Behind the Rankings: 2018 Week 2
A new feature to FPN is what we call “Behind the Rankings”. As a staff, we will offer some explanation and reasoning as to where people rank. Our staff understands that people have options when it comes to rankings, but what makes our rankings different is that movement will occur on a weekly basis. Those of you who follow the traditional rankings, that have been around for some time, are accustomed to little movement within those rankings. FPN rankings show more movement than what is out there. Therefore we think that offering some rationale would be appropriate. This addition is free to all visitors, moving forward the feature will be part of your “Inner Circle” membership.
The second week of the season was full of upsets and general chaos. Thus, the rankings went through a significant adjustment. Remember the preseason rankings are based mainly on last year and factor in statistics, the strength of schedule and returning players. Now in week two, we are focused on the games themselves and what those wins and losses mean each week.
Florida: People may be wondering why a team who dropped a game moved up to the top spot? Well, they have solid wins and the loss came at the hands of a ULL team that is better than many expected, including us. The Gators took two of three in the series and their win over Michigan looked better based on Michigan’s performance this past weekend.
Oregon: Although the Ducks dropped an extra inning 1-0 game to the Ole Miss behind a gem by Kaitlin Lee (4-0), they have been impressive in the rest of their games. They have one of the most dangerous offenses in the country and that is backed up by a rock-solid rotation. They will face four top 25 opponents this weekend at the Mary Nutter Classic.
Florida State: The Seminoles move up to the three spot based on how balanced they looked thus far. Sure, they lost to Michigan, who is better than expected and took two from Minnesota. They have the pitching and the hitting to beat anyone, they issue moving forward will be consistency at the plate throughout the line-up.
Baylor: The Bears improved to 7-0 on the season while picking up, at the time, two top 25 wins this past weekend. That makes them, in our opinion, the best of the undefeated teams to this point. The win over Alabama was what moved them into the No. 4 spot. In two weeks at the Judi Garman Classic, they will face Michigan, ULL, and Florida. Mark that on your calendar.
LSU: The Tigers sit at an impressive 10-0 mark thus far. This past weekend they picked up two nice wins over No. 16 Oregon State. If this team stays healthy in the circle, they will be right in the hunt for an SEC title in 2018. This weekend will offer us a lot more insight as to where this team is at as they travel to week two of the Mary Nutter Classic. They will face No. 2 Oregon and No. 6 UCLA.
UCLA: Another team with a perfect record (9-0) so far in 2018. The reason they are not higher is that they have not played a very tough schedule as of yet. Their best win is over formerly ranked opponent Fordham. They will see LSU as we stated earlier this weekend. But overall their non-conference schedule is not overly tough.
Washington: The Huskies are also perfect on the season with a 12-0 record, they have been crushing the ball and their pitching has been spot on. So why are they so low? The most significant factor so far has been their schedule. To this point, their opponents’ combined record is 26-44 and only two have records above .500. Also, they have yet to play a power-five team. They do play Texas today and head to the Mary Nutter this weekend where they will face No. 9 Texas A&M (9-0), No. 20 Notre Dame (6-3), and No. 25 Nebraska (8-2).
Oklahoma: Some may think them dropping from No. 1 to No. 8 was a bit harsh. Maybe, maybe not but they have yet to post a quality win and lost a game to unranked Boston University. The best thing about rankings is that they are not a prediction of future results. There is plenty of time for the two-time defending champions to work their way back into the top spot, but that is why we play the games. They will face several ranked teams this weekend at the Mary Nutter.
Texas A&M: The Aggies are a perfect 9-0, they have cut it close a few times, but they have come out on top. Although they have not had any eye-popping wins they have solid wins and what counts, they are winning games. All five games this weekend at the Mary Nutter are against ranked opponents, so after this week, we will know where the Aggies stand.
