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Biggest Surprises
We are about halfway through the season now and there have been some positive surprises and some negative ones thus far. Here are my two biggest surprises through the first half of the season both positively and negatively.
A&M Aggies (SEC)
If you’d told me two weeks before the season started that A&M would be at 2 losses on the season after losing Tyler Stubblefield for the season (ACL), I’d have told you that you were crazy. Yet, that is the case so far. I’m not surprised that they didn’t lose at all over the first few weeks of the season (after all, they played no one until the Houston College Classic) but to be at 30-2 is impressive. The tough part of the Aggies schedule is yet to come (Miss St., Arkansas, LSU, Tenn., South Carolina, and Ole Miss), and it will be grueling over the last month and a half of the season for them, but no one can take away from what they’ve done thus far.
Oklahoma State BIG XII
The Cowboys of Oklahoma State have had an up-and-down season for the most part (23-9), but through the first nine games of conference play, they’ve been dominant. They’ve already passed both of their big tests of conference play (took 2-3 from TCU, swept Texas) and only have Texas Tech left on their schedule of teams that could trip them up. I said whomever wins the most between the three series that involved TCU, Texas, and Oklahoma State would win the conference. Well that’s the Cowboys. They’ve got a long way to go, but they’ve looked great so far.
Southern California PAC-12
For those of us that are too young to have watched it, USC used to be VERY good at baseball. The Trojans were barely in anyone’s Top-25 to start the season, but have earned their top ranking so far. They took weekend sets from Cal Poly, Arizona, and Washington thus far but do have UCLA, Oregon, Stanford, and Arizona State all still on the docket. If they get through that slate (one of the toughest in the country), they will have absolutely earned it.
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MLB Opening Week:
I know this is supposed to be a college baseball write-up and more on that in a minute, but let’s all take a second to thank God that baseball is back…
Alright, now that we’ve done that, let’s talk about some of the best team’s in the majors to start the season. The Washington Nationals might, no absolutely, have the best rotation in baseball. Between Scherzer, Zimmerman, Strasburg, Gonzalez, and Fister; there aren’t a ton of wins for the Nats’ opponents this year. If this team stays healthy, we might be playing the World Series in DC this year.
How about that Boston Red Sox lineup! I’d hate to have to pitch to that lineup this year if those guys stay healthy. Hitters 3-6 are seasoned vets that can all rake. Add the fact that they get 81 games to smash the ball off of the green monster, and AL East, BE AFRAID! BE VERY AFRAID!
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Okay, back to college baseball.
Best weekend series’ across the nation.
#6 UCLA @ #8 Southern California
#25 Virginia @ Georgia Tech
Oklahoma @ Texas
Stanford @ California
Mississippi @ #1 Vanderbilt
Miss St. @ #2 A&M
South Carolina @ #10 Florida
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