There is a new No. 1 team in the country this week in the PG Crosschecker Top 50 college rankings, with Miami (26-2) taking over the top spot after sitting at No. 2 for the previous two weeks. The Hurricanes stretched their winning streak to 12 games in a row with an impressive three-game sweep over Clemson last weekend.

The powerful Hurricane offense upped its batting average to .340 overall, while the pitching staff is posting a respectable 3.62 team ERA. Junior second baseman Jemile Weeks, one of three potential first-rounders in Miami’s potent offense, leads the team with a .405 average, seven homers and 35 RBIs.

Sitting right behind Miami in the rankings is Atlantic Coast Conference rival Florida State (28-3). The Seminoles made easy work of another ACC opponent last weekend by sweeping Virginia. Junior catcher Buster Posey continues to tear it up for Florida State, hitting .458-9-37. Miami and Florida State will face off in two weeks in Tallahassee, Fla., in what should be the weekend series of the year.

After sitting at the top of the rankings for three straight weeks, Arizona State (28-3) dropped to No. 3 after losing two of three weekend games at No. 16 Stanford (15-9). The Sun Devils played the first 28 games of their regular-season schedule at home before finally going on the road to Stanford. Junior first baseman Ike Davis continues to pile up big numbers for the Sun Devils as he is hitting .410-11-49.

North Carolina and California round out the top five, meaning Atlantic Coast and Pacific-10 Conference schools occupy the top five positions in the top 50.

California continued to roll through its competition as the 2008 season passed the mid-way mark. The No. 5 Golden Bears (21-7-1) won another impressive series over the weekend, beating defending champion Oregon State. That followed a sweep of Long Beach State the previous weekend. Junior righthander Tyson Ross (5-0, 1.97) had another strong outing for the Bears, going seven innings while allowing two runs on seven hits and striking out nine.

While California and Arizona State continued to roll through the regular season, two Pac-10 schools with very high preseason expectations continued to pile up losses. Pre-season No. 1 Arizona (15-11) fell to 24^th overall after dropping two of three weekend games at Washington and has now lost eight of its last 10 games. No. 32 UCLA (14-12), ranked seventh in the pre-season, dropped from the Top 25 altogether after dropping a weekend series to rival Southern California.

The Big 12 Conference has been impressive to date with five teams in the top 14. No. 7 Nebraska (24-4-1) has come out of the gates quickly and sits comfortably at the top of the Big 12 standings with a 10-1-1 conference record. The Cornhuskers swept Texas Tech last weekend. With a team ERA of 2.86, pitching has been the key for Nebraska.

Right behind Nebraska in the Big 12 is red-hot Texas A&M (26-6), which moved to No. 9. The Aggies swept Kansas State after sweeping Kansas the previous weekend. Senior third baseman Dane Carter (.452-5-37, 7 3B) continues to pile up big numbers for an Aggie offense that is hitting .321 as a team.

The South Carolina schools, South Carolina and Clemson, felt the wrath of red-hot Georgia (20-10) last week. The No. 8 Bulldogs swept No. 13 South Carolina (20-10) over the weekend after taking a two-game, mid-week set over No. 46 Clemson (18-13). The Bulldogs have now opened the SEC season with series wins over Arkansas, Tennessee Mississippi State and South Carolina. Senior righthanded closer Josh Fields (8 SV, 32 K, 6 BB) looks to have returned to his sophomore form as he had yet to allow an earned run in 15 innings. He had allowed only five hits on the year.

No. 43 Washington and No. 48 Florida Gulf Coast entered the rankings. The Huskies took a weekend series over fading Arizona, while Florida Gulf Coast, new to Division I this season, has dominated Atlantic Sun competition by boasting a 25-8 record overall and 15-3 mark in conference play. Unfortunately for the Eagles, they will not be eligible for postseason play until 2009.

Entering Conference USA play, Central Florida looked like one of the nation’s most surprising teams with a 19-1 record. Since then, the Knights have dropped seven straight games, including being swept by Houston over the weekend. They dropped from the top 50.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Collin Cowgill, of, Kentucky. The red-shirt junior outfielder from Lexington, Ky., had a monster week, helping the Wildcats take a weekend series from Mississippi State and a mid-week matchup over Western Kentucky. For the week, Cowgill went 9-for-13 (.696) with four home runs, seven RBIs, nine runs scored and six walks. Cowgill is hitting .407-12-38.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK: Nick Haughian, lhp, Washington. The junior lefthander threw a gem on Friday against Arizona, leading the Huskies to a 1-0 win. Haughian threw a complete-game, two-hit shutout with 15 strikeouts. With his performance, Haughian has improved to 3-2, 3.29 on the year. He has struck out 49 in 41 innings while allowing 35 hits.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Mississippi. Just when it looked like the Rebels were going down the wrong path, things quickly turned around with a weekend sweep over No. 17 Vanderbilt and a midweek victory over Memphis. Ole Miss improved to 7-5 in Southeastern Conference play and now looks like the favorite to win the SEC West. Freshman lefthander Drew Pomeranz (2-1, 2.10) had a great outing on Saturday, going seven scoreless innings in an 8-0 victory over Vanderbilt. If junior righthanders Lance Lynn (4-0, 3.63) and Cody Satterwhite (3-1, 4.38), both potential first-round picks, get on track over the second half of the season, this will be a team to watch in the postseason.

Full top 50 rankings can be found at Top 50 College Baseball Teams.