Unranked Auburn baseball to face seven ranked opponents in 2023
Auburn baseball head coach Butch Thompson often refers to the SEC as the "highest level of amateur baseball" in the country, and recent polls reinforce that notion. D1Baseball.com just released their preseason Top 25 rankings ($) for the upcoming 2023 season, and Auburn's not one of the nine ranked teams from the Southeastern Conference, a year removed from a three-game stint in Omaha at the College World Series.
D1Baseball managing editor Kendall Rogers, in comment to Auburn Daily, says he would have Auburn somewhere in the 26-29 range, along with Mississippi State and future SEC foes Texas & Oklahoma. Aaron Fitt, national writer, said he would take Auburn, Mississippi State, & Texas from that grouping along with Arizona State for his "next four" teams in the poll.
Fitt elaborated when asked, saying: "I hated leaving Auburn out of our Top 25, because it feels like this program has a knack for exceeding expectations under Butch Thompson's leadership. Could certainly envision that happening again. SEC is just so very rugged."
Leading that "rugged" conference, and the nation, is LSU - their first-ever #1 ranking. They were one game away from advancing out of the Hattiesburg Regional last year, and then added the #1 transfer class AND the #1 prep recruiting class to become the odds-on favorite to win the College World Series.
Rounding out the Top 5 from the SEC is #2 Tennessee, #4 Ole Miss, and #5 Texas A&M. Other SEC teams in the Top 25 include: #7 Florida, #8 Arkansas, #10 Vanderbilt, #20 Alabama, and #23 South Carolina.
Auburn's schedule this year slants towards getting those ranked teams on the road - 5 of the 7 ranked series are away, with a trip to #8 Arkansas opening conference play in March and trips to #7 Florida, #20 Alabama, #23 South Carolina, and #4 Ole Miss all coming at the end of bus and/or plane trips.
However, some of the biggest tests will be within the friendly confines of Plainsman Park: #5 Texas A&M comes to Auburn April 6th-8th, with game three being scheduled for sometime before or after Auburn's A-Day spring game.
The Tigers strategically timed game two of last year's Vanderbilt series to coincide with the end of A-day and were rewarded with a sellout crowd of 4,096, only the 2nd sellout of the year to that point. Against Texas A&M, who was a College World Series team in Jim Schlossnagle's first season as head coach, Auburn will need a raucous crowd to disrupt the as-yet-to-be-determined third starter for the Aggie pitching staff and give the Tigers a chance for the upset series win at home.
The other Top 5 test, the largest of the season, comes May 5th through 7th when preseason favorite LSU comes to town. Auburn played the Bayou Tigers tough in Baton Rouge last year, winning the series 2-1 after a masterful Joseph Gonzalez start in game three was turned over to closer Blake Burkhalter to close out the final 2.2 innings.
LSU projects to be better this year, with historically strong offense and starting pitching options, but questions about the defense and the overall team speed. This series being on graduation weekend allows for Auburn to "juice" attendance as families and alumni are in town for commencement ceremonies.
Other underrated home matchups for Auburn include half of the split two-game series against Georgia Tech (in Auburn on Tuesday, March 14th and in Atlanta on Tuesday, April 11th) as well as a postseason rematch when Southeastern Louisiana comes for the final series before conference play, March 10th-12th. The Tigers defeated #4 seed SELA 19-7 in each team's first game of the 2022 Auburn Regional.
The entire 2023 schedule:
Feb. 17 (Fri) Vs Indiana
Feb. 18 (Sat) Vs Indiana
Feb. 19 (Sun) Vs Indiana
Feb. 21 (Tue) Vs North Alabama (Huntsville, Ala.)
Feb. 24 (Fri) At USC
Feb. 25 (Sat) At USC
Feb. 26 (Sun) At USC
Mar. 1 (Wed) Vs Florida A&M
Mar. 3 (Fri) Vs Lipscomb
Mar. 4 (Sat) Vs Lipscomb
Mar. 5 (Sun) Vs Lipscomb
Mar. 7 (Tue) Vs UAB
Mar. 8 (Wed) At Jacksonville State
Mar. 10 (Fri) Vs Southeastern Louisiana
Mar. 11 (Sat) Vs Southeastern Louisiana
Mar. 12 (Sun) Vs Southeastern Louisiana
Mar. 14 (Tue) Vs Georgia Tech
Mar. 17 (Fri) At #8 Arkansas
Mar. 18 (Sat) At #8 Arkansas
Mar. 19 (Sun) At #8 Arkansas
Mar. 21 (Tue) Vs South Alabama (Montgomery, Ala.)
Mar. 23 (Thu) Vs Georgia
Mar. 24 (Fri) Vs Georgia
Mar. 25 (Sat) Vs Georgia
Mar. 28 (Tue) Vs North Alabama
Mar. 31 (Fri) At #7 Florida
Apr. 1 (Sat) At #7 Florida
Apr. 2 (Sun) At #7 Florida
Apr. 4 (Tue) At UAB
Apr. 6 (Thu) Vs #5 Texas A&M
Apr. 7 (Fri) Vs #5 Texas A&M
Apr. 8 (Sat) Vs #5 Texas A&M
Apr. 11 (Tue) At Georgia Tech
Apr. 14 (Fri) At #20 Alabama
Apr. 15 (Sat) At #20 Alabama
Apr. 16 (Sun) At #20 Alabama
Apr. 18 (Tue) Vs Samford
Apr. 21 (Fri) Vs Mississippi State
Apr. 22 (Sat) Vs Mississippi State
Apr. 23 (Sun) Vs Mississippi State
Apr. 25 (Tue) Vs Troy
Apr. 28 (Fri) At #23 South Carolina
Apr. 29 (Sat) At #23 South Carolina
Apr. 30 (Sun) At #23 South Carolina
May 5 (Fri) Vs #1 LSU
May 6 (Sat) Vs #1 LSU
May 7 (Sun) Vs #1 LSU
May 9 (Tue) Vs Samford (Hoover, Ala.)
May 11 (Thu) At #4 Ole Miss
May 12 (Fri) At #4 Ole Miss
May 13 (Sat) At #4 Ole Miss
May 16 (Tue) Vs Jacksonville State
May 18 (Thu) Vs Missouri
May 19 (Fri) Vs Missouri
May 20 (Sat) Vs Missouri
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