Tigers fall out of baseball polls

by TigerNet Staff - Mon Mar 12 18:00:36 GMT-04:00 2012

Baseball America

DURHAM, N.C—Florida maintained its hold on the No. 1 spot in the new Baseball America Top 25 rankings, but there was plenty of movement elsewhere.

Stanford continued a run of impressive early season series wins by knocking off Rice, ranked No. 5 entering the week, but the Cardinal remained behind the Gators. Elsewhere, North Carolina and UCLA made the loudest statements. The Tar Heels entered the top five thanks to a sweep of Clemson on the road in the opening weekend of Atlantic Coast Conference play. Meanwhile, the Bruins also went on the road and swept Georgia to jump seven spots up to No. 9.

The middle of the rankings saw plenty of shuffling as well, most notably with Cal State Fullerton moving up four places to No. 15 after winning a series on the road against a top-10 opponent in Texas A&M. Florida State also entered the top 10 at No. 7 after sweeping a two-game midweek series against No. 19 Central Florida and sweeping Duke over the weekend.

Three teams joined the rankings this week in No. 23 North Carolina State, which upset Georgia Tech over the weekend, No. 24 Purdue and No. 25 Oregon State. This marks Purdue's first appearance in the Top 25 since 2001. The Boilermakers are riding a seven-game winning streak after sweeping Murray State last weekend and have also won games against Auburn, East Carolina and Southern Mississippi during their 11-1 start.

The staff of Baseball America determines the Top 25 rankings. Records do not include ties.

Rk. Team W-L Last Week Prev.

1. Florida 15-1 5-0 1

2. Stanford 13-2 3-1 2

3. South Carolina 13-1 4-0 3

4. Arkansas 14-2 3-0 4

5. North Carolina 13-2 5-0 8

6. Arizona 13-2 5-0 7

7. Florida State 14-1 5-0 12

8. Rice 13-4 2-3 5

9. UCLA 12-3 4-0 16

10. Texas A&M 13-3 2-2 6

11. Arizona State 10-4 2-2 11

12. Mississippi 13-2 4-0 14

13. Louisiana State 13-3 3-1 13

14. Miami 12-3 4-0 15

15. Cal State Fullerton 10-5 2-2 19

16. Georgia Tech 11-5 1-3 10

17. Oregon 12-3 2-2 17

18. Georgia 11-5 1-3 9

19. Central Florida 13-4 3-2 18

20. Texas State 11-4 3-1 21

21. Mississippi State 14-3 4-1 23

22. Oklahoma 11-5 4-2 22

23. North Carolina State 11-3 3-1 NR

24. Purdue 11-1 3-0 NR

25. Oregon State 11-5 3-1 NR

Dropped out: Clemson (20), Louisville (24), Maryland (25).

FLORIDA NO. 1 IN COLLEGIATE BASEBALL NEWSPAPER POLL

TUCSON, Ariz. — The University of Florida (15-1) has been ranked No. 1 in the latest NCAA Division I baseball poll by Collegiate Baseball newspaper.

The Gators, ranked No. 1 five consecutive polls, have won 13 in a row. Over the past weekend, Florida swept a 3-game series against Florida Gulf Coast. Florida is now off to its best start in school history through 16 games, surpassing the 1952 squad that started 14-1-1.

Poll Notes: Several other teams have been impressive. Kentucky is still unbeaten with 16 straight wins to kick off the 2012 season. Wake Forest has won 13 straight and entered the poll at No. 24 after sweeping a 3-game series against Maryland. UCLA has won 10 consecutive games, including a 3-game sweep at Georgia over the past weekend while Florida St. has also won 10 straight. In top 30 games over the past weekend, Cal. St. Fullerton took two of three at Texas A&M, Stanford took two of three at home against Rice, North Carolina swept a 3-game series against Clemson and N.C. State won two of three against Georgia Tech. Three teams fell out of the top 30 in Clemson (1-3 last week), Maryland (2-3) and Gonzaga (0-3). New to the poll this week is N.C. State (11-3), Wake Forest (14-4), and Texas St. (11-4).

The Collegiate Baseball newspaper poll is the oldest college baseball poll. Its birth took place during the 1957 college baseball season.

Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's

NCAA Div. I Poll (As of March 12, 2012)

Rank School (Record) Points Previous

1. Florida (15-1) 498 1

2. South Carolina (13-1) 496 2

3. Stanford (13-2) 492 3

4. North Carolina (13-2) 488 6

5. Arkansas (14-2) 485 7

6. Florida St. (14-1) 483 8

7. Rice (13-4) 482 4

8. Cal. St. Fullerton (10-5) 480 12