2026 College Baseball Top 25 Rankings Update: Week 5

Conference play has officially begun, and teams have started to build their pecking order against rivals. We got ejections, bat throws, robbed home runs, and explosions of emotions this weekend, and again, we’re only in March.

A handful of teams have really boosted their stock, while for others, it has become time to hit the panic button.

Biggest Risers

Arkansas finally looked the part this weekend, taking a series at home against a top-five opponent in Mississippi State. TJ Pompey played hero in game one, crushing a walk-off home run, and set themselves up great for a Saturday split in a doubleheader.

There is still some to be desired with the Hogs, but this was a huge step in the right direction.

Louisiana Lafayette joins the top 25 this week after taking their first Sun Belt series against South Alabama. Overall, the Cajuns have looked the part, only dropping one series this season on opening weekend to an extremely talented Missouri State team.

With wins over LSU, Kansas State, and Dallas Baptist to add onto the resume, they are well deserving of a spot as they’ll travel to San Marcos next week to take on Texas State.

Arizona State has been knocking on the door all season so far, and finally broke through with a series win over TCU. With four of their five losses coming from top 20 opponents this season, the Sun Devils have been battle-tested and held their own, for the most part. 

Led by an explosive offense and an elite Friday arm, they could make a run at the Big 12 title this season.

Biggest Sliders

LSU has strung together two rough weeks, dropping two-of-three against Vanderbilt in their SEC opener. While they were able to salvage a win on Sunday, the Tigers have yet to look the part and appear to be reeling. It’s hard to argue the talent and coaching they have in Baton Rouge, but the wheels may be coming off.

Wake Forest had their first true test this week with Coastal Carolina in a midweek game, followed by Florida State, and dropped all four games. I believe this is more of a testament to what Florida State is rather than a knock on the Deacs, but this upcoming week is a huge ‘prove it week’ against Virginia.

TCU drops out completely after losing the series in Tempe to Arizona State. The Horned Frogs sit at 11-8 overall, with an extremely competitive schedule, but with their top wins to hang their hats on coming opening weekend, followed by struggles, they’ll need to start trending in the right direction. 

Others Receiving Votes

Ole Miss, while maintaining an impressive record, dropped their first SEC series, taking one-of-three games from Texas, again knocking on the door.

Other Key Storylines

There was plenty of controversy around the country in regards to bat flips and ejections this weekend. While there are some rules around the issue, the explosive emotion is what makes college baseball, college baseball. Oklahoma’s Jaxon Willits was the main culprit of a wrongful ejection this weekend for slamming a bat, with no taunting, words, or gestures, following a clutch home run against Texas A&M.

On the flip side, there was a questionable bat toss towards South Carolina Pitcher Alex Valentin from Florida’s Brendan Lawson with no ejection. While there are rules in place, the enforcement seems arbitrary. 

At the end of the day, the flare, emotion, bat flips and all are what makes this sport so special, and the more we get poor decisions for ejections, the more the sport gets dampened. Let the kids play.

The post 2026 College Baseball Top 25 Rankings Update: Week 5 appeared first on Just Baseball.