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In front of an outstanding opening Saturday crowd of 9,022 in paid attendance, Ole Miss baseball split a double-header to take the opening weekend series from America's first college, William and Mary. The Rebs did drop an ugly Game 2, but we saw our first beer shower of the year (thanks to Colby Bortles) and the new "rules" in right field weren't as stringently enforced as we feared. It was a mildly successful, yet somewhat uneventful, weekend for the Rebels and their position in the national polls reflects just that.
Ole Miss is ranked in the top 25 of two of the major polls recognized by the NCAA.
According to the National College Baseball Writers Association (yes, that's a real thing that exists), the Rebels odd 8-1 loss in the early game on Saturday was enough to drop them from No. 19 to No. 21 in their rankings. Ole Miss received their highest ranking of the week from D1 Baseball, where they held steady at No. 18. Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America both left the Rebels unranked.
Knowing that there are around 300 Division I teams in college baseball, it's tough to take away anything major from these early polls, as there are always some inconsistencies this early in the year. Those inconsistencies tend to even out as the year goes on and more baseball is played.
However, in the only ones that matter a couple of the polls, the SEC has as many as eight teams ranked. It might be a little too early to gauge the strength of any conference, but every team in the league (except for Tennessee, lol at the Vawls) at least won their opening series. The league is poised to be as strong as ever and Ole Miss looks to be right in the thick of it.
School | D1 Baseball | Baseball America | Collegiate Baseball Writers |
Vanderbilt | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Florida | 2 | 6 | 5 |
Virginia | 3 | 4 | 1 |
UCLA | 4 | 11 | 7 |
South Carolina | 5 | 13 | 12 |
North Carolina | 6 | 17 | 13 |
Houston | 7 | 3 | 6 |
TCU | 8 | 7 | 2 |
LSU | 9 | 2 | 4 |
Texas | 10 | 10 | 9 |
Louisville | 11 | 12 | 10 |
Rice | 12 | 15 | 14 |
Maryland | 13 | 16 | 19 |
Miami | 14 | 8 | 11 |
Texas Tech | 15 | 5 | 8 |
Texas A&M | 16 | NR | 22 |
Arizona State | 17 | 18 | 17 |
Ole Miss | 18 | NR | 21 |
Oklahoma State | 19 | 9 | 16 |
Alabama | 20 | NR | 23 |
Florida State | 21 | 21 | 15 |
Oregon | 22 | 20 | 18 |
UC Santa Barbara | 23 | 24 | NR |
Mississippi State | 24 | 14 | 20 |
Cal State Fullerton | 25 | NR | 24 |