Is baseball back? That’s the question Mississippi State and Ole Miss fans are asking as their respective teams seem to be off to a resurgent start to the 2024 season. For Southern Miss fans, another good season in the making isn’t much of a surprise as the Golden Eagles were just one game shy of Omaha last year.
All three commenced conference play over the weekend with stellar showings, launching each in at least one of the main rankings systems put out weekly by college baseball pollsters.
For Mississippi State, a series victory over defending national champion LSU put the Bulldogs at No. 16 in Baseball America’s rankings and No. 17 in D1Baseball’s. Climbing into the Top 25 for the first time this season is a wild twist as this time last week, some fans were calling for head coach Chris Lemonis’ job.
Ole Miss, taking two of three from South Carolina, came in one spot behind its in-state rival at No. 17 in Baseball America’s poll. Southern Miss, after a perfect 4-0 week, entered that same poll at No. 25. However, neither the Rebels nor the Golden Eagles were able to make their way into D1Baseball’s this week.
But they are close, according to managing editor Kendall Rogers.
In the spirit of transparency, here are some other teams that were right on the cusp of the Top 25 for us: @SouthernMissBSB (first team out)@OleMissBSB @UKBaseball @HuskerBaseball @CanesBaseball @GTBaseball
— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogers) March 18, 2024
This week’s schedules for each team:
Mississippi State – Memphis (3/19 at 6 p.m.); @ Texas A&M (3/21 at 6:30 p.m., 3/22 at 6 p.m., 3/23 at 2 p.m.)
Ole Miss – Southern Miss (3/19 at 6 p.m. in Pearl); @ Tennessee (3/22 at 5:30 p.m., 3/23 at 5 p.m., and 3/24 at noon)
Southern Miss – Ole Miss (3/19 at 6 p.m. in Pearl); @ Georgia Southern (3/22 at 5:30 p.m., 3/23 at 1 p.m., and 3/24 at 11 a.m.)
