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Power Rankings – Week 3: Time to Shake Things Up

By drewmac20

Talk about a crazy weekend. Weather moving through the south caused Saturday to be a marathon day in the conference. Then, you had a ton of SEC teams get huge wins over ranked opponents that while LSU…well, you’ll see. The rankings look a bit different as only 1 team is the same from last week (sorry Missouri).

#1 Vanderbilt – LW 2 – (9-2)

  • vs Dayton, FRI – 11-3 W, SAT G1 5-1 W, SAT G2 2-0 W

Solid answer after dropping a midweek game to Austin Peay for the Dores. Also, good job to get all 3 games in with all the rain around the south this weekend. Dayton was never truly a threat to Vandy but that game 2 on Saturday did have a moment for pause as Tim Corbin needed a shutout performance from his staff to ensure the W.

#2 Ole Miss – LW 3 – (8-2)

  • vs Long Beach State, FRI - 7-2 W, SAT G1 – 7-6 W, SAT G2 5-3 W

How about a golf clap for LBSU for coming back across the Mississippi River to play another SEC team. The bad news for the Dirtbags was that they got the same result they got in Gainesville. For Ole Miss, it’s just another beer in the air, if you will.

#3 Florida – LW 4 – (9-4)

  • vs Winthrop, FRI – 16-4 W, SUN G1 28-5 W, SUN G2 5-3 W/7

#4 Arkansas – LW 5 – (9-1)

  • vs Stony Brook, FRI G1 - 3-1 W, FRI G2 – 4-3 W, SAT 15-7 W

Stony Brook isn’t as bad as you would think and Arkansas definitely made them look the part on Friday. Two very well played games and then Saturday was a walk in the park. Looking at Arkansas’s March, they open SEC play with Mizzou and Alabama…look for the Hogs to be 6-0 in the conference by the final weekend of the month.

#5 Auburn – LW 6 – (9-2)

  • vs Cincinnati, FRI - 5-0 W, SAT G1 - 5-0 W, SAT G2 - 9-5 W

Just keep getting wins if you’re the Tigers. This is the fat of their schedule and they make good on the first part. Both UT-Martin and UTSA are okish ballclubs that shouldn’t be taken lightly but this needs to be a 5-0, 4-1 weekend for Auburn.

#6 LSU – LW 1 – (8-3)

  • @ #22 Texas, FRI - 8-1 L, SAT 8-4 L, SUN 7-6 L

Wow. Did not expect this to happen to LSU. Especially the Sunday game. LSU entered the 9th with a 2 run lead at 6-4. The Horns answered back with two runs and that set up this.

Here’s a look from the dugout.

This is a seismic series sweep that will be felt all over the college baseball map. Texas is a good ball club but LSU was supposed to be much better than this. LSU is good and will be back up in the polls again but to go from undefeated to swept is a hard pill to swallow.

#7 Texas A&M – LW 9 – (10-2)

  • vs #14 Baylor (@ Houston, TX) FRI – 5-2 W
  • vs #20 TCU (@ Houston, TX) SAT – 1-0 W
  • vs Houston (@ Houston, TX) SUN – 3-2 W

Talk about a fantastic weekend. First, the Aggies give Baylor their first loss of the season, then they turn around and have an epic 1-0 game with TCU that included things like this

And this

And this in the 9th

A whale of a ballgame that was a ton of fun to watch.

#8 South Carolina – LW 10 - (9-2)

  • vs #17 Clemson, FRI (@ Clemson) - 5-4 W, SAT (@ Greenville) – 11-5 L, SUN (@ Columbia) – 14-3 W

Well, while I am not completely shocked at the outcome of this series, I am at how we got here. Friday night was a barn burner in one of the nicer ‘old school’ ballparks in the country at Clemson. I say old school because fans can collect along the fence and watch the game along the foul lines and have their fun. The other two games were blow outs that really didn’t hold attention. Great series win for the Gamecocks and a nice confidence builder for the season.

#9 Mississippi State – LW 8 – (10-1)

  • vs Sam Houston State (@ Frisco, TX) FRI - 5-4 W
  • vs #4 Texas Tech (@ Frisco, TX) SAT – 4-2 W

If it weren’t for Texas A&M and the cold, State may have had the best weekend of anyone in the SEC. First, the Bulldogs get a win over a game Sam Houston State team, then they turn around and knock off the number 4 team in our unreleased Top 25 poll (we will release it after the first weekend of conference play). Solid weekend from the Diamond Dawgs and I cannot wait to see that opening series against Florida in 2 weeks!

#10 Tennessee – LW 11 – (12-0)

  • vs UL-Monroe (@ Pensacola, FL), FRI - 7-2 W
  • vs North Florida (@ Pensacola, FL), SAT – 10-2 W
  • vs Western Kentucky (@ Pensacola, FL), SAT – 6-3 W

This is getting a touch ridiculous. Tennessee is THE LONE undefeated team in the conference. What? How? Pitching, that’s how. Tennessee has an insane 0.85 ERA as they head up to Troy for a Tuesday night tilt that should be interesting. The Trojans could be the toughest team Tennessee has played so far this season (Liberty being the other). Is Tennessee for real, well they play Fresno State this weekend, then they play Auburn.

#11 Georgia – LW 7 – (9-2)

  • @ Georgia Southern, FRI – 3-1 W, SAT G1 – 4-2 W, SAT G2 10-7 L

Yes, Georgia, you got the series win. Yes, it was on the road. I know all that, but the teams above you have played better competition and Tennessee is undefeated. When you lose to LIU-Brooklyn and don’t sweep, while Tennessee beats Liberty and sweeps a tournament, I can’t help it. Just keep winning and taking care of your business and everything will be ok.

#12 Alabama – LW 13 – (10-2)

  • @ South Alabama, FRI – 7-3 W, SAT G1 10-5 W, SAT G2 6-1 W

Well that is one way to shut me up. Goodness, Alabama. You could have convinced me of one win this weekend but to go to Mobile and get all three? Good on Coach Bo and that team over there. This is precisely what Alabama needed to continue momentum and keep things on the level.

#13 Kentucky – LW 12 – (8-3)

  • vs Canisius, FRI – 10-2 W, SAT G1 - 12-3 W, SAT G2 - 4-3 W

Kentucky opened up their brand new shiny ballpark and proceeded to go 5-0 on the week, which was expected. The reason for the drop is more because of the level of competition Alabama played and got the sweep, while Kentucky got 5 this week but not against ‘wow me’ competition. Just as I said earlier in regards to Georgia, if they continue to win, they will get props.

#14 Missouri – LW 14 – (6-5)

  • vs Central Arkansas, FRI 4-0 W
  • vs South Dakota St (@ Conway, AR), SAT – 6-3 L

Oh Missouri, we knew the season would be rough just from a returning players standpoint, then the NCAA thing sent things into a tailspin that is still happening. Good win against Central Arky but the drop to SDSU is….ouch.

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