The third weekend of the season is in the books and it was the most chaotic weekend of the year thus far. Numerous teams ranked in the top 25 lost series, disappointed, or made names for themselves so let's dig in.
Texas remains the No. 1 team in the country after coming out of the Shriners Classic with a 2-1 record, losing the Sunday game to UCLA in which they had to scratch star sophomore Tanner Witt before the game started. The Longhorns still look like a juggernaut, fending off challenges from Tennessee and LSU to down both teams in impressive fashion. There’s a gap right now at the top of the rankings where teams 2 through about 10 are all jockeying for position versus the gap between 1 and 2 which we believe to be substantial; we think the Longhorns are solidly the top team in the nation at this moment.
Vanderbilt climbs to No. 2 after a 5-0 week as it looks like Tim Corbin and company are really gelling in terms of role assignments and platoons. Notre Dame is at No. 3 after a strong weekend going 3-0 at the Cambria College Classic. Stanford falls to No. 4 after a midweek loss and struggling with Northridge while Ole Miss climbs to No. 5 after a hard fought series win on the road at UCF. Tennessee makes one of the biggest climbs of the week jumping to No. 6 after a 2-1 showing in Houston. They lost the Friday night game under the lights to Texas but the Vols look like a juggernaut right now, handling business decisively against both Baylor and Oklahoma. Georgia Tech climbs to No. 7 after downing in-state rival Georgia while Oklahoma State lands at No. 8 after losing the weekend series to Gonzaga. Oregon State continued its hot streak with a series win over UC Irvine and find themselves at No. 9 while LSU lands at No. 10 after a 1-2 showing in Houston exposed some glaring weaknesses with the Tigers.
Newcomers to the Top 25 include No. 18 Clemson who continued its 11-0 start to the season by sweeping in-state rival South Carolina while Florida jumps back into the rankings at No. 19 after a series win on the road at Miami; they’ve looked like an entirely different team after their opening weekend loss to Liberty, particularly on offense. North Carolina joins at No. 20 after a 5-0 week and an impressive sweep of Coastal Carolina. No. 22 belongs to Tulane as they came back to take games two and three against Mississippi State and with a void in the American it looks like the Green Wave can fill that top spot in the conference. No. 23 Virginia rounds out the new entrants as the Cavaliers are undefeated and continue to employ the philosophy of scoring a ton of runs and allowing very few of them.
| Rank |
Team |
Prev. Rank |
Period Rec. |
Overall Rec. |
| 1 |
 |
Texas |
1 |
(3-1) |
(11-1) |
| 2 |
 |
Vanderbilt |
5 |
(5-0) |
(10-2) |
| 3 |
 |
Notre Dame |
6 |
(3-0) |
(8-1) |
| 4 |
 |
Stanford |
2 |
(2-2) |
(8-3) |
| 5 |
 |
Ole Miss |
9 |
(3-1) |
(10-1) |
| 6 |
 |
Tennessee |
14 |
(2-1) |
(10-1) |
| 7 |
 |
Georgia Tech |
10 |
(3-1) |
(10-2) |
| 8 |
 |
Oklahoma State |
4 |
(2-2) |
(6-4) |
| 9 |
 |
Oregon State |
16 |
(2-1) |
(9-1) |
| 10 |
 |
LSU |
3 |
(2-2) |
(9-3) |
| 11 |
 |
Arkansas |
11 |
(3-1) |
(7-3) |
| 12 |
 |
Liberty |
13 |
(4-0) |
(10-1) |
| 13 |
 |
UCLA |
20 |
(2-1) |
(8-4) |
| 14 |
 |
Florida State |
15 |
(2-2) |
(7-4) |
| 15 |
 |
TCU |
8 |
(2-2) |
(8-3) |
| 16 |
 |
Texas Tech |
19 |
(5-0) |
(10-2) |
| 17 |
 |
North Carolina State |
7 |
(0-4) |
(8-4) |
| 18 |
 |
Clemson |
NR |
(4-0) |
(11-0) |
| 19 |
 |
Florida |
NR |
(4-1) |
(10-3) |
| 20 |
 |
North Carolina |
NR |
(5-0) |
(11-1) |
| 21 |
 |
Arizona |
12 |
(2-2) |
(9-3) |
| 22 |
 |
Tulane |
NR |
(4-1) |
(10-2) |
| 23 |
 |
Virginia |
NR |
(4-0) |
(11-0) |
| 24 |
 |
Miami |
18 |
(1-2) |
(8-3) |
| 25 |
 |
Maryland |
21 |
(2-2) |
(9-2) |
Also Considered: Auburn, Gonzaga, Kentucky, Old Dominion, Rutgers, Southern Miss, Texas State, UCONN, Wake Forest
Dropped Out: #17 Mississippi State, #22 UC Irvine, #23 Long Beach State, #24 Georgia, #25 West Virginia