Tennessee: The Vols are off to a good start (10-1). They did drop a game to Florida Atlantic this past weekend, which held them back some. With that said, the Vols also have some good wins over Arizona St, Utah, USF Oklahoma State, and seem to be right in the mix in the SEC. They face Oregon this weekend, which should be a great test.
Auburn: Yet another undefeated team (13-0), but much like several others they lack in the quality win category. Auburn also heads out west for the Mary Nutter and will face at least two ranked teams. It will be their first real tests of the season and it will be interesting to see how they play. Many thought this might be a transition year, but so far they look tough.
Alabama: The Tide have been playing about where we would have expected, they drop a few spots, but that is more of a function of some others moving up than them moving down for the loss to Baylor. This weekend they will welcome No. 4 Florida State to town and play them twice.
Louisiana: Heading into the season nobody knew what to expect from the Ragin’ Cajun’s this year, including us. So far so good for first-year coach Gerry Glasco. They are off to a 7-2 start only losing to No. 1 Florida. They also earned a win over the Gators in their three-game series. They also grabbed a win over No. 16 Oregon State.
Georgia: This team has looked better than we expected they would heading into the season. The opened the season with three nice wins and their only loss was to Oregon. Their offense has been impressive outscoring the opposition 90-14 in just ten games. Their schedule for the next month is a bit light before they head into SEC play.
Arizona: Some may think they are ranked a bit low, but they have not posted a ranked win. There is no reason not to think that they will move up as the season progresses. This weekend at the Mary Nutter they will face Oklahoma in what should be an excellent test for both teams.
Oregon State: Beavers are off to a good start in 2018. Their only losses have come against ranked SEC teams Georgia and LSU. They are a team that can not be looked past and will cause some teams some problems.
Oklahoma State: Much like Oregon State above them, they have impressed out of the gate. They did drop a game to the Beavers this season. But, they also have some nice wins including one over Arizona. They will be tested at the Mary Nutter where they will get a rematch with Oregon State and face Oregon as well.
Arizona State: They may be a bit low, but it’s early. They only have the one loss to Tennessee and own a few solid wins. This weekend they will meet up with the Sooners and a tough Mississippi State team. Expect to see them move up if they have a good weekend.
Ole Miss: The Rebels stepped up and split with Oregon which is impressive. They did not move up because they also have losses to Lipscomb and Houston. Kaitlin Lee seems to have started where she left off last year and shutting out Oregon through nine innings is impressive. There is a decent chance they could win their next ten games, all against unranked opponents, and head into SEC play 16-2.
Notre Dame: They enter the rankings after a strong performance at the ACC/Big Ten Challange, splitting with Michigan and taking two from Minnesota. It will be interesting to see how they progress throughout the season. They face Auburn, Texas A&M, and Washington in their next three games.
Michigan: The Wolverines jump into the rankings after a productive weekend splitting with both Notre Dame and Florida State. Freshman pitcher Meghan Beaubien has been impressive thus far and was a major reason for the Wolverines success this past weekend.
Minnesota: Well they get the most significant drop of the year so far due to the 0-4 weekend losing twice to Florida State and Notre Dame. Coming into the season, the Gophers were one of the best returning offenses in the country. That was not obvious this past weekend. They struggled to get key hits and lacked power. They had some interesting batting orders as well. The season is young, and there is talent there, it will be interesting to see if they get things turned around this week.
California: Cal is off to a 9-0 start and enters this week rankings. They have yet to play a ranked opponent, but that will change this week when they face Texas A&M. They will also have to play a tough Long Beach State team at the Mary Nutter.
USC Upstate: They also make their debut in the rankings with their 7-0 record. No huge wins just yet, that won’t happen until early March. Can they stay perfect until then? We will have to wait and see.
Nebraska: This team has looked far better than they did a year ago. The Cornhuskers are off to an 8-2 start with a few quality wins. They will have a chance to notch a high profile win this weekend when they will face Texas A&M, UCL, and Washington.
