Our top 4 stay the same this week as each hold serve for one more week. But as we get deeper into conference play, more and more shakeups are bound to happen.
1. Texas Tech Red Raiders (22-4, 3-0) Last Week: 1
No conference series this past weekend for the Red Raiders, but they do go on the road and sweep Wichita St. Big series looming this weekend with Oklahoma in Norman, who seem to just keep winning. If the Red Raiders can not overlook the powerhouse that is Texas Southern in the mid-week series, get your popcorn ready this weekend.
2. Oklahoma Sooners (23-5, 2-1) Last Week: 2
Still don’t know what to make of the Sooners. They go into Waco and take two of three from Baylor before dropping the finale on Sunday. Is Baylor severely overrated? I think so, but Oklahoma is making it hard to place them anywhere in the standings other than right where they are. Huge weekend coming up with Oklahoma hosting Texas Tech. Whoever wins that series will probably be #1 next week.
3. TCU Horned Frogs (17-5, 5-1) Last Week: 3
In one of the classic cases of “It’s not always what you do, but what others are doing” TCU sweeps Oklahoma State, but doesn’t move up in the rankings. Doesn’t mean they aren’t a top tier team, it just means Tech and OU did enough to stay where they are. One player holding TCU up right now is the phenom Luken Baker. Hitting only .286, but is averaging a HR every 14 ABs compared to last year where he averaged one every 22.
4. West Virginia Mountaineers (12-9, 2-1) Last Week: 4
The Mountaineers are another one of those tough teams to place. I think they are good, but they are also riding the residual wave of their series win against a Baylor team that may not be as good as we thought. This upcoming weekend against Oklahoma State will tell us a lot more about West Virginia and their trajectory.
5. Texas Longhorns (17-10, 3-3) Last Week: 8
Have to give Texas for bouncing back this past week and sweeping Kansas St. Kansas State has slipped in our rankings in recent weeks, but were still nationally ranked going into the weekend and Texas did what they needed to do. With Baylor slumping, it was enough for them to jump back up to 5 this week. A winnable series against Kansas this weekend could cement them in the middle of the rankings or plunge them back to 8th if things go wrong.
6. Oklahoma State Cowboys (15-9, 0-3) Last Week: 6
Did not see this coming, but the Cowboys can thank the “Death Spiral Bears” and Kansas State for keeping them at 6 this week. Hard to beat TCU, but definitely needed to come away with at least one win and let their best chance for a win get away on Friday letting a 5-3 lead get away in the 8th. A win in the opener could have changed the entire complexion of that series. If Oklahoma has any chance to make a run like they did last year, they have to figure out a way to close out games late.
7. Baylor Bears (18-6, 2-4) Last Week: 5
We had this team #1 just two weeks ago. Boy were we wrong. When a team drops 7 spots in the rankings in two weeks you have to start thinking... they may just not be that good. Right? Baylor goes to Seattle this weekend to play the University of Washington. The Huskies aren’t great and I expect Baylor to at least win the series. If they don’t, something has gone very wrong in Waco.
8. Kansas State Wildcats (15-9, 0-3) Last Week: 7
Kansas St might be on its way to cement themselves in the #8 spot. After getting swept by Texas last weekend, they have a mid-game week against Nebraska and then back to back weekend series against TCU and Oklahoma State. And you thought the football gauntlet was tough?
9. Kansas Jayhawks (10-13, 1-2) Last Week: 9
The Jayhawks best chance for a series win for the next couple of weeks didn’t happen against Samford this past weekend. Perhaps they were so distraught at the basketball team being eliminated from the NCAA tournament, things just unraveled for the baseball squad, but in any event, a midweek series against Minnesota and a weekend series against Texas has the Jayhawks staring 11-17 in the face.
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