D1Baseball Head Says WVU Must Beat Someone 'With a Pulse' to Get Ranked

Steve Sabins picked up right where Randy Mazey left off with the West Virginia program, continuing to build a perennial contender in the Big 12 Conference.

The Mountaineers are out to a 27-4 start on the season and currently sit in second place in the league standings, trailing only Kansas, who also have three conference losses but have won two more games - WVU had two games canceled against Oklahoma State.

College baseball has never really used one particular set of rankings like college football and basketball, which typically go off of the AP Top 25. There are several polls that cater to college baseball, one of which is D1Baseball, which seems to be the only one that has doubts about the Mountaineers.

Despite the red-hot start, West Virginia has yet to appear in D1Baseball's rankings this season. When a WVU fan account asked why the Mountaineers continue to get snubbed, Kendall Rogers, owner of the D1Baseball website, replied "I don't know... take a series from someone with a pulse?"

As you would imagine, the response did not sit well with Mountaineer fans on X, and rightfully so. There are a handful of teams that have failed to "take a series from someone with a pulse."

Maybe the most controversial one is Oregon, which is ranked 15th. In Big Ten play, the Ducks have won a series against Rutgers (17-15), Michigan (17-14), Minnesota (11-17), and USC (20-11). The series win over USC is impressive, but does it make up for losing two of three to Ohio State (8-20)? What about a midweek loss to Portland (14-18)?

Sure, WVU's schedule hasn't been all that challenging, but they've taken care of business, beating the teams they should beat. Plus, it's not like this is a crazy good start from some random program. WVU has been relevant in baseball for quite a while now. I mean, they are coming off of a trip to Super Regionals for crying out loud.

As long as West Virginia keeps doing its thing, everything else will fall into place. They can't help the fact that the Big 12 appears to be in somewhat of a down year.

MORE STORIES FROM WEST VIRGINIA ON SI