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Notre Dame is on the fast track under the direction of head coach Mik Aoki, as the Fighting Irish have played well enough early this season to enter the Perfect Game College Top 25.
Aoki thought the Irish had a chance to be an NCAA postseason club entering the 2013 campaign. However, it was originally thought that pitching depth might be an issue. Despite some preseason concerns on Aoki's part, the Irish are playing an outstanding brand of baseball.
The Irish entered our rankings at No. 23 this week, while UC Irvine is the other team to enter the rankings. The Anteaters, who are 6-1, are off to a fantastic start after sweeping Baylor at home and taking three of four from California this past weekend.
Florida and Texas Christian dropped out of the rankings. The Gators made the steepest drop in the history of the PG Top 25, while the Horned Frogs dropped out of the rankings after falling to 0-6 after a three-game series against Cal State Fullerton.
The top five remains the same this week with North Carolina, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, LSU and UCLA leading the charge, while South Carolina is the newest team to enter the top 10.
Conference breakdown
SEC: 7
Pacific 12: 6
ACC: 4
Big 12: 2
Big East: 2
Big West: 2
Conference USA: 2
The Perfect Game Top 25 will be released each Monday morning throughout the college baseball season.
ALSO SEE: Sunday's roundup/Weekend in review
CHAT: Check out this week's chat transcript
Rank |
Team |
W-L |
Conference |
Previous rank |
1. |
North Carolina
|
6-0 |
Atlantic Coast |
1 |
2. |
Arkansas
|
7-1 |
Southeastern
|
2 |
3. |
Vanderbilt |
7-1 |
Southeastern
|
3 |
4. |
Louisiana State
|
6-1 |
Southeastern |
4 |
5. |
UCLA
|
4-2 |
Pacific 12 |
5 |
6. |
Stanford
|
5-2 |
Pacific 12 |
6 |
7. |
Oregon State
|
8-0
|
Pacific 12 |
8 |
8. |
Oregon
|
6-1 |
Pacific 12 |
9
|
9. |
North Carolina State |
5-1
|
Atlantic Coast |
10 |
10. |
South Carolina |
5-1
|
Southeastern |
11 |
11. |
Georgia Tech
|
6-1 |
Atlantic Coast |
12 |
12. |
Kentucky
|
5-1 |
Southeastern
|
13
|
13. |
Mississippi
|
7-0
|
Southeastern |
14
|
14. |
Rice
|
5-2 |
Conference USA
|
15 |
15. |
Louisville |
6-1 |
Big East
|
16 |
16. |
Mississippi State
|
9-0 |
Southeastern |
17 |
17. |
Florida State |
7-0 |
Atlantic Coast
|
18 |
18. |
Cal State Fullerton
|
8-0 |
Big West |
19 |
19. |
Oklahoma |
9-0 |
Big 12 |
21 |
20. |
Arizona
|
7-1 |
Pacific 12 |
22 |
21. |
UC Irvine |
6-1 |
Big West
|
NR |
22. |
Texas
|
6-1 |
Big 12 |
24 |
23. |
Notre Dame |
5-1 |
Big East
|
NR |
24. |
Southern Mississippi
|
5-2 |
Conference USA |
23 |
25. |
Arizona State |
4-2 |
Pacific 12
|
25 |
Dropped out: Florida, Texas Christian
Entered: UC Irvine (21), Notre Dame (23)
Others to watch: Florida Gulf Coast, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Miami, Pepperdine, Clemson, Mercer, Cal Poly, Florida, Missouri State.