State of Louisiana College Baseball Rankings (through 3/15/17)

(Boyd's RPI, Nolan, BA, PG, D1, CB, USA, NCBWA)

1. Louisiana Tech (15-2) (#9, #7, NR, NR, NR, #24, #23) *Move over LSU, there's a new dog in town! Tech is coming off their best season in program history and have started off very well in their 2017 campaign. This is a solid team all the way around and very well could be flirting with hosting a regional by year's end. The coaches’ poll was the first to take recognition. They play one of their most difficult conference series of the year this weekend when they welcome USM to Ruston. Already swept Wichita State, split with Arkansas, and beat State in Starkville.

2. LSU (12-5) (#15, #15, #6, #6, #7, #7, #7) LSU is coasting along as one of the best teams in the country while taking care of most of the country within their weekend series with an exception to their prestigious trip to Houston. The only other issue seems to be in-state foes, now losing 3 mid-week games inside LA (2 to UNO, 1 to McNeese, & almost lost to Nicholls). Tigers need to clean up their mid-week starter/reliever situation if they want to keep it going, but I'm sure that they will.

3. Southeastern (12-4)(3-0) (#30, #27, NR, NR, NR, #50, #51) Like Tech, Southeastern is coming off a spectacular season finally notching a postseason win in the 2016 BR Regional. And, like most of the last few years, they seem to be the class of the Southland conference. This season, they’ve already handled Rice in Houston, beat a good USA team in Pensacola and in Mobile, and just took care of one of their biggest Southland rivals (UNO) with a sweep (2-of-3 on the road). The SLC seems to be moving toward (at least) a 2-bid conference annually. So, we should definitely see SLU in the postseason this year if they can keep hitting the ball well as they have. Pitching is where it needs to be.

4. ULL (9-5) (#78, #68, #14, #9, #28, #20, #19) Meh…started the season with a wholelotta hype but have been knocked down a nod or two over the first few weeks of baseball. Make no mistake, this is a good team, but a few questions remain…like consistency. They did take 2-of-3 from USM. But, beyond that, their schedule has been unchallenging.

5. McNeese State (12-5) (#53, #52, NR, NR, NR, NR, NR) These fellers will rival SLU for the regular season SLC title, and they play one another in 2 weeks @ Hammond. Besides getting waxed by Arizona on the road in a 4-game series, they’ve played pretty well. They have some bats too (beat ULM 32-4 in Monroe a few weeks ago). So far, like many others in the state, their marque victory so far was beating LSU last week in Lake Charles.

6. UNO (10-7) (#109, #113, NR, NR, NR, NR, NR) Started the season fast and have beaten LSU twice. But then, Southeastern swept them in games that were never really close. Other than the sweep loss, they’ve looked pretty good. After all, they bounced back with a midweek win in Baton Rouge.

7. Nicholls State (9-8) (#200, #204, NR, NR, NR, NR, NR) Nicholls has a pretty good team. They just need to find some consistency. They’ll play near the top in SLC play.

8. Northwestern State (5-10) (#217, #215, NR, NR, NR, NR, NR) No pitching staff but can hit the ball.

9. Tulane (4-12) (#251, #249, NR, NR, NR, NR, NR) Preseason top-25…man-o-man, I’m leaving this catastrophe alone. Yeah, yeah, they have injuries. Rinse and repeat, final Rick Jones years. *that’s not a knock on Jones’ coaching abilities.

10. ULM (4-14) (#186, #184, NR, NR, NR, NR, NR) garbage

11. Grambling (7-10) (#269, #265, NR, NR, NR, NR, NR)

12. Southern (3-9) (#299, #299, NR, NR, NR, NR, NR) A once proud program falling to the very bottom