Aaron Fitt: Hello everyone, and sorry for the delay to start the chat. Hopefully the content in Three Strikes (which will be posted momentarily) was worth the wait . . .

Aaron Fitt: That's a very compelling series. Georgia Tech has the better pitching staff by far, in my mind, even though FSU has gotten good performances from Elih Villanueva and especially Matt Fairel. But the Seminoles have the much better offense, and they're at home, so I expect them to win that series.

Aaron Fitt: Murphree went absolutely bonkers last week, smashing eight home runs and driving in 15 during five games. He's now homered in six straight games and has 12 on the year. I'm not completely sold on him as a pro prospect, but he's certainly put himself on the map with scouts, and he's already a great college hitter. As for Wilkins, not only does he have big-time power, but he's got an advanced approach for a freshman and great strike-zone awareness, stuff that's hard to teach. He could be a special one.

Aaron Fitt: Despite a great weekend, beating a very good Ole Miss team, the Horned Frogs aren't anywhere near being ranked. They lost two of three in each of the previous two weekends — good competition or not, you've got to win more than just one out of three weekends to be a top 25 team. Oregon State and Michigan have done the same, and both of those teams are in danger of sliding all the way out of the top 25 after starting the year in the preseason top 10.

Aaron Fitt: That's a great weekend for LMU, but the Lions are still below .500 on the year. I just think San Diego and Pepperdine are clearly the class of that league, and Santa Clara is a clear No. 3 team, in my eyes. I just can't see LMU finishing ahead of any of those teams.

Aaron Fitt: The Pirates are back on the radar — I might have been more impressed with them going up to Virginia and taking a pair of midweek wins against quality teams in ODU and VCU — but they've still got some work to do to get back into the rankings. Other teams have just been more impressive on the whole this year, but after seeing the Pirates again this weekend, I remain convinced that they are a dangerous, well-rounded club. The emergence of Justin Bristow as a stud for them on Sundays is a major, major development.

Aaron Fitt: I really believe the Tigers will have enough offense to go with that stellar pitching. Aaron Senne is on the verge of a big-time breakout season — he's got huge power — and I like veterans in the middle of the lineup like Jacob Priday and Ryan Lollis. Calvert is a speedy disruptor type atop the lineup, and guys like Kyle Mach and Greg Folgia will hit better as the season progresses. Will they score as many runs as Arizona State or South Carolina? No. But they won't need to, because their arms are outstanding.

Aaron Fitt: I picked Baylor in my eight for Omaha immediately after the last CWS, and I still think that's a pretty good pick. Have patience with that bullpen — Cassavechia is a veteran who will anchor that thing down the stretch, I'm confident, and Craig Fritsch has a terrific arm. Tim Matthews and Mace Thurman should be solid as well.

Aaron Fitt: I've been really impressed with some of the sophomore arms that were expected to make that leap to staff ace this year — many of them have handled it with aplomb. Mike Minor at Vandy has emerged as a likely first-rounder, as have Kendal Volz at Baylor and Andy Oliver at Oklahoma State. Other top arms in that class — Stephen Strasburg, Alex White and Kyle Gibson — have lived up to expectations and remain potential top-five picks.

Aaron Fitt: They are very close — right now I've got them as team No. 27 on my personal, internal list, right behind Pepperdine (which is the odd team out for the third straight week). I'm not blown away by Coastal's schedule, but I really like their talent and I think they're very well coached, and they've taken care of business so far. The Chanticleers will have a chance to make a statement this weekend against a scuffling Michigan team.

Aaron Fitt: UNC still won its series, and there was no on else close in the rankings who performed well enough to leap in front. I think this has a chance to be a better staff than last year, despite the absence of Robert Woodard, if all of those freshmen develop as planned. Remember, down the stretch last year, UNC's starting pitching really struggled, as Alex White and Luke Putkonen were hit hard in the postseason, and Adam Warren emerged as the most dependable starter after Woodard. I think this staff has plenty of depth, but White needs to develop into the front-line guy he is capable of being. There's no room for hiccups like the one he had against Duke on Saturday.

Aaron Fitt: At this rate, there's a chance he could be available at 128. He's really, really pressing at the plate right now, and after a bad summer in the Cape, he's got a lot to prove with the bat. Making consistent contact is his bugaboo right now. Sure, he's got a boatload of tools, but the bat is the most important tool, and right now he's not showing it.

