Asked Grok how historic A&M's baseball collapse is...

[Chase Tillis]

Prompt:

this year texas a&m was ranked #1 in college baseball presseaon and was viewed as the best team in college baseballafter losing a bunch of games to start the season, they are no longer rankedhas there ever been a #1 team in any of the major college sports - baseball, basketball, football, softball, or volleyball that had as epic of a collapse as the A&M baseball team has had this year?

 

Response:

Texas A&M baseball’s fall from a preseason #1 ranking to unranked by mid-March 2025 is indeed a dramatic collapse, and it’s worth examining whether any other #1-ranked team in major college sports—baseball, basketball, football, softball, or volleyball—has experienced a similarly steep drop. To assess this, we’ll look at historical examples of highly ranked teams that faltered significantly early in their seasons, focusing on the speed and scale of the decline relative to expectations.

In college baseball, Texas A&M’s 2025 season stands out. Starting as the consensus preseason #1 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, they fell out of the rankings entirely by Week 4 (mid-March), a span of roughly four weeks. Posts on X highlight this as unprecedented, with one user noting it’s the first time a preseason #1 baseball team dropped out of the rankings in March this century. Previous notable baseball flops, like 2014 Cal State Fullerton (preseason #1, unranked by Week 10) and 2023 Wake Forest (preseason #1, unranked by Week 16), took longer to unravel, making A&M’s rapid descent unique in its immediacy. No other baseball team appears to have gone from #1 to unranked this quickly.

 

In college basketball, early-season collapses of #1 teams are rare due to the sport’s structure—preseason rankings are less predictive, and the season unfolds over months with conference play stabilizing rankings. One comparable example is the 2012-13 Indiana Hoosiers, who started as preseason #1 in the AP Poll but stumbled early, losing three non-conference games by December and dropping to #6 by mid-January. They recovered to win the Big Ten but exited in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16, far short of title expectations. This fall, while notable, wasn’t as abrupt as A&M’s, as they remained ranked and competitive.

College football offers a different lens, with its shorter season and reliance on weekly polls. The 2007 USC Trojans began as preseason #1 in the AP Poll but lost to unranked Stanford (a 41-point underdog) in Week 6, dropping to #10, and finished 11-2, unranked in some final polls. Similarly, 2012 USC started #1, lost three games by mid-October, and ended 7-6, unranked. These collapses, while significant, unfolded over 6-8 weeks, not as rapidly as A&M’s baseball slide, and the teams still won games, unlike A&M’s apparent freefall.

 

In softball, where Oklahoma’s dominance has set a high bar, collapses are less common among #1 teams. The 2018 Oregon Ducks, preseason #1 in the USA Softball/ESPN poll, struggled midseason, dropping to #10 by late March after losing key series, and finished 4th in the Pac-12. They reached the Women’s College World Series but didn’t win it. This drop, while disappointing, wasn’t a complete exit from the rankings, unlike A&M’s baseball plunge.

Volleyball, with its fall season and smaller polling sample, rarely sees such dramatic early collapses. The 2016 Nebraska Cornhuskers, preseason #1 in the AVCA Poll, lost three early matches and fell to #8 by late September but rallied to reach the Final Four. Their dip was temporary and less severe than A&M’s.

Texas A&M baseball’s 2025 collapse—#1 to unranked in four weeks—appears unmatched in speed and totality across these sports. Baseball’s long season (50+ games) and early non-conference play amplify such falls, but no other #1 team in these major sports seems to have imploded this quickly and thoroughly. Injuries, errors, and coaching issues cited on X suggest internal chaos, distinguishing it from cases where teams merely underperformed against tough schedules. While definitive historical data across all seasons is hard to pin down without exhaustive poll-by-poll records, A&M’s drop likely sets a new benchmark for an epic early-season collapse from a #1 ranking.

Link to grok convo - https://x.com/i/grok/share/A1NR2p0wRS7JW6F0CTmUVJUIR

 

[ArizonaLonghorn]

Great that Gronk is finding use for his enormous brain after his retirement from the Patriots!