At least for today, Georgia's baseball programs are on my mind.
While music legend Ray Charles certainly would be proud of what the Georgia Bulldogs accomplished last season, he also would like what coach Danny Hall has accomplished at Georgia Tech the past few seasons.

Georgia and Georgia Tech undoubtedly are the dominant programs in the Peach State, but coach Rodney Hennon also is making progress at Georgia Southern.

Mercer is trying to become a consistent contender for the Atlantic Sun crown, while Kennesaw State took a giant step forward last season by finishing A-Sun play second with a conference record of 21-12.

We rank the state of Georgia's baseball programs.


1. GEORGIA
Georgia coach Dave Perno probably is tired of hearing it, but his Bulldogs need to establish some consistency. But even with that issue, Georgia still is the top program in the Peach State. In addition to winning the SEC crown last season, the Bulldogs advanced to the College World Series and played Fresno State for the national title. Georgia also finished '07 with a 23-33 record and '06 with an overall record of 47-23. After making a pair of CWS appearances the last three seasons, the Bulldogs hope to once again return to Omaha with a younger but very talented squad. Georgia is in great shape.


2. GEORGIA TECH
You certainly could say Georgia Tech has been more consistent than rival Georgia the last three seasons, but few would argue that as of right now Tech is a better program. Still, that's nothing to be disappointed about considering the Bulldogs played for the national title last season. The Yellow Jackets also have had their fair share of success, finishing the '08 campaign with an overall record of 41-21. The Jackets also finished '07 with a 32-25 record and '06 with an outstanding 50-18 mark. Say what you want about Tech coach Danny Hall, but he certainly knows how to build winners.


3. GEORGIA SOUTHERN
Georgia and Georgia Tech obviously dominate much of Georgia's baseball landscape, but coach Rodney Hennon has done a nice job at Georgia Southern. Nestled in the city of Statesboro, Ga., which has a population around 26,000, Hennon has guided the Eagles to more than respectable finishes in a tough Southern Conference. The Eagles finished their '08 campaign fourth in the SoCon with an overall record of 33-25. Though they finished sixth in '07, the Eagles finished the season with a respectable 34-28 record. In '06, the Eagles had a 31-27 record and finished third in conference.


4. MERCER
The Bears are trying to pick up the pieces from a disappointing '08 campaign, where they finished the season with an overall record of 24-33. Interestingly, the Bears finished the previous two seasons with respectable records of 33-25 and 34-26. They finished '07 second in the Atlantic Sun while finishing third in '06. Considering its competition in the Peach State, Mercer coach Craig Gibson is doing an adequate job with his program.


5. KENNESAW STATE
The Owls have been unable to make a huge statement in the state of Georgia, but have improved the past two seasons. After finishing their '06 campaign with a 24-32 record, the Owls have finished the last two seasons with records of 32-23 and 30-26. The '08 campaign included a second place finish in the Atlantic Sun. Is long-time coach Mike Sansing preparing his team for a run at an NCAA Regional berth?


6. GEORGIA STATE
The Panthers have had issues competing in the Colonial the past few seasons, but perhaps they took a giant step forward last season by at least finishing the season with an overall record of 33-23. The previous two seasons, however, the Panthers finished with overall records of 26-32 and 26-31. Though he has only been coach for two seasons, Greg Frady seems to have this program headed the right direction.


7. SAVANNAH STATE
There's no question Savannah State is Georgia's worst baseball program. The Tigers finished last season with an overall record of 20-25. They also finished '07 with a 31-23 record and '06 with a 30-19 mark. Those records, however, were somewhat tainted because the Tigers played incredibly weak competition.

unable to make a statement? we finished second in our conference last year, we've beat Tech and UGA a couple of times. Whatever though.

Not to mention we play exceptionally well against Southern. Swept them two years ago and I believe we faired well against them last year. This is the program (out of our major sports) that can really make a run. Sansing is awesome, and I expect us to be extremely competitive this year.

I think the writer for this article is thinking about how the program stands up against national competition. Also, name recognition always helps in these instances. However, if we were talking about a Georgia League, then I think KSU would definitely be third, a very strong third at that. We have pretty much owned Southern and we have done really well against Tech and UGA. I believe two years ago we swept Southern, and beat Tech and UGA. If we had a Georgia League and there were a championship then we would have won it that year. But, we're still Kennesaw, a team that just joined the Div.1 ranks and a name recognition that stays in Georgia. This will all change.

FYI - article is from Rivals.com

Yeah, I don't agree with this. Top 3, georgia, tech, ksu easily