College Baseball Rankings: Predicting D1Baseball's top 25 with big changes

Jonathan Wagner

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We are now more than halfway through the regular season in college baseball, with eyes starting to shift towards the postseason picture. After another action-packed week across the nation, it’s time to predict how D1Baseball’s top 25 rankings will look on Monday.

This weekend featured five series between two top 25 teams. They were No. 22 South Carolina vs. No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 7 Vanderbilt vs. No. 18 LSU, No. 15 Virginia vs. No. 10 North Carolina, No. 13 Alabama vs. No. 17 Kentucky and No. 11 Virginia Tech vs. No. 21 Wake Forest.

Entering Sunday, seven ranked teams were 1-1 on the weekend and heading into a decisive rubber game. And that’s with five teams already finished with their weekend series.

There are some notable changes in our D1Baseball top 25 predictions this week, with multiple entrants into the top ten. We also have multiple new faces in the rankings, shaking things up from last week.

1. Arkansas

Previous Ranking: No. 1
Weekly Record: 4-0
Overall Record: 27-3 (11-1 in SEC)

Arkansas is sitting pretty comfortably in the top spot of D1Baseball’s top 25 rankings. That isn’t changing this week. The Razorbacks are coming off of another 4-0 week, this one including a 13-0 midweek win over Arkansas State before sweeping Ole Miss over the weekend.

2. Clemson

Blake Wright — © Ken Ruinard / staff / USA TODAY NETWORK

Previous Ranking: No. 2
Weekly Record: 4-0
Overall Record: 28-3 (10-2 in ACC)

While Arkansas is sitting comfortably at No. 1, Clemson is in the same boat at No. 2. The Tigers enjoyed another successful week, beginning with an 11-1 midweek win at USC Upstate. Over the weekend, Clemson traveled to Notre Dame for a three-game series, and they came away with yet another ACC series victory. Clemson won 7-3 on Friday, 3-2 on Saturday and 13-12 on Sunday.

3. Texas A&M

Braden Montgomery Texas A&M — Credit: Texas A&M athletics

Previous Ranking: No. 3
Weekly Record: 3-1
Overall Record: 28-4 (8-4 in SEC)

If there was a team that had a case to surpass Clemson at No. 2, it’s Texas A&M. The Aggies still have just four losses on the season. They won 12-2 in a midweek game at Texas State to begin the week, and then went to Columbia and handled No. 22 South Carolina for the most part over the weekend. Texas A&M won 9-2 on Friday and 6-3 on Saturday before falling 6-5 on Sunday. The Aggies are sure to remain in the top three of D1Baseball’s top 25.

4. Tennessee

blake-burke — Credit: Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

Previous Ranking: No. 4
Weekly Record: 2-1
Overall Record: 26-6 (7-5 in SEC)

This week started off in disappointing fashion for Tennessee, as they went to Auburn and lost the series opener 9-5. In the pivotal second game of the series, the Vols dominated in a 12-2 victory to even the series. That set up an important rubber game on Sunday, where Tennessee dominated all around in a 19-5 throttling.

5. Oregon State

Jun 12, 2022; Corvallis, OR, USA; Oregon State Beavers infielder Travis Bazzana (37) is congratulated by third base coach Ryan Gipson as he circles the bases after his home run in the 4th inning during Game 2 of a NCAA Super Regional game at Coleman Field. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

Previous Ranking: No. 5
Weekly Record: 5-0
Overall Record: 26-4 (8-3 in Pac-12)

Oregon State stumbled a bit last week, but got back on track quickly. The Beavers’ week started with a pair of games against Gonzaga, which they won 14-0 on Monday and 13-5 on Tuesday. Then, Oregon State hosted Arizona State over the weekend as they looked to rebound after dropping a pair of Pac-12 contests last weekend. That’s exactly what the Beavers did, winning 13-8, 9-1 and 9-7 on their way to a sweep.

