Leading Off: SEC Ping for the Weekend of 03.12.10

The most important games of the weekend. All rankings are Baseball America.

No. 18 OLE MISS (11-2) vs. No. 10 LOUISVILLE (12-0)
This is the only matchup this weekend between Top 25 teams involving an SEC team and one of just two series between ranked opponents in the nation. So far, Ole Miss has shown few signs of what was expected to be a rebuilding year for the Rebels, while Louisville has gone undefeated against a relatively mediocre slate. That said, the Cardinals have defeated that schedule by a 105-42 margin. Five of the six expected starters in this series have an ERA of 2.50 or below, the exception being Louisville's Tony Zych (10.12). The challenge for Ole Miss' pitching staff will be to avoid a big inning in the middle of the game; the Cardinals have scored 52 of their 105 runs in the fourth, fifth or sixth inning. Friday: 7:30 p.m. ET · Saturday: 2:30 p.m. ET · Sunday: 1:30 p.m. ET

AUBURN (9-2) at No. 11 ARIZONA STATE (12-0)
For starters, there are some diverging opinions about just how good Arizona State is. While BA ranks them No. 11, Collegiate Baseball has the Sun Devils at No. 2 in the nation and USA Today/ESPN puts them at No. 3. So Tiger fans might want to keep that in mind as their team travels to Tempe. This likely will not end well. That might have something to do with the .372 team batting average, 1.096 team OPS or 2.60 team ERA. Arizona State has scored at least ten runs in each inning this year except the ninth. They have not scored in the ninth inning, largely because they have not had to play a ninth inning. So any Auburn fans lucky enough to go to the game should probably just enjoy the Arizona weather. Friday: 8:30 p.m. ET · Saturday: 8:30 p.m. ET · Sunday: 3 p.m. ET

MISSISSIPPI STATE (9-3) at WHATABURGER CLASSIC: No. 25 OKLAHOMA (13-1), No. 15 UCLA (10-0), TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI (7-4)
The Western Division Bulldogs are also facing a long weekend, at least during the first two games. (TAMU-CC isn't exactly a College World Series favorite this year.) Oklahoma boasts Garrett Buechele, he of the 1.324 OPS and five home runs. At least the Sooner pitcher is Zach Neal, with a 6.60 ERA, two wild pitches and three hit batsmen. So, duck. No such luck against UCLA, who will send Trevor Bauer and his 2.45 ERA to pitch with a lineup behind him that could feature as many as six players with batting averages of .400 or above. Friday (vs. Oklahoma): 3 p.m. ET · Saturday (vs. UCLA): 6 p.m. ET · Sunday (vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi): 4 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. ET

ALABAMA: vs. Stony Brook, 7:35 p.m. ET Friday, 2:05 p.m. and 5:05 p.m. ET Saturday, 1:05 p.m. ET Sunday
No. 14 ARKANSAS: vs. Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 4:05 p.m. ET Friday, 3:05 p.m. ET Saturday, 2:05 p.m. ET Sunday
No. 6 FLORIDA: vs. Charleston Southern, 6:30 p.m. ET Friday, 4 p.m. ET Saturday, 1 p.m. ET Sunday
GEORGIA: vs. Siena, 6:30 p.m. ET Friday, 3 p.m. ET Saturday, 1 p.m. ET Sunday
No. 22 KENTUCKY: vs. IPFW, 4 p.m. ET Friday, 1 p.m. ET Saturday, 1 p.m. ET Sunday
No. 2 LSU: vs. Kansas, 8 p.m. ET Friday, 3 p.m. ET Saturday, 2 p.m. ET Sunday
No. 19 SOUTH CAROLINA: vs. Brown, 7 p.m. ET Friday, 4 p.m. ET Saturday, 1:30 p.m. ET Sunday
TENNESSEE (Arby's Classic): vs. Connecticut, 6 p.m. ET; vs. Ohio State, 5 p.m. ET; vs. Marshall, 4 p.m. ET
No. 24 VANDERBILT: vs. Ohio, 5 p.m. ET Friday, 3 p.m. ET Saturday, 2 p.m. ET Sunday