Rank	Prev	NCAA	State	Record	Week
1	2	Tampa Spartans	FL	9-0	9-0
2	3	North Greenville Crusaders	SC	9-1	3-0
3	11	Point Loma Sea Lions	CA	8-2	4-0
4	1	Angelo State Rams	TX	8-4	2-2
5	4	Colorado Mesa Mavericks	CO	5-3	3-1
6	7	West Florida Argos	FL	6-2	1-1
7	17	UNC Pembroke Braves	NC	10-0	4-0
8	8	Central Missouri Mules	MO	9-2	4-0
9	9	Mount Olive Trojans	NC	5-2	2-1
10	10	Augustana Vikings	SD	0-0	0-0
11	21	Young Harris Mountain Lions	GA	9-1	3-1
12	6	Seton Hill Griffins	PA	1-2	1-2
13	5	Cal State Monterey Bay Otters	CA	4-4	0-0
14	12	Millersville Marauders	PA	4-2	2-1
15	19	Lenoir-Rhyne Bears	NC	9-2	2-1
16	14	Cal State San Bernardino Coyotes	CA	7-3	2-1
17	24	Missouri Southern St. Lions	MO	10-2	4-0
18	18	Georgia Southwestern Hurricanes	GA	7-3	3-1
19	NR	West Texas A&M Buffs	TX	10-2	3-1
20	NR	Rollins Tars	FL	5-3	1-1
21	NR	Francis Marion Patriots	SC	6-3	2-1
22	20	Minnesota State Mavericks	MN	1-2	1-2
23	15	Barry Bucs	FL	5-5	3-0
24	16	Texas Tyler Patriots	TX	6-6	2-2
25	13	Newberry Wolves	SC	2-8	1-4

Drop: Columbus State (23), Quincy (25), West Georgia (25)


NAIA 

There haven’t been too many shocking starts in the NAIA early season. Bellevue hasn’t been great out of the gate, but all of their losses were to ranked opposition. It’s not uncommon for the Bruins to need a couple extra games to get on track. The winter weather was especially brutal in the Omaha area and their bats may need to warm up a bit. Tennessee Wesleyan had a rough start as well. They went 1-3 in the East/West Challenge and had losses to IU Kokomo and Montreat early. The Bulldogs have 2-11 Columbia International on this week’s schedule which should get them on track.

Two teams which have impressed early are Loyola and USAO. The two teams were at the tail end of the preseason rankings, but are both in the thick of them now. The Wolf Pack has a perfect 9-0 record with some solid wins fueled by dominating starting pitching. Three-time All-SSAC pitcher Stephen Still can already start clearing out room for a fourth honor. In 14 ⅔ innings he has struck out 23 batters with only three walks. Brady Bowen has a 2.40 ERA in three starts while holding opposition to a .200 average.  OSAO has a sweep over McPherson and won two of three against Bellevue last weekend.

On the precipice of being ranked for the first time in the Perfect Game Top 25 rankings are the OUAZ Spirit. After winning their opening series over Taylor, the young program swept the College of Idaho and Bethesda.  Last weekend they won the opener against Hope International, but the Royals won the series. They play Arizona Christian this week. 

A player to point out in the NAIA is Southeastern pitcher Darien Smith. He has been absolutely silly this season. In 23 innings he has only allowed nine hits while striking out 38. His ERA is 0.39 and opposition is batting a feeble .110 against him. 


NAIA Top 25 Update


NCAA DIII

With a slew of schools in the northeast, the DIII season is still emerging from hibernation. Only ten of the 25 teams in the rankings have played games so far and not have played more than six. As a result there isn’t much to report. Until March the school’s schedules are pretty thin.

Keep an eye on the Sagehens. Big things were expected for Pomona-Pitzer last year, but they finished a pedestrian 21-19. Maybe 2024 will be the season they emerge. They started the season with a road series win over East Texas Baptist and kept it going at home with a sweep of Linfield. 

DIII Top 25 Update