The Ping is the Thing: Weekend College Baseball Preview

Here are a few stories to watch out for in College Baseball this weekend amid all the MLB Spring Training action and the World Baseball Classic. Let's use the comments as a weekend open thread, and you guys can request stories and angles for the coming weeks.

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University of Houston is hosting a little shindig this weekend. It's called the 2013 Astros Foundation College Classic and it features #1 North Carolina, #12 Rice, #30 Texas A&M, Cal and Baylor who are usually relevant, and host Houston.

The schedule:

Friday, March 1

12 p.m. – Baylor vs. Cal
3:30 p.m. – UNC – Rice (Colin Moran vs. Austin Kubitza!)
7 p.m. – Houston vs. Texas A&M

Saturday, March 2
12 p.m. – UNC vs. Cal
3:30 p.m. – Houston vs. Baylor
7 p.m. – Rice vs. Texas A&M

Sunday, March 3
11 a.m. – Cal vs. Houston
2:30 p.m. – Texas A&M vs. UNC
6 p.m. – Baylor vs. Rice

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There are 12 undefeated teams left in NCAA Division 1. One of them is #17 Cal State Fullerton. They host the #14 Oregon Ducks this weekend in a pretty big early season matchup. A strong showing will put Fullerton in good position to be considered one of the best teams on the West Coast. They play in a stacked Big West conference with, also undefeated, Cal Poly, and #21 UC Irvine, as well as Long Beach, Santa Barbara, and Davis, none of whom are soft programs.

If you read my Monday column you might notice that I have my early eye on the Titans to have a pretty big year. I don't see them sweeping Oregon, but it wouldn't surprise me if it happened. 2-1 is a realistic weekend prediction to me. The games can be watched online at BigWest.tv.

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#14 Stanford hosts #22 Texas. Friday features Mark Appel against Texas Sophomore Parker French.

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Lotta baseball this weekend. Enjoy!