The LSU baseball team suddenly doesn't appear to be quite the dominant force it was to begin the season, and that's reflected in this week's NCAA baseball projections by The Times-Picayune/Advocate.

A week after taking a slight dip to No. 2 in the overall seeding, the Tigers (39-12) are now No. 5 after losing a second consecutive SEC series – this one to a struggling Mississippi State squad.

Even with a bullpen that's scuffling, the Tigers are still in a good position to make a run to Omaha.

While LSU has hit a slight skid to close out the regular season, other teams like Clemson (35-17) and Florida (40-12) are playing their best baseball of the year. Clemson has won seven straight and jumped from the No. 16 overall seed to No. 9 in a week. The Gators swept Vanderbilt (35-16) to earn a five-spot jump to the No. 3 overall seed.

Dallas Baptist (40-12) is back among the regional hosts this week after sweeping UTSA in an important Conference USA series. Thanks to an RPI ranking of No. 28, Southern Miss (35-15) drops out as a host even though the Golden Eagles ran their winning streak to 12 games over the weekend with a sweep at ULM. USM can bolster its RPI standing in a home series against the UL Ragin' Cajuns this weekend, and then with a strong run in the Sun Belt Conference tournament.

Here's a look at the full projections entering the final week of regular season play before conference tournaments begin: 

WINSTON-SALEM

1. Wake Forest* (1)

2. Iowa

3. Oklahoma

4. Davidson*

FAYETTEVILLE

1. Arkansas* (2)

2. Washington

3. Texas Tech

4. Little Rock*

GAINESVILLE

1. Florida (3)

2. Texas

3. Troy

4. Alabama State*

STANFORD

1. Stanford* (4)

2. Alabama

3. UC-Santa Barbara*

4. Loyola-Marymount*

BATON ROUGE

1. LSU (5)

2. Oregon

3. Cal State Fullerton*

4. Nicholls*

NASHVILLE

1. Vanderbilt (6)

2. Southern Miss

3. TCU

4. Lipscomb

CONWAY

1. Coastal Carolina* (7)

2. Boston College

3. Maryland

4. Penn

CHARLOTTESVILLE

1. Virginia (8)

2. Indiana*

3. Northeastern

4. Maine*

CLEMSON

1. Clemson (9)

2. Campbell*

3. Texas State

4. Army*

CORAL GABLES

1. Miami (10)

2. Tennessee

3. Kansas State

4. Air Force*

MORGANTOWN

1. West Virginia* (11)

2. Indiana State*

3. Kent State*

4. Rider*

COLUMBIA

1. South Carolina (12)

2. East Carolina*

3. UNC-Wilmington*

4. Mercer*

DURHAM

1. Duke (13)

2. UConn*

3. Texas A&M

4. Wright State*

STILLWATER

1. Oklahoma State (14)

2. Oregon State

3. Notre Dame

4. Oral Roberts*

LEXINGTON

1. Kentucky (15)

2. North Carolina

3. USC

4. Central Connecticut*

DALLAS

1. Dallas Baptist* (16)

2. Auburn

3. UC-Irvine

4. Sam Houston State*

Email Patrick Magee at PMagee@TheAdvocate.com or follow him on Twitter, @Patrick_Magee.

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