6. Vanderbilt

Ryan Ginther — © Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK

Previous Ranking: No. 7 (+1)
Weekly Record: 2-1
Overall Record: 25-7 (8-4 in SEC)

Vanderbilt’s week started over the weekend in Baton Rouge against No. 18 LSU, and it was the Tigers that won the opener 10-6. The Commodores needed a win in the second game to have a chance at winning the series, and they got just that with an 8-6 win. In the rubber game, Vanderbilt run-ruled LSU in a 13-3 victory, securing another series victory to move up a spot in our D1Baseball top 25 predictions.

7. Duke

Jonathan Santucci — Credit: Duke Athletics

Previous Ranking: No. 9 (+2)
Weekly Record: 4-0
Overall Record: 24-8 (9-6 in ACC)

Duke has seemingly gotten on a roll again. The Blue Devils are likely to rise in D1Baseball’s updated top 25 rankings. After winning 9-4 at Liberty to kick off this week’s action, Duke hosted Miami over the weekend. The first two games were very close, with the Blue Devils winning 4-3 and 5-4 to take the series win. In the finale, Duke won a third straight one-run game, this time 11-10 in 11 innings to finish the sweep.

8. East Carolina

Jacob Jenkins-Cowart — © Andrew Craft / USA TODAY NETWORK

Previous Ranking: No. 12 (+4)
Weekly Record: 3-1
Overall Record: 23-7 (6-3 in AAC)

In maybe the most highly anticipated midweek games of the week, ECU dominated at No. 19 NC State and picked up a 12-4 win. The Pirates then went down to Florida Atlantic for an AAC series. After ECU won 4-1 on Friday, Florida Atlantic struck back with a 6-5 win on Saturday to even the series. In the rubber game on Sunday, ECU came from behind and then staved off an Owls comeback to win 8-6.

9. Virginia

Casey Saucke — Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

Previous Ranking: No. 15 (+6)
Weekly Record: 3-1
Overall Record: 25-7 (9-6 in ACC)

Virginia had a great week, and they could very easily move into the top ten in D1Baseball’s new top 25 on Monday. After beating Old Dominion 4-0 to begin the week, Virginia hosted No. 10 North Carolina and won the first two games to clinch the series. While UNC won the finale to salvage a win on Sunday, it was a very impressive showing for Virginia as they stay in the race at the top of the ACC.

10. Kentucky

Ryan Waldschmidt — © Scott Utterback/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK / USA TODAY NETWORK

Previous Ranking: No. 17
Weekly Record: 3-0
Overall Record: 27-4 (11-1 in SEC)

Kentucky is off to a tremendous start to the season, and especially in SEC play. The Wildcats earned yet another SEC series victory this weekend against No. 13 Alabama. Kentucky won 6-2 on Friday and 7-0 on Saturday, and then 10-1 on Sunday to finish off the sweep and move up in our D1Baseball top 25 predictions.

D1Baseball Top 25 Predictions: 11-25

Daniel Cantu — © Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK

11. North Carolina (-1)
12. Florida State (+2)
13. Dallas Baptist (-5)
14. UC Irvine (+2)
15. Wake Forest (+6)
16. Virginia Tech (-5)
17. Louisiana (NR)
18. Florida (-12)
19. Coastal Carolina (+1)
20. UCF (+5)
21. Nebraska (+3)
22. Mississippi State (+1)
23. Alabama (-10)
24. Creighton (NR)
25. Utah (NR)

Louisiana is the highest-ranked new team in our D1Baseball top 25 predictions this week, as they join at No. 17. Creighton and Utah also join to round out the top 25. Those three new teams take the places of LSU (previously No. 18), NC State (previously No. 19) and South Carolina (previously No. 22).

Florida is likely to fall significantly in this week’s rankings. The Gators finally won a midweek but then got swept against Missouri over the weekend. In our predictions, Florida drops 12 spots down to No. 18, though it would not be surprising if they dropped further. Alabama also dropped notably, falling ten spots down to No. 23.