Ole Miss Baseball Pays Price in Polls After Being Swept by Mississippi State

Every action in a game and every result of a game has consequences.

Sometimes those consequences are good. Last weekend, Ole Miss climbed into the top 25 of every major college baseball poll and looked like a team settling into a groove.

Sometimes, though, the consequences swing the other way. Getting swept at home by your archrival will do that, and that’s exactly what happened to the Rebels.

After dropping all three games to Mississippi State at Swayze Field, Ole Miss tumbled out of the top 25 in both the D1Baseball.com and Baseball America rankings.

Falling out of the former isn’t all that surprising. Ole Miss has had a hard time convincing D1Baseball’s voters all season, even during the eight game winning streak that pushed the Rebels into the conversation.

Baseball America is a different story. That poll had been the most consistent believer in Ole Miss, slotting the Rebels in every edition of its top 25 since the preseason.

Losing that spot for the first time says a lot about how damaging the weekend was, not just in the standings but in perception.

Rankings aren’t everything, but they do reflect momentum.

A week ago, Ole Miss had plenty of it.

Now the Rebels are staring at the other side of that equation, trying to figure out how to steady themselves before the slide becomes something bigger.

D1 Baseball Top 25

1. UCLA (25-2)
2. Texas (23-4)
3. Georgia Tech (22-5)
4. Mississippi State (24-4)
5. Georgia (23-6)
6. North Carolina (24-4)
7. Florida State (21-6)
8. Southern Miss (21-7)
9. Oregon State (20-5)
10. Virginia (22-7)
11. Oklahoma (19-8)
12. Southern California (26-3)
13. West Virginia (19-5)
14. Coastal Carolina (20-7)
15. Oregon (23-5)
16. Alabama (22-7)
17. Arkansas (19-10)
18. Auburn (20-7)
19. Nebraska (22-6)
20. Texas A&M (22-5)
21. Florida (23-6)
22. Boston College (20-9)
23. UCF (18-8)
24. Kentucky (21-6)
25. Arizona State (20-8)

Baseball America Top 25

1. UCLA (25-2)
2. Texas (23-4)
3. Georgia Tech (22-5)
4. Georgia (23-6)
5. Mississippi State (24-4)
6. Florida State (21-6)
7. North Carolina (24-4-1)
8. Oregon State (21-5)
9. Southern California (26-3)
10. Alabama (22-7)
11. Auburn (20-7)
12. Oklahoma (19-8)
13. West Virginia (19-5)
14. Florida (23-6)
15. Arkansas (19-10)
16. Southern Miss (21-7)
17. Oregon (23-5)
18. Coastal Carolina (20-7)
19. Virginia (22-7)
20. NC State (18-10)
21. Boston College (20-9)
22. Arizona State (20-8)
23. Texas A&M (22-5)
24. Nebraska (22-6)
25. Kentucky (21-6)