It’s been a crazy start to the 2018 season with a lot of blue bloods struggling out of the gate, and a lot of big name injuries. Make sure you check out our power rankings of the top 40 teams in college baseball after one week of action here.
Best Weekend Series:
1. Miami-Florida: 7 PM (ACCN); 7 PM (ACCN); 12 PM (ACCN)
To be completely honest, which I always am, I’m not a believer in Miami this year. To the point where I’m not even sure this will be the best series of the weekend, but it’s still Miami and it’s still Florida. If the hurricane want to prove they’re a legit top 25 team, they can prove it this weekend. As for the Gators, I’d love to see that offense get going a little more, but they obviously don’t need much with their pitching.
2. Rice-Stanford: Thur – 6 PM PT (Stanford Live); 6 PM PT (Stanford Live); 1 PM PT (Stanford Live); 11 AM PT (Stanford Live)
Those who have been following along with me on Twitter (@ShortStopBall), you know how much I love both of these teams. This will probably be the series I watch the most over the weekend. For Stanford it’s another opportunity to prove they belong in the top 10, and maybe even top five. As for Rice, they can put themselves back on the national map with a good weekend, and enter my top 25 at least. I expect this to be a very entertaining series.
3. DBU-Clemson: 4 PM (ACCN); 1 PM (No TV); 1 PM (ACCN)
This intrigues me for a lot of reasons. One, Clemson shortstop Logan Davidson is one of my favorite college baseball players to watch. Two, I’m very unfamiliar with DBU’s team this year and can’t wait to see what they do against a powerhouse like Clemson, and if they can prove they belong in the top 25. Three, I’m still unsure how good Clemson’s pitchers are. They’re undefeated, but it hasn’t been a pretty. A good weekend for the Tigers will ease some concerns.
4. Baylor-UCLA: 6 PM PT (No TV); 2 PM PT (No TV); 1 PM PT (No TV)
These are two big name schools facing off trying to compete for national attention. The Bruins are already there, but I’m not too convinced. The Bears are on the rise and can make a big jump with a good weekend.
5. Texas-LSU: 7 PM (SECN+); 6:30 PM (SECN+); 2 PM (SECN+)
For whatever reason I’m not as excited about this series as I should be. I’m not a believer in Texas’ offense, and as of right now I’m not a believer in LSU at all. But somebody has to win this weekend, and it should be entertaining, but I just don’t believe either of these teams are great at the moment.
Other Games to watch:
Houston-Cal State Fullerton
Oregon State vs. Nebraska (x2)
TCU-Long Beach State
North Carolina-East Carolina
Ole Miss Tulane
Five Questions Entering the Weekend:
1. What will Florida State and Texas Tech look like without their aces?
The losses of Steven Gingery and Tyler Holton were not only a blow to their respective teams, but to college baseball fans in general. Both teams are top five programs right now with a shot at a CWS title. However, each is very deep in pitching and should be fine. But it will be interesting to see who fills these holes.
2. Is anyone from the Big West going to step up?
The Big West conference has been one of the top conferences in college baseball, but I don’t see a single team this year that can make a run at Omaha. Both Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton had a lot to replace from last year, and the Titans have gotten out to a horrible start. We’ll see if someone else can take control of this conference.
3. Can LSU’s pitching staff get it together?
Obviously injuries have been a huge part of their struggle, but LSU has to find some solid starting pitching if they’re going to compete for a CWS title. Zach Hess will remain in the starting rotation, which I think is a mistake, but they really don’t have any other options right now. They’ll be going against a Texas offense this weekend that, in my opinion, isn’t very good. Maybe the LSU pitchers can find their groove against the Longhorns.
4. Who is North Carolina?
The consensus is they are a top 10 team, but they haven’t played like it to start the season. Yes, they took two-of-three against a pretty good South Florida team, but it wasn’t pretty. And then they went out and dropped a pair of mid-week games. They’ll play a well coached East Carolina team this weekend, but it’s still a team they should handle very easily. We’ll see who they really are.
5. Is the PAC-12 a Powerhouse Conference Again?
For some this may be a dumb question, but for me the PAC-12 has underwhelmed in recent years in recent years in terms of its depth. They e been pretty top heavy, but this year it looks like their are several teams that could compete for the conference title. We all know Oregon State is the favorite, but I don’t put Stanford too far behind them. UCLA has started off strong and has a chance to improve their resume against Baylor this weekend. Arizona had an impressive opening series against Bryant, and then lost 1-0 to Arkansas on Wednesday. All of those teams have a chance to prove the conference is elite this weekend.
Final Thoughts:
This will be a down weekend for me as I’m only scheduled to be at one game, but I am looking forward to seeing Auburn and Bryant on Saturday in person. Outside of that, there will be a lot good games to watch on TV this weekend that will clear things up for us going forward.
Enjoy your weekend!
