What To Watch For This Weekend In College Baseball (3/26)

Image credit: Tim Elko and Peyton Chatagnier (Courtesy of Ole Miss)

Top 25 Schedule

Rank	Team	Opponents (Fri., Sat., Sun.)	TV
1	Arkansas	at (2) Mississippi State	SEC Network+ (Fri., Sat.), SEC Network (Sun.)
2	Mississippi State	(1) Arkansas	SEC Network+ (Fri., Sat.), SEC Network (Sun.)
3	Vanderbilt	at Missouri (Thurs.-Sat.)	SEC Network+ (Fri., Sat.)
4	Mississippi	at (23) Alabama (Fri.-Sat.)	SEC Network+ (Fri.), SEC Network (Sat.)
5	Florida	at (20) South Carolina	SEC Network+ (Fri., Sat.), SEC Network (Sun.)
6	Texas Tech	South Florida	ESPN+
7	Louisville	at (12) Notre Dame	ACC Network Extra
8	East Carolina	at Elon (Fri.-Sat.)	YouTube
9	Texas	Oklahoma	Longhorn Network
10	Georgia Tech	at Duke	ACC Network (Fri., Sat.), ACC Network Extra (Sun.)
11	North Carolina	North Carolina State	ACC Network Extra
12	Notre Dame	(7) Louisville	ACC Network Extra
13	Oregon	at (21) Arizona	Pac-12 Network
14	Pittsburgh	(22) Virginia Tech	ACC Network Extra (Fri., Sat.), ACC Network (Sun.)
15	Florida State	Wake Forest	ACC Network Extra
16	Tennessee	Louisiana State	SEC Network+
17	UCLA	at Southern California	Pac-12 Network
18	Miami	at Virginia	ACC Network Extra
19	Michigan	at Penn State	Big Ten Network+
20	South Carolina	(5) Florida	SEC Network+ (Fri., Sat.), SEC Network (Sun.)
21	Arizona	(13) Oregon	Pac-12 Network
22	Virginia Tech	at (14) Pittsburgh	ACC Network Extra (Fri., Sat.), ACC Network (Sun.)
23	Alabama	(4) Mississippi (Fri.-Sat.)	SEC Network+ (Fri.), SEC Network (Sat.)
24	Texas Christian	Baylor	ESPN+
25	Indiana State	Idle

Series to watch

(1) Arkansas at (2) Mississippi State

For the 14th time in the history of the Baseball America Top 25, the top two teams in the rankings will meet in the regular season. The Razorbacks (16-3, 2-1) and Bulldogs (17-4, 2-1) have both impressed this season going into this SEC West showdown. For a full breakdown, including analysis from anonymous opposing coaches, click here.

(4) Mississippi at (23) Alabama

If Arkansas at Mississippi State is this weekend’s main event in the SEC West, this is a worthy undercard. The series was originally scheduled to run Thursday through Saturday, but storms pushed it back a day and the teams will now play a doubleheader Friday ahead of Saturday’s finale. Ole Miss (17-4, 3-0) is coming off a sweep of Auburn in the SEC’s opening weekend but will face a difficult test in Tuscaloosa. Alabama (15-6, 1-2) last week lost a series at Arkansas, but not before handing the Razorbacks their worst loss this century in Baum-Walker Stadium. The Crimson Tide will be looking to make another statement this weekend.

(7) Louisville at (12) Notre Dame

Notre Dame (10-3, 9-3) has been one of the surprises of the season, as it has won its first four ACC series to take an early lead in the Atlantic Division. Louisville (15-5, 7-2), meanwhile, has been one of the best teams in the ACC since joining the conference and has swept its last two series. If Notre Dame comes away with another series win this weekend, it will have clearly positioned itself as one of the conference favorites. If, however, Louisville can capture a road series win, it would show it has come all the way back from its series loss at Georgia Tech to begin conference play.

(13) Oregon at (21) Arizona

Oregon (11-4, 2-1) last weekend stayed hot with a series win against Arizona State to open Pac-12 play. Now, the Ducks will hit the road to take on Arizona (13-6, 1-2), which is coming off a series loss at UCLA. Oregon is 9-2 since splitting four games with Seattle in its first series of the year. It’s been a very impressive stretch for the Ducks but facing the best offense in the country will represent a new challenge. Arizona is difficult to beat at home and coming off that series loss at UCLA, it will be eager to bounce back this weekend.

Louisiana Tech at Southern Mississippi

Conference USA this weekend opens conference play, and it starts with a heavyweight showdown. LaTech (14-5) and Southern Miss (13-6) look to be the two best teams in the conference, or at least in the West Division (newly formed this year to limit travel during the pandemic). The Bulldogs come to Hattiesburg with a six-game winning streak and plenty of momentum after beating Arkansas, Ole Miss, Tulane and Louisiana-Monroe in that stretch. The Golden Eagles, for their part, have a four-game winning streak and are coming off a win Tuesday at Alabama. This weekend will be an early barometer for the conference title race and a chance for both teams to establish themselves as favorites.