College Top 25: March 4

Patrick Ebert

Mike Rooney

Photo: Beau Philip (Scobel Wiggins)

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The first two weekends of the 2019 college baseball season were relatively quiet, and the Top 25 updates that followed reflected that with minimal up/down movement and no new teams coming or going from the rankings. The third weekend of the season changed that with significant movement, starting at the very top as the previously top-ranked LSU Tigers were swept, on the road, to the previously unranked Texas Longhorns.

Texas was going to be ranked as a result, even if no spot were conveniently opened up for them, and they make a particularly aggressive debut at No. 7 with series wins over Louisiana, Purdue and now LSU along with mid-week wins over Rice and Sam Houston State. Whatever questions the Longhorns had entering the season they have answered pretty loudly so far, although they will be presented with another difficult early season test when they travel later this week to take on No. 5 Stanford for a four-game set.

Texas A&M also makes their Top 25 debut after a 3-0 showing at the Shriners College Classic in Houston. They beat two ranked teams (Baylor and TCU) before taking down the Houston Cougars on Sunday as their top two starters, John Doxakis and Asa Lacy, have looked particularly unbeatable, not to mention unhittable, so far this season.

Also making a strong impression in the state of Texas was Mississippi State, who showed an impressive 1-2 starting punch of their own between redshirt junior Ethan Small and freshman JT Ginn with wins over Sam Houston State and Texas Tech. The Bulldogs make an 11-spot jump to No. 6, just ahead of the Longhorns, thanks to their 10-1 start to the 2019 season.

Taking over the No. 1 ranking is the defending national champion, Oregon State, who suffered their first loss of the season on Sunday to West Virginia but otherwise is off to a commanding 10-1 start of their own. Despite losing so many key pieces in their everyday starting lineup the Beavers have done a good job scoring runs, often in bunches, with catcher Adley Rustchman being helped along the way by shortstop Beau Philip and corner outfielder Alex McGarry, among others. And as expected the pitching staff, from top to bottom, has more than gotten the job done with a 2.18 staff ERA.

Be sure to tune in to Perfect Game College Baseball on SiriusXM channel 84 ESPNU Radio on Monday nights from 9-11 p.m. ET as co-hosts Daron Sutton and Mike Rooney recap the week while looking ahead to what's next. Immediately following the show stay tuned for Perfect Game College Softball, a one-hour program hosted by Sutton and Amanda Freed. Learn more about both programs here.

Also considered: Tennessee, Arizona State, South Carolina.

Rk	Prev		Record	Week
1	2	Oregon State	10-1	2-1
2	3	Vanderbilt	9-2	4-1
3	4	UCLA	9-2	3-1
4	6	North Carolina	11-1	4-1
5	7	Stanford	9-2	3-1
6	17	Mississippi State	10-1	4-0
7	NR	Texas	10-3	4-1
8	8	Florida	9-4	4-1
9	10	Mississippi	8-2	4-0
10	11	Louisville	8-3	3-1
11	5	Texas Tech	6-3	1-2
12	13	Arkansas	9-1	4-0
13	14	Florida State	10-0	3-0
14	1	Louisiana State	8-3	1-3
15	15	Auburn	9-2	3-0
16	9	East Carolina	8-4	3-2
17	18	NC State	11-0	4-0
18	NR	Texas A&M	11-2	4-1
19	19	Michigan	8-1	2-1
20	16	Texas Christian	6-4	1-2
21	25	Coastal Carolina	10-2	3-1
22	22	Georgia	9-2	3-2
23	23	UC Irvine	7-3	2-1
24	12	Baylor	9-2	2-2
25	21	Connecticut	5-5	2-2