Last Eight In: Tennessee, Arizona, Rice, Tulane, Old Dominion, Southern Miss, Arizona State, Michigan State
First Eight Out: USC, UC Irvine, Wake Forest, Washington, Boston College, UNC-Wilmington, Cal State Northridge, Duke
During the last two weekends, Mississippi State has looked like one of the top teams in the country. Two weekends ago, the Bulldogs swept Oregon. This past weekend, they took two of three from Vanderbilt. That’s two Top 25 series wins in two weeks. That is a great sign from a team looking to improve on last seasons disappointing 24-30 campaign. The Bulldogs have seven players who have at least 25 at bats this season and are hitting over .300, and feature a weekend rotation led by a legitimate ace in Dakota Hudson (2-1 with a 1.38 ERA in 32.2 innings this season). With 14 wins so far this year, the Bulldogs could be set to return to the national stage like they were in 2014 (39 wins) and 2013 (51 wins and a runner up finish at the College World Series).
Joining the Bulldogs in the field are a pair of new teams, Old Dominion and Southern Miss, both out of Conference USA. Old Dominion sits alone atop of Conference USA with a 3-0 record and are winners of six straight and eight of their last ten. The Monarchs have some solid wins on the year, including one over NC State, and feature a veteran team led by senior outfielder Connor Myers (.341 with 3 home runs and 13 RBI’s) and a pitching staff that features six juniors or seniors among their top eight pitchers in terms of innings so far this season. Southern Miss is just behind the Monarchs in the standings at 2-1 and features a pair of wins over SEC opponents this season (Auburn and Alabama). The Golden Eagles are led by their offense that features a team .306 average and scores over seven runs per game. Southern Miss has already hit 26 home runs as a team and are going to be challengers in the C-USA this year. With Florida Atlantic and Rice also in the league, watch for Conference USA to be a tough league that produces multiple NCAA teams this season.
ACC: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Virginia
American: Houston, Tulane, East Carolina
Big East: Creighton
Big 12: Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech
Big Ten: Michigan, Michigan State
Pac-12: Arizona State, Arizona, California, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA
SEC: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
A-10: VCU
America East: Stony Brook
A-Sun: North Florida
Big South: Coastal Carolina
Big West: Long Beach State, UC Santa Barbara
CAA: Charleston
C-USA: Florida Atlantic, Rice, Southern Miss, Old Dominion
Horizon: Wright State
Ivy: Columbia
MAAC: Monmouth
MAC: Kent State
MEAC: Florida A&M
MVC: Dallas Baptist, Missouri State
MWC: Fresno State
NEC: Bryant
OVC: Southeast Missouri
Patriot: Navy
Southern: Wofford
Southland: Southeastern Louisiana
Summit: Oral Roberts
Sun Belt: South Alabama
SWAC: Alabama State
WAC: Seattle
WCC: BYU
