WVU Falls Out of Top 25 Rankings for Loss to Columbia + One Other Baffling Reason

Over the weekend, the West Virginia baseball team took two of three games from the Columbia Lions.

The opening game of the series did not go well at all as the Mountaineers found themselves down 5-0 in the second inning. Starting pitcher Dawson Montesa didn't have good command of the strike zone, forcing WVU to play from behind all night.

WVU nearly let things get away in game two before a walk-off grand slam from Brodie Kresser in the bottom of the 10th to even things up. Then, the Mountaineers cruised to a 16-1 win on Sunday to take the series.

Despite another series win, West Virginia fell completely out of D1Baseball's rankings. They were ranked 23rd.

D1Baseball's Top 25 Rankings (Week 4)

1. UCLA
2. Texas
3. Mississippi State
4. Georgia Tech
5. Arkansas
6. Auburn
7. Southern Miss
8. Georgia
9. Oklahoma
10. North Carolina State
11. Clemson
12. Wake Forest
13. LSU
14. Virginia
15. North Carolina
16. Coastal Carolina
17. TCU
18. Oregon State
19. Tennessee
20. Florida State
21. Kentucky
22. Texas A&M
23. Florida
24. UTSA
25. USC

The reasoning for dropping WVU:

"USC forces its way into the rankings at the expense of West Virginia, which falls out of the rankings from No. 23 despite winning its weekend series against Columbia. But losing the Friday game against Columbia (which is just 2-7 on the season) and the dismissal of Chase Meyer (the most talented arm on the pitching staff) made WVU a candidate to drop out in order to accommodate USC’s entry. Not every week is clean in the Top 25 deliberations."

My two cents:

I can understand dropping WVU out of the rankings for losing a game to Columbia. It should have been a series that they swept, especially with it being at home. But to also list the departure of Chase Meyer as part of the equation? I'm not sure why that matters. Rankings should not be about predicting the future. It should be based on the results that took place the previous week and that alone. Even if Meyer was still on the roster, his presence would not have changed Friday night's result. I agree wholeheartedly that not having Meyer is a huge loss for the bullpen, but it shouldn't be a part of what made WVU a candidate to drop out.

Up next:

West Virginia is slated for its final non-conference game (for now) on Tuesday before Big 12 play begins this weekend. They'll take on the Maryland Terrapins at Kendrick Family Ballpark at 2 p.m. ET.