Aaron Fitt: UCF is in the mix, but like with Coastal, I'm not blown away with the Knights' schedule, so they've just got to prove it against better competition (one win against Missouri isn't enough for me). UCF also has farther to come than Coastal, which opened the year on the cusp of the rankings for us, whereas UCF really wasn't even in the discussion. That makes the 11-1 start all the more impressive, really — going 11-1 is hard no matter who you're playing, and I do think Central Michigan and Monmouth will contend in their respective conferences. But we won't really know a lot about Central Florida until it begins conference play on March 21... if the Knights keep winning, though, they'll be ranked before that.

Aaron Fitt: Pepperdine has been the much more impressive team than any of those. All three of those teams are on notice right now, but all three did begin the season in the top 11, so they got a little bit of slack simply because we firmly believe in the talent of all three clubs. That said, you've got to win to stay in the rankings, and .500 clubs don't stay ranked — that's why all three of those have slid 10-15 slots since the season started. We'll get a better idea how Pepperdine stacks up with the Beavers in two weeks, when those two teams play an intriguing three-game set.

Aaron Fitt: Hey, if you want the rankings to just include the teams that have the best records, you don't need us to do that — just look at the standings and decide for yourself who the best teams are. But we also consider a team's talent level and potential — that's where our preseason evaluations come in. Obviously, if you look just at results, none of those .500 teams should be ranked. But I suspect they'll all be there at the end of the year... As for Santa Clara, that's a good week, and if the Broncos held onto that Sunday game against Oregon State, they might have found themselves in the rankings. As it is, they're in the discussion.

Aaron Fitt: He was already a likely first-rounder, but he's certainly solidified his place, no doubt. I do think he could wind up in the first half of the first round, yes. Nice all-around tools package, and he's continuing to show very good power.

Aaron Fitt: I don't think USD will ever be a great offense this season. The Toreros are going to have to scrap to score runs all year long, that's just how they're built. Long Beach State is really constructed similarly, but the Dirtbags have been more consistent early on. I think eventually USD will settle into a similar pattern.

Aaron Fitt: The Aggies are in that same lump with Coastal and Pepperdine as teams just outside the rankings. I would have liked to have seen them sweep Rutgers, but the bullpen blew that game Friday after Barret Loux gave them another strong start. TAMU's pitching has been rather inconsistent in the early going, and I want to see the roles start to solidify a little bit.

Aaron Fitt: It felt strange moving Kentucky up seven spots after playing just one game this weekend against Purdue, and UK's competition has been exceedingly soft so far, but still, we believe the Wildcats are for real. We liked this team heading into the year — dangerous on offense, some very good, experience arms in the rotation — so we went ahead and slid them up into the vacuum left by other teams losing this weekend.

Aaron Fitt: Honestly, Rice and Texas are doing about what I expected they'd do — both teams had question marks entering the year, and both had to incorporate plenty of newcomers, so there was bound to be an adjustment period. I do think both will be Omaha contenders as usual at the end of the season (though I don't see either as a CWS team this year). Belt is legit — take a look at the Texas Collegiate League top prospects list from last summer if you want a detailed scouting report. He can really hit, and I think people are finally starting to see him as a hitting prospect more than a pitching prospect.

Aaron Fitt: We don't decide who's good and who isn't by looking at last season's ERAs. Part of it is based on what pro scouts say, absolutely — those guys are paid to recognize potential. And part of it is based on what other college coaches said about them. But I still think their pitching will be just fine — Murphy has emerged as a bona fide ace (and if you looked at his ERA last year, you would probably think he stinks ... but we had faith he would be good because of—gasp!--scouting reports). Gavin Brooks has not been himself because of blisters on his pitching hand, but he'll be there. Just look what he did in the postseason last year — he's proven it on a big stage. Charles Brewer gave them a great start last week and could still emerge as a solid Sunday option, and Matt Drummond has a good arm as well. I think it would be a mistake to write any teams off three weeks into the season, whether it's UCLA, Louisiana-Lafayette, Oregon State, Michigan or anyone else.

Aaron Fitt: It is a fairly soft schedule, as usual, but that four-game sweep of Auburn was loud to me. Auburn should be a very good club — lots of good pitching, and some big-time power threats in the lineup, though several of them are young. I think FSU has a great college offense, but I think its pitching will be short in the end. As for Rye, he's an exceptional college hitter but not a great pro prospect, which is a fairly typical profile for FSU players of late. But then, the Seminoles are interesting in winning ballgames, and Rye is the type of player who will help them do plenty of that.

Aaron Fitt: I'm really encouraged by the way young guys like Jason Dovel and Daniel Renken have pitched so far for Fullerton. Those guys will have to assume prominent roles, I think, for the Titans to topple LBSU or UCI in the Big West, and I still think Fullerton has its work cut out for it, but there's plenty of reason for optimism.

