The Arkansas Razorbacks did not last long as the top-ranked team in college baseball. A SEC rival bypassed Arkansas this past weekend, as the Texas Longhorns notched a critical road series win this past weekend. That win helped push Texas to the top spot in the coaches’ poll.
First, here’s the post-Week 9 coaches’ poll rankings, courtesy of USA Today:
- Texas (+1)
- Arkansas (-1)
- Tennessee (+1)
- Clemson (+1)
- Georgia (+1)
- Oregon State (+3)
- LSU (-4)
- Florida State
- Auburn (+3)
- North Carolina (+3)
- Ole Miss (-4)
- UCLA (-1)
- Georgia Tech (+5)
- UC Irvine (+1)
- Alabama (-5)
- Oklahoma (+3)
- Vanderbilt (-3)
- Oregon (-1)
- Louisville (-3)
- West Virginia (+3)
- Coastal Carolina (+4)
- Arizona (JUMP)
- Troy (-2)
- TCU (JUMP)
- Western Kentucky (JUMP)
Wake Forest, Kansas, and Southern Miss fell out from last week’s poll.
There’s a new #1 for the second straight week. This time, it’s the Texas Longhorns, who moved there after taking two of three from the Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington. The series win moved Texas to 29-5 overall and 13-2 in SEC play.
Texas’ offense was expected to be potent in 2025 — and it has thus far. Ethan Mendoza and Max Belyeu are both hitting over .350 and rank among the best bats in the nation. Will Gasparino, a hot high school prospect two years ago, is tied with Rylan Galvan for the team lead in home runs (11).
However, perhaps the brightest spot for the Longhorns has been their pitching. Left-hander Jared Spencer was a solid arm at Indiana State for three years and was drafted by the Phillies in the 14th round last July. Instead, he went to Texas and has thrived, with a 3.08 ERA and 65 strikeouts over 49.2 IP.
Arkansas, meanwhile, hit a rare skid over the weekend. The Razorbacks lost two of three to the Georgia Bulldogs, who moved to #5 in the poll. Both of Arkansas’ losses were decided by one run.
In other ranking-related news, Oregon State swept Cal State Fullerton to move to #6 in the poll. UNC swept Wake Forest at home to push the Demon Deacons out of the top-25 and themselves up to #10. In a matchup between top-15 teams in Auburn, the Tigers swept LSU to move into the top-10.
There were also three teams to move into the top-25: Arizona, TCU, and Western Kentucky.
Things have fared much better for TCU this season, as the Horned Frogs are 28-9 this season — the school won 33 games last season. TCU continued their push towards the NCAA Tournament with a sweep of Kansas this past weekend.
It’s been a fantastic year for standout freshmen Noah Franco and Sawyer Strosnider, both part of the strong crop of players recruited last summer (I wrote more about that this past February). Franco is batting .328, while Strosnider is hitting .406. Strosnider is in the top-50 of the nation in total hits (98).
WKU, meanwhile, is 31-5 in the 2025 season. Western Kentucky swept Liberty in Lynchburg this past weekend before a marquee tilt with Louisville on April 15. The Hilltoppers have been led, in part, by 21-year-old Ryan Wideman. Wideman is hitting .446, which is the fourth-best in the nation.
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