Talk about a pretty good year so far for an athletic program. The TCU Horned Frogs went to their first College World Series last summer, upsetting the Texas Longhorns in the process to reach it. Then, the Horned Frogs rattled off a perfect college football season, culminating with a Rose Bowl victory over Wisconsin. Now, TCU remains relevant in the college baseball world, being ranked eighth in the country in the latest NCAA baseball rankings, despite a 4-3 record.
Texas Christian is of course led by lefty ace Matt Purke, who would be in the Texas Rangers' farm system if it wasn't for Tom Hicks' financial woes. Still, Purke and his 16-0 record last year was a big reason for TCU's success and both he and TCU look to build on that this year. Purke, for what it's worth, projects to be a top ten pick in this year's MLB First-Year Player Draft. TCU looks to boost their record this weekend against Texas Tech.
The Baylor Bears are also ranked in the top 25 here, being ranked sixteenth overall. Baylor will take part in the Houston College Classic tournament this weekend.
Elsewhere in the NCAA baseball rankings, the Texas Longhorns are ranked sixth while the Rice Owls are ranked 21st. That those programs are ranked in the top 25 is no surprise as both are pretty prestigious programs. The Longhorns take on the ninth-ranked Stanford Cardinal this weekend while the Owls, like Baylor, are involved in the Houston College Classic along with Houston and Utah.
Full rankings, courtesy of Baseball America, are after the jump.
COLLEGE TOP 25 Rk. Team W-L Last Week Prev. 1. Florida 7-0 4-0 1 2. Vanderbilt 7-1 3-1 3 3. Oklahoma 9-0 5-0 5 4. South Carolina 6-0 3-0 7 5. UCLA 5-2 2-2 2 6. Texas 5-3 2-2 6 7. Cal State Fullerton 4-3 3-1 12 8. TCU 4-3 2-2 4 9. Stanford 4-3 2-2 8 10. Arizona State 6-1 3-1 9 11. Florida State 7-0 4-0 10 12. Clemson 5-1 3-0 11 13. Virginia 6-1 3-1 13 14. California 5-1 3-1 17 15. Oregon 4-3 3-1 15 16. Baylor 4-3 2-2 16 17. Arizona 5-1 2-1 18 18. College of Charleston 7-0 4-0 19 19. Louisiana State 7-0 4-0 20 20. Texas A&M 6-1 3-1 21 21. Rice 5-3 4-1
22 22. Connecticut 2-4 1-2 14 23. North Carolina 6-1 2-1 24 24. Fresno State 6-0 4-0 NR 25. UC Irvine 7-0 4-0 NR
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