Aaron Fitt: Three weeks into the season, I'm not prepared to proclaim that Fullerton is a more legit national contender than UCLA. And it's not that I was "so low on Fullerton." I saw the Titans as a regional team and a fringe top 25 team, and I still do. Maybe that's low by Fullerton standards, but most other programs would be pretty pleased with that.

Aaron Fitt: Both of those guys, but especially Havens, who has answered a lot of questions with his performance in the Cape and in the first few weeks this spring. If you want an out-of-nowhere guy who's put himself on the map, how about Arkansas State ace Chase Ware, who can run his fastball up to 93 mph and has a good splitter? He shut out a good Louisiana-Lafayette offense on Friday.

Aaron Fitt: Smoak has easily the most raw power in that group, he's a switch-hitter, and he plays Gold Glove-caliber defense at first base. I think some or all of those other guys could actually be better hitters than Smoak, but his upside is the highest, and he's not some ultra-raw long-term project, either.

Aaron Fitt: And you know what? I wouldn't be shocked if every one of those games is a close, low-scoring, nail-biting affair — the Dirtbags are made for those kind of games. That is a really, really challenging schedule, but I have confidence LBSU will get through it in decent shape — that's just such a tough team. Fullerton is tough, too, and the Titans will need to show an awful lot of toughness to win on the road against Arizona. I like the Wildcats in that one — just a better team all the way around (except perhaps defensively), and they're at home.

Aaron Fitt: I still think he's a football first guy, but that's an awfully loud weekend — 5-for-5 with three homers in one of those games. But if he's on a football scholarship, you know where he'll be once spring practice starts...

Aaron Fitt: Their defense has been atrocious, which was something Tony Robichaux was worried about heading into the year. It really snowballed on them this weekend, and by Sunday there were struggling on routine pop-ups. The offense also needs to pick it up — again, the bats are trying really hard to prove to people that they really are a top-25 team like they were ranked in the preseason. They just need to relax.

Aaron Fitt: Probably about two more good weeks away. Sweeping UC Riverside was nice, but the Highlanders aren't close to what they were a year ago, and you've got to beat Northern Colorado (which the Huskers did — take note, Texas A&M!). Interesting mix of veterans and youngsters, and I'd like to see Nebraska get off to a solid start in conference before ranking them. I've been a little disappointed so far in Kansas State, a team that I pegged as a bit of a sleeper heading into the year, but the Wildcats are still capable of getting going, so that series this weekend in Manhattan is a big one.

Aaron Fitt: That's exactly who Pat Murphy compares him to. He's got Duffy's toughness and general tool set, though he's not quite as fast and doesn't throw as well.

Aaron Fitt: Some people are just hard to please. Look, I was sorely tempted to jump the Dirtbags ahead of all those teams into the top five, because aside from Arizona State, I don't think any team in the nation has been more impressive on the field this year than Long Beach. But the teams ahead of LBSU are winning, and the rankings don't happen in a vacuum (do I say that every week?). the Dirtbags will just have to wait until there's an opening ahead of them.

Aaron Fitt: Extremely soft schedule, and the Phoenix lost to one of the two respectable teams it faced (UNC Wilmington — the other being East Carolina). Elon will have to prove itself in conference play as well as in midweek action, where opponents like North Carolina, Clemson, East Carolina, Wake Forest, Coastal Carolina and NC State offer plenty of chances to make noise.

Aaron Fitt: I expect those to be some high-scoring games in an offensive park, and both teams are swinging hot bats right now, so anything could happen. Sure, ASU is the favorite, but I wouldn't be shocked if the Hogs slug their way to a win or two. I wouldn't bet on it, though.

Aaron Fitt: I think seven teams all have legit shots at regional berths — UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon State, Stanford, Cal and USC. Amazingly, the first six are all in the top 25 right now. We knew it would be an unbelievable year in the Pac-10, and so far we have not been disappointed.

Aaron Fitt: I was very impressed with the Anteaters, going on the road to win a series against a Tulane team that is pretty talented — and to win the series even without getting a victory from ace Scott Gorgen! The offense won't be great — similar to Long Beach and San Diego — but it should be good enough, especially if Ollie Linton and Ryan Fisher continue to be gangbusters. And getting Casey Stevenson back from a clearninghouse issue would be huge. But at this point, Ollie Linton alone might be all the offense they need — what a dynamic player.

Aaron Fitt: That's all I've got time for today. See you next week.