College Top 25 Rankings, 3/22

Baseball America Poll

1. Virginia

2. Arizona State

3. Texas

4. Georgia Tech

5. Louisville

6. Florida State

7. LSU

8. UCLA

9. Florida

10. TCU

11. Coastal Carolina

12. Clemson

13. UC Irvine

14. Arkansas

15. Ole Miss

16. Alabama

17. Miami

18. Cal State Fullerton

19. Oregon State

20. Oklahoma

21. Stanford

22. South Carolina

23. Texas A&M

24. East Carolina

25. Rice

Next Tier

Southeastern Louisiana

Western Kentucky

Arizona

North Carolina

Oregon

Nice Work

UConn is emerging as a big-time sleeper team. The Huskies kept rolling with four wins this week and look very much like a regional contender. Connecticut has a bevy of weapons in OF George Springer, 3B Mike Olt, SS Nick Ahmed, 2B Pierre LaPage, and LHP Elliot Glynn. The Big East is way up this season and will be fun to watch. UConn travels to Louisville for the upcoming weekend.

Arizona wasn't on any radar screens entering the season, but the Wildcats sure are now after a 16-4 start. The Wildcats are one of the youngest teams in the nation, starting a lineup almost completely composed of underclassmen. Sophomores Jett Bandy (.506/.570/.790!) and Steve Selsky (.438/.500/.584), and freshman Robert Refsnyder (.458/.529/.569) and Joey Rickard (.386/.449/.580) are red-hot offensively. Imagine if the Wildcats had retained drafted recruits Tommy Joseph, Randal Grichuk, Ian Krol, Trent Stevenson, and Matt Helm (as well transfer Donn Roach, who has a 2.93 ERA at CC of Southern Nevada).

Auburn blasted Georgia this weekend and notched a conference sweep. The Bulldogs are scuffling mightily, but the Tigers (who are hitting .353/.432/.574 as a team) have some potential. High-profile junior first baseman Hunter Morris went 5-for-6 with a pair of home runs on Sunday and is now hitting .425/.462/.793 with 8 homers on the season. OF Brian Fletcher is at .412/.481/.809. (Looking towards their professional futures, however, Fletcher's 7-17 and Morris's 5-18 BB-K ratios aren't encouraging.)

Texas A&M's Michael Wacha is proving to be a dominating freshman. The 6-6 right-hander has a 1.38 ERA and a 41-4 K-BB ratio. The Aggies as a whole have been a very nice surprise this season and moved into the rankings this week.

Texas's offense is not clicking on fully cylinders, but the Longhorns have received strong contributions from a pair of ballyhooed freshmen. OF Cohl Walla, who was recently inserted into the starting lineup, is hitting .351/.359/.432. C/1B/OF Jonathan Walsh is hitting .435/.481/.739 in limited action.

Needs Work

Cal Poly has stumbled to a 7-11 start, including a series loss versus Cal this weekend. The Mustangs were on the cusp of my preseason rankings, but have not found any consistency on the mound or at the dish. Freshman OF Mitch Haniger has been a bright spot, but bats such as Matt Jensen and J.J. Thompson have some heating up to do. Losing projected ace righty Steven Fischback for another season was also a big blow for CP, and hurlers Matt Leonard and D.J. Mauldin haven't been able to carry the load.

North Carolina lost two of three to ACC foe Florida State over the weekend, UNC's second consecutive series loss. The Tar Heels uncharacteristically struggled on the mound, receiving underwhelming starting performances from Matt Harvey, Colin Bates, and Patrick Johnson. While competitive, they simply aren't as talented as their last 4 College World Series teams.