There’s a new No. 1 team in the nation atop the USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll, released Monday, May 6 — and they wear orange.
Unfortunately, it’s just not Clemson Orange.
Tennessee (39-9 overall) climbed two spots to No. 1 in this week’s coaches poll after Texas A&M and Arkansas, previously ranked Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, dropped conference series in SEC play over the weekend.
The Volunteers were a unanimous No. 1 in every major poll released Monday, also topping the new D1Baseball Top 25 poll and Baseball America Top 25 rankings Monday.
Clemson (36-10) stayed at No. 4 in the coaches poll despite winning two of three against Georgia Tech. The Tigers are tied with North Carolina at 17-7 in conference play for first place in the ACC’s standings. Clemson stayed at No. 4 in Baseball America’s rankings but moved to No. 2 in D1Baseball’s poll.
Texas A&M had been atop the polls in each of the past three weeks before losing two of three over the weekend at LSU. The Aggies (40-8) and Razorbacks (40-9) both fell one spot in the new coaches poll, with Texas A&M landing at No. 2 and Arkansas at No. 3.
Kentucky (35-10) climbed three spots to No. 5 in the coaches poll after taking two of three from Arkansas over the weekend.
The SEC had the most teams ranked in the coaches poll with eight, followed by the ACC with seven. After Clemson, Florida State (35-10) was the ACC’s highest-ranked team at No. 7. Duke (No. 9, 32-14) and Virginia (No. 10, 35-12) also placed in the top 10 of the coaches poll. North Carolina (35-11) finished just outside the top 10 at No. 11.
Clemson starts a five-game road trip beginning Tuesday when the Tigers take on the Charlotte 49ers at Truist Field in Charlotte. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. EDT. The game can be seen on ESPN+. After that, coach Erik Bakich’s team will visit No. 13 Wake Forest (32-16) when ACC play resumes Friday.