College Baseball Time

This is usually the time of the year when we start paying attention to college baseball.  For the record, here are the last five teams to win the College World Series, along with the teams they beat in the final:

2013:  UCLA def. Mississippi St.
2012:  Arizona def. S. Carolina
2011:  S. Carolina def. Florida
2010:  S. Carolina def. UCLA
2009:  LSU def. Texas

So in each of the last four years, every team to reach the final was from either the SEC or the Pac-12.  The last time the CWS was won by a team that didn't belong to the SEC or the Pac-12 was in 2008, when Fresno State came from nowhere to win the whole thing.

But enough of the past.  Here is Baseball America's current top 25 (teams in bold made the CWS last year):

1.  Florida State:  22-5
2.  S. Carolina:  24-3
3.  Virginia:  23-4
4.  La-Lafayette:  26-3
5.  Cal Poly:  22-4
6.  Oregon St:  21-6
7.  Vanderbilt:  23-6
8.  Texas:  22-7
9.  Mississippi St:  20-10
10.  Houston:  22-5
11.  Louisville:  21-6
12.  Rice:  21-9
13.  Florida:  19-9
14.  Washington:  20-5
15.  Alabama:  19-8
16.  Clemson:  17-9
17.  UC Santa Barbara:  19-5
18.  Cal State Fullerton:  14-10
19.  Oregon:  19-8
20.  Louisiana St:  20-8
21.  UCLA:  16-10
22.  Kentucky:  19-9
23.  Mississippi:  21-8
24.  Indiana:  15-10
25.  UNLV:  19-8

In recent years, Kentuckiana has become a hotbed of good college baseball, and it's exciting to see U of L, UK and IU all ranked again.