College Podcast: Previewing Week 14

Image credit: TCU's Russell Smith (Photo by Lance Carter)

On this episode of the Baseball America College Podcast, presented by Rapsodo, Teddy Cahill and Joe Healy preview week 14 of the college baseball season, which, for most conferences, is the final regular-season weekend of the 2021 campaign.

 

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To understand what’s still at stake around the country, we take a conference-by-conference look at the top conferences in the country, discuss what’s on deck for this weekend and how the results could have bearing on the final standings. 

The topics discussed at length are: 

• The Big 12 race, which currently stands with Texas Christian one game ahead of Texas. The Longhorns have the tiebreaker by virtue of winning the series with TCU, so if UT can simply win one more game this weekend against West Virginia than the Horned Frogs do on the road against Kansas State, it wins the regular-season title. If not, it’s TCU’s trophy. Also, keep an eye on the series between Oklahoma and Baylor, as that three-game set in Waco could play a big role in those teams’ at-large chances. 
• The SEC title race, which comes down to Arkansas and Tennessee. If Arkansas handles its business this weekend against Florida at home, it will have its first SEC regular-season title since 2004. Tennessee has a very winnable but tricky series against South Carolina on the road. Series involving Georgia, Alabama and Louisiana State will also be worth your time, as all three are on the bubble. 
• Arizona and Oregon looking to win the Pac-12 title. There are two weekends of Pac-12 play left, but Arizona only has one left before taking on Dixie State over the final weekend of the season, so its goal this weekend in a series against Oregon State is to put enough space between it and Oregon so that the Ducks can’t catch them while the Wildcats are idle in conference play. 
• The various ACC series that will have an impact on the bubble. Seemingly every series in the ACC has bubble implications, and while that’s a small exaggeration, it’s not too terribly far off from being true. With only Notre Dame having pulled ahead in the standings and only Boston College and Wake Forest out of the mix, there is still a lot of room for movement in the middle of the standings. 
• The jumble at the top of the Big Ten involving Nebraska, Michigan, Indiana, and to a lesser degree, Maryland. With Nebraska and Indiana competing together in a pod with Ohio State in Bloomington and Maryland playing a series with Michigan this weekend, a lot will be decided in the coming days.