops to eight with the series loss to LSU. A top 10 series loss in the SEC shouldn’t be a reason for too big of a drop in my eyes. The Vols won 9-3 in Game 2 with a great performance from Marcus Phillips on the mound.
9. Georgia (Prev. 10)
Georgia won a tightly contested series over Oklahoma and moved to No. 9. The Bulldogs squeaked out a 1-run win in Game 2 to even the series, then won 6-3 in Game 3, fueled by two homers from Kolby Branch.
10 Arkansas (Prev. 6)
Some may disagree with this, while others may agree. I kept Arkansas in the Power 10 at 10. One definitely could argue them out with three-straight SEC series losses now, but in terms of which team I could move in, UC Irvine doesn’t have many ranked wins, and I wasn’t ready to push out the Razorbacks, just yet. Of course, it could change in a week.
