FSU baseball: How is FSU not ranked in D1 Baseball poll?
By Kelvin Hunt
FSU baseball moved to 14-0 with an 8-0 shutout win over New Orleans Sunday afternoon. The FSU offense has been outstanding early this season, batting .377 (No. 1 nationally)with a .467 on-base percentage (top 10 nationally). The Noles have scored at least seven runs in every game, but it's not only the offense. FSU pitchers have a 2.93 ERA (top 10 nationally), with 187 strikeouts in 126 innings(No. 2 nationally). Defensively, FSU has a .980 fielding percentage (top 40 nationally). The Noles moved from No. 24 to No. 21 in the latest top-25 poll by Baseball America. The Noles remained at No. 19 in the latest top-25 poll by Perfect Game. How is it that FSU ranks among the best in several key categories, including a 14-0 start, and not have a top-25 ranking from D1 Baseball? The managing editor of D1 Baseball, Kendall Rogers, provided his reasoning, which makes zero sense:
In other words, their preseason rankings were trash. How can you say this when they had UC Santa Barbara ranked at No. 25 last week with a 5-5 record? They kept UC Santa Barbara ranked at No. 25 after they beat Villanova and the mighty UCONN Huskies last week. However, when we visit the NCAA RPI standings, FSU ranks No. 9. I'll be the first to tell you that FSU hasn't played a tough schedule through 14 games, but they have dominated those teams in nearly all those games. Several teams in the top 25 have losses to inferior opponents because it's hard to win baseball games. The fact that FSU has dominated opponents should mean something, especially if the other two polls recognize it. FSU has outscored opponents 168-48 and better than several teams ranked above them. The rankings will take care of themselves as more games get played, but I had to point out the hypocrisy with D1 Baseball rankings.