SEC Baseball Power Rankings: New No. 1 emerges as bottom separates
Five weekends of SEC baseball are in the books, and the standings are beginning to iron out. Four teams have ten league wins or more, while four teams have five league wins or less. After the latest weekend of action, we have made some changes to our SEC baseball power rankings.
Notably, there is a new No. 1 team in this week’s rankings. Texas A&M takes over the top spot, with Arkansas dropping after losing twice to Alabama.
Ultimately, just two teams remained idle in this week’s SEC baseball power rankings. The other 12 moved up or down at least one spot, and two teams have leaped into the top half.
Here’s how our SEC baseball power rankings shape up after the fifth weekend of conference play. Five more remain before the SEC Tournament gets underway.
1. Texas A&M
Weekly Record: 4-0
Overall Record: 32-4 (11-4 in SEC)
Previous: No. 2 (+1)
Upcoming Week: vs. Air Force (TUE), at Alabama (THU-SAT)
There is a new No. 1 this week, and Texas A&M has earned the honor of sitting in the top spot. The Aggies are 32-4 on the year and 11-4 in the SEC. After a close midweek win over UTSA last week, the Aggies dominated against Vanderbilt over the weekend. After winning 15-0 and 9-0 to take the series, Texas A&M won 12-6 to finish off the sweep. They’ll be looking for another strong showing this weekend against an Alabama team that just knocked off last week’s top-ranked team over the weekend.
2. Arkansas
Weekly Record: 3-2
Overall Record: 30-5 (12-3)
Previous: No. 1 (-1)
Upcoming Week: vs. Texas Tech (TUE, WED), at South Carolina (FRI-SUN)
Arkansas has been in the top spot all season, but now drop down to No. 2 after falling to Alabama over the weekend. It was still a 3-2 week for the Razorbacks, as they swept a two-game midweek series against San Jose State before winning the opener against the Crimson Tide over the weekend. They then dropped the series’ final two games to lose the weekend. Arkansas currently sits in second place in SEC standings with a 12-4 league record.
3. Tennessee
Weekly Record: 4-0
Overall Record: 30-6 (10-5)
Previous: No. 3
Upcoming Week: vs. Bellarmine (TUE), at Kentucky (FRI-SUN)
It was a strong 4-0 week for the Vols, beginning with a blowout 20-2 midweek win over Alabama A&M. They then hosted LSU over the weekend, and won 6-3, 3-1 and 8-4 on their way to another strong SEC weekend showing. Though Tennessee didn’t move up in this week’s SEC baseball power rankings, they currently sit in a great spot at 10-5 in conference play.
4. Kentucky
Weekly Record: 3-1
Overall Record: 30-5 (14-1)
Previous: No. 4
Upcoming Week: at Louisville (TUE), vs. Tennessee (FRI-SUN)
What Kentucky is doing this season is truly remarkable. Not many expected them to be 30-5 overall and 14-1 in SEC play, but here they are. The Wildcats lost in their midweek game last week, falling 9-7 at Samford. They then took a trip to Auburn and swept the Tigers behind 6-5, 9-1 and 13-8 victories. Sitting alone at the top of the SEC standings, Kentucky will truly be tested this weekend against Tennessee.
5. South Carolina
Weekly Record: 3-1
Overall Record: 25-11 (8-7)
Previous: No. 8 (+3)
Upcoming Week: at The Citadel (TUE), vs. Arkansas (FRI-SUN)
What a week it was for the Gamecocks. South Carolina started off with a strong 2-1 victory over North Carolina in Charlotte, and then took a trip to Gainesville for a series against a reeling Florida team. There, the Gamecocks won 10-3 in the opener before clinching the series in the second game with a 9-8 victory. Florida took the finale 11-9, but it was a very strong week for South Carolina and they move up in this week’s SEC baseball power rankings as a result.
6. Vanderbilt
Weekly Record: 1-3
Overall Record: 26-10 (8-7)
Previous: No. 5 (-1)
Upcoming Week: at Lipscomb (TUE), vs. Florida (THU-SAT)
Vanderbilt’s week started off strong, dominating in a 14-1 midweek victory over Middle Tennessee. The weekend didn’t have the same success. Facing Texas A&M in College Station, the Commodores were unable to get anything going. The Aggies won 15-0 and 9-0 in the first two games, before finishing the sweep with a 12-6 win in the finale. Even with the poor showing, Vanderbilt only falls a spot in this week’s power rankings due to their overall body of work.
7. Alabama
Weekly Record: 2-2
Overall Record: 24-12 (6-9)
Previous: No. 9 (+2)
Upcoming Week: vs. UAB (TUE), vs. Texas A&M (THU-SAT)
After losing its midweek game last week, 5-4 against South Alabama, Alabama rebounded in notable fashion. The Crimson Tide hosted top-ranked Arkansas over the weekend, and won the series despite dropping the first game of the series. Alabama lost 5-3 in the opener, and then walked off to win 4-3 on Saturday and finished off the series win with a 5-0 victory on Sunday. Now, Alabama is looking to do the same this week when new No. 1 Texas A&M comes to town.
SEC Baseball Power Rankings: 8-14
8. Mississippi State (-2)
9. Georgia (+2)
10. Florida (-3)
11. Ole Miss (+3)
12. LSU (-2)
13. Missouri (-1)
14. Auburn (-1)
Mississippi State and Florida were in our top seven last week, but fall out after losing their series. The Bulldogs dropped two out of three at Ole Miss, while the Gators struggled again in a series loss to South Carolina. Both are now 7-8 in the SEC. Sandwiched between Mississippi State and Florida is Georgia, who is also 7-8 in the SEC. Georgia is coming off of a 3-1 week that included a series victory over Missouri over the weekend.
Ole Miss sat at the bottom of our SEC baseball power rankings last week, but move up three spots after a series victory over Mississippi State. