Once again, coming to you to talk about the second week of midweek carnage inside the college baseball world. Some are still busy trying to overreact, while others are coming to terms with the fact that yes, midweek matters, but most importantly, that the gap between power in high majors has all but closed over the last few years, creating the madness that we get on any given night in college baseball. It really is a thing of beauty. The sport has grown in popularity, while the product on the field at every school just keeps getting better each year. We’re only through two whole weeks of the season, and 2026 is carrying the traction to be one of the best seasons of college baseball we’ve ever seen. All of which gets a shot in the arm during the midweek, as crowds all around the country fill stadiums for discounted tickets and concessions. 

Let’s jump right into the thick of three thoughts and takeaways from all the action throughout college baseball from the midweek action. 

As a reminder, before talking about the action, losing a midweek or two does not mean your team won’t earn a trip to a Regional, or even the College World Series; it just means they had a bad night while the winner executed better, that’s just baseball. Celebrate those wins, but understand that college baseball is a marthon not a sprint, and losing a few midweeks doesn’t spell disaster. On occasion, you might start to grow concerned if the problems that arise during the midweek carry over into the weekend series, but overall, midweek games are a small chapter in the season’s storybook. 

There aren’t many teams that escaped the midweek carnage this weekend; we had UCLA, LSU, Georgia Tech, and Arkansas all take a loss on Tuesday. All of those losses came at home, as the Sun Belt went 2-0, the Southland went 1-0, and San Diego State, out of the Mountain West Conference, went into UCLA and stunned the Bruins, all setting the scene for an insane night of college baseball. Not to mention, New Orleans taking down Tulane, Southern Miss run ruling Alabama 14-4, and Memphis dominating Little Rock 24-5, all of that on Tuesday night. On Wednesday night, the carnage continued as Troy went into Foley Field and took down Georgia 6-5, then Arkansas State and Arkansas, going down in a 1-0 final with the Razorbacks going out on top to split the midweek series with the Red Wolves. 

Second, this is a thought that often comes to me throughout the year, but really hits home on midweeks like we’ve had this week. That thought? Aren’t we lucky that college baseball is not controlled by the ultra-greedy, and we still get rivalries that matter to folks? Just this week alone, we’ve had Kentucky and Western Kentucky, Texas A&M and Lamar, Arkansas and Arkansas State, Alabama and Southern Miss, Tulane and South Alabama, LSU and McNeese, Louisville and Eastern Kentucky. We don’t get those games often in other sports, and when we do, the return trip to the smaller school isn’t an option. Not in baseball, man, everyone plays everyone, and coaches are intentional in the way the scuedle regional rivalries for the betterment of the sport with the fans in mind. That’s something about college baseball that really makes the sport different from others: we have games that matter to the fans and the local rosters, which make the sport better. Unless you just hate fun regional banter, those games create lifelong memories for all involved to celebrate, because when you don’t get those games in other sports, it drives people to the ballpark where they’re able to enjoy a night with their families while reliving the glory days of college athletics, where those games were played in every sport, every single year. Maybe soon we can see Memphis and Tennessee renewing that baseball rivalry, Alabama or Auburn heading to South Alabama, and so on, because what it does is sell tickets, which in turn brings more people to your ballpark, leading to more money flowing through your school. 

Just another thought from watching baseball for the last two weeks, college baseball isn’t football. It’s about time we stop using the football terminology of power conference and non-power conference when describing college baseball. Why, you might ask? For example, the Sun Belt Baseball Conference is a threat to every major conference including the Southeastern Conference, and I’m not saying the SEC isn’t the best because it is, the championships back that up, but on any given night you can take a team from the Sun Belt like an Arkansas State, South Alabama, Troy, plus Southern Miss and Coastal Carolina and place them agaisnt the Southeastern Conference or others and those programs will compete. You have teams out of the American, the Conference USA, Southland, etc that can do the same. Baseball is not football or even basketball; the gap between the programs has drastically closed recently, with schools and conferences investing in baseball, creating a golden era of college baseball that might never be topped. Just let college baseball be college baseball; don’t try to force a college football attitude on the near-perfect product we can have and enjoy. 

Lastly, we’re going to learn a lot about Ole Miss and Mississippi State this weekend as they both head to Texas to play in separate classics in Arlington and Houston. Both have really good offensive units this season. Everyone knew Mississippi State had the bats with Ace Reese, Noah Sullivan, and Aidan Teel, who are just a few names in the talented Mississippi State roster. Mississippi State is one of the rare teams this season that a 1-9 in the batting lineup can beat you, plus the guys coming off the bench. Then you have Ole Miss, who might not have the pitching depth that Mississippi State has, but has the bats as well, with 1-9 that can rip the seams off the ball. Judd Utermark, Austin Fawley, and Will Furniss are three of the nine who can light up the scoreboard for Ole Miss this season. That three-game series in late March has the potential to break all the scoring records and then some with the way these bats are rolling for the Bulldogs and Rebels. As a reminder, both teams are undefeated heading into the weekend. We’ll see what they’re made of with the likenesses of Arizona State, Coastal Carolina, Ohio State, and UCLA, and remaining perfect through the weekend might stir excitement about the possibility of a College World Series with both the Rebels and Bulldogs. 

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