College Baseball Rankings: Predicting D1Baseball Top 25 after Week 6 with five new teams

The sixth week of college baseball season had a little bit of everything. Midweek madness, weekend upsets, a no-hitter and even coach firings! The chaos will lead to significant changes in this week’s D1Baseball Top 25 rankings.

Of course, you can’t talk about this weekend without mentioning South Carolina parting ways with head coach Paul Manieri. The decision came on Saturday morning, following the Gamecocks’ 22-6 loss to Arkansas on Friday night.

Elsewhere, it was a pretty great weekend of baseball. We had four top 25 matchups over the weekend. No. 23 Texas A&M hosted No. 7 Georgia, No. 9 Virginia hosted No. 24 Wake Forest, No. 11 Florida State hosted No. 10 NC State, and No. 5 Auburn hosted No. 2 Texas. The weekend also brought a no-hitter from Alabama’s Tyler Fay! We also had a strong midweek slate, highlighted by Auburn hosting No. 3 Georgia Tech.

After all of those big-time matchups, D1Baseball’s top 25 rankings will see plenty of changes on Monday morning. Here’s what we predict to see, including five new teams.

1. UCLA

Previous Ranking: No. 1
Weekly Record: 4-0 (3-0 in Big Ten)
Overall Record: 21-2 (9-0 in Big Ten)

UCLA continues to play excellent all-around baseball, maintaining their spot atop the rankings through six weeks. The Bruins started the week off with a 5-4 win against Pepperdine on Tuesday, and then continued Big Ten play by hosting Maryland over the weekend. UCLA clinched the series behind 12-2 and 8-3 wins on Friday and Saturday, and finished their third straight Big Ten sweep with a 14-4 win on Sunday.

2. Texas

Previous Ranking: No. 2
Weekly Record: 2-2 (2-1 in SEC)
Overall Record: 20-3 (4-2 in SEC)

Texas stumbled to start the week, falling 6-1 to Tarleton State in a midweek game on Tuesday. They then hit the road for a series at No. 5 Auburn in a matchup with massive D1Baseball top 25 implications. The Longhorns fell 4-3 in Friday’s opener, but evened the series with a 7-6 win on Saturday. That set up a Sunday rubber game, where Texas won 5-0 to take the series.

3. Georgia Tech

Previous Ranking: No. 3
Weekly Record: 2-2 (2-1 in ACC)
Overall Record: 19-5 (6-3 in ACC)

Georgia Tech started the week with a road midweek game at No. 5 Auburn, and lost 9-2. They then traveled to Pitt for an ACC series over the weekend. The two teams split the first two games, with Georgia Tech winning 11-9 on Friday and Pitt winning 14-9 on Saturday. That set up a rubber game on Sunday, where the Yellow Jackets won 12-4 to take the series.

4. Arkansas

Previous Ranking: No. 4
Weekly Record: 4-1 (2-1 in SEC)
Overall Record: 18-7 (4-2 in SEC)

Arkansas hosted Northern Colorado for a two-game midweek series to start the week, picking up 13-2 and 9-4 wins on Tuesday and Wednesday. They then went to South Carolina over the weekend, and won 22-6 on Friday. After that game, the Gamecocks parted ways with head coach Paul Manieri. Arkansas then won 3-2 in a 10-inning game on Saturday to clinch the series. In Sunday’s finale, the Razorbacks lost 9-4.

5. Mississippi State

Previous Ranking: No. 6 (+1)
Weekly Record: 4-0 (3-0 in SEC)
Overall Record: 20-4 (4-2 in SEC)

It was a great week for Mississippi State, beating Jackson State 17-1 on Tuesday before playing host to Vanderbilt over the weekend. The Bulldogs won Friday’s opener 4-2 before winning 7-2 on Saturday to clinch the series. Mississippi State was aiming for a sweep on Sunday, and won 17-7 to finish it off.

6. Auburn

Previous Ranking: No. 5 (-1)
Weekly Record: 2-2 (1-2 in SEC)
Overall Record: 19-4 (4-2 in SEC)

This week was a challenging one for Auburn, with four games and every one coming against a team ranked in the top three in D1Baseball’s top 25. The Tigers beat No. 3 Georgia Tech 9-2 on Tuesday, and then took the series opener against No. 2 Texas 4-3 on Friday. After a 7-6 loss on Saturday, Auburn needed a win on Sunday to clinch the series. In the finale, they lost 5-0 to drop the series.

7. Georgia

Previous Ranking: No. 7
Weekly Record: 3-1 (2-1 in SEC)
Overall Record: 20-5 (4-2 in SEC)

After an 8-5 win against The Citadel on Tuesday, Georgia hit the road for a big SEC series at No. 23 Texas A&M. The Bulldogs took control of the weekend early, clinching the series behind a 9-4 win on Friday and an 8-2 win on Saturday. They were hoping for the sweep in Sunday’s finale, but instead fell 18-5.

8. Oklahoma

Previous Ranking: No. 8
Weekly Record: 2-2 (2-1 in SEC)
Overall Record: 19-5 (4-2 in SEC)

Oklahoma started its week on the wrong note, losing to Southeastern Louisiana 3-0 on Tuesday before dropping Thursday’s series opener 7-1 at an LSU team that just fell out of D1Baseball’s top 25. The Sooners responded the next two days, winning 4-2 on Friday to even the series and 4-3 on Saturday to win it.

9. Virginia

Previous Ranking: No. 9
Weekly Record: 4-1 (2-1 in ACC)
Overall Record: 20-5 (6-3 in ACC)

Virginia began its week with a pair of midweek wins, beating Georgetown 6-4 on Tuesday and Liberty 14-12 on Wednesday. They then hosted No. 24 Wake Forest over the weekend. After winning 10-6 in Friday’s series opener, Virginia fell 13-4 on Saturday. That set up a rubber game on Sunday, where Virginia clinched the series with a 14-4 win.

10. Florida State

Previous Ranking: No. 11 (+1)
Weekly Record: 3-1 (2-1 in ACC)
Overall Record: 19-4 (5-1 in ACC)

Florida State picked up a dominating 12-1 win over Bethune-Cookman on Tuesday, and then played host to No. 10 NC State over the weekend. The Seminoles lost in Friday’s opener 6-4, but evened the series with an 11-5 win on Saturday. In Sunday’s rubber game, Florida State dominated in a 15-5 win to take the series.

Predicting D1Baseball Top 25 Rankings: 11-25

11. USC (+2)
12. Southern Miss
13. North Carolina (+1)
14. Coastal Carolina (+2)
15. NC State (-5)
16. Oregon State (+1)
17. West Virginia (+3)
18. Oregon (+3)
19. Arizona State (NR)
20. Ole Miss (NR)
21. Tennessee (+1)
22. Kentucky (-6)
23. Alabama (NR)
24. USF (NR)
25. UCF (NR)

Predicted to drop out of D1Baseball Top 25 Rankings: Florida (prev. No. 18), Clemson (prev. No. 19), Texas A&M (prev. No. 23), Wake Forest (prev. No. 24), Louisiana (prev. No. 25)