Jim Quist @ACCTheQ –
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
There’s a lot to consider when putting together a collegiate baseball poll. With all the dust flying we’ve ended up with grit in our rankings. Prepare your eyes, it’s about to get grittier. There are a total of nine ACC teams playing at .500 or above in the conference. Four out of the Atlantic and five out of the Coastal Division. Louisville and Notre Dame had a weekend series that could have put a bit of distance between the teams but the first two games were split while number three was postponed. Right now, the Cardinals have an 8-3 conference record while the Irish are 10-4 in the Atlantic. In the Coastal Georgia Tech has a 10-5 record while North Carolina and Virginia Tech are at 9-6 in the ACC.
I tend to stick with the guys that I know at D1Baseball for their take on how teams are performing. For the sake of comparison we’ll also take a look at what Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America have to say on this subject as well. We’ll rotate in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll and NCBWA rankings from time to time, too.
Once again, no consensus as to which team belongs at the top of the polls. The top 5 is a mish-mash this week which hasn’t been the case for most of the season. When it comes to ACC teams, well, you’re about to get a look at how some voters aren’t as sold on the conference as others. I tend to believe this is a case of familiarity more than anything at all. One of the main reasons we invite Aaron Fitt from D1Baseball to join us on ACC Nation Podcast is because of his knowledge base of the conference.
Grit
| RANK | D1BASEBALL | COLLEGIATE BASEBALL | BASEBALL AMERICA |
| #1 | VANDERBILT | VANDERBILT | ARKANSAS |
| #2 | ARKANSAS | OLE MISS | VANDERBILT |
| #3 | OLE MISS | TEXAS TECH | OLE MISS |
| #4 | TEXAS TECH | ARKANSAS | TEXAS TECH |
| #5 | TEXAS | LOUISVILLE | MISS STATE |
| #6/17/6 | GEORGIA TECH | NOTRE DAME | LOUISVILLE |
| #7/18/9 | LOUISVILLE | GEORGIA TECH | GEORGIA TECH |
| #13/20/12 | NOTRE DAME | NORTH CAROLINA | NOTRE DAME |
| #18/30/13 | FLORIDA STATE | FLORIDA STATE | VIRGINIA TECH |
| #19/17 | MIAMI | N/A | PITT |
| #23/18 | VIRGINIA TECH | N/A | FLORIDA STATE |
| #24/20 | PITT | N/A | MIAMI |
| #21 | N/A | N/A | NORTH CAROLINA |
In conference stats Georgia Tech leads in batting with a team average .304, Kevin Parada of the Yellow Jackets leads individuals with a .410 batting average. Tyler Martin of Florida State and Sal Frelich of Boston College lead the ACC in runs scored with 26 apiece. Frelich also leads the conference with 39 hits.
The home run leaders are Florida State’s Matheu Nelson and Notre Dame’s Niko Kavada who’ve sent 10 out of the park so far this season.
The 2021 ACC Baseball Tournament is scheduled for May 25-30 in Charlotte where we’ll find out who has the grit to make it to Omaha.
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