FSU baseball (15-0) is one of two undefeated college baseball teams nationally, with Alabama's loss against Presbyterian on Sunday. Tennessee (16-0) is the only other undefeated team.
Someone who covers NCAA baseball made an interesting statement after FSU defeated Lipscomb on Friday night:
Florida State is easily the most underrated team in the sport right now. We need to start talking about them as the possible #1 team in college baseball pic.twitter.com/2SWlSxhbtM
— Micah Beutell (@Micah_CBC) March 8, 2025
FSU went on to win the second game of the series before the third game got canceled due to weather.
I read the statement and thought about it for a second. FSU has a top-five ranking in most national polls and has dominated nearly every team they've played.
With only two undefeated teams remaining, that stat shows how hard it is to win every baseball game. Is FSU one of the most underrated teams?
I think it's hard to say a team is underrated when they have a consensus top-five ranking. Should they be ranked No. 1 nationally?
No.
FSU is undefeated, but they have played one of the softer schedules nationally through 15 games. Their strength of schedule is No. 201(their opponent's win/loss record is 75-96).
No.1 ranked Tennessee's strength of schedule is No. 93 (their opponent's win/loss record is 105-98).
FSU hasn't played a team from a major conference yet. They have played 13 home games and only two on the road. They only have two wins against Quad 2 teams and the other 13 wins against Quad 4 teams.
Their RPI is 22 after 15 games, but they will have an opportunity to change that when they host the rival Florida Gators (15-2) on Tuesday evening. Florida's RPI is 33 after 17 games.
FSU owned the Gators last season, winning all three games, with the final two run-rule wins by 10+ runs. Florida has a Quad 1 win, but the two losses have come against Quad 2 and Quad 3 teams.
These rivalry games are hard to assess because they don't play an actual series, so neither team faces the best-starting pitchers either has to offer.
Both offenses and defenses are nearly identical on paper, but FSU might hold the edge in pitching overall. If FSU makes it four in a row against the Gators? That'll begin to put the narrative they haven't beaten a good team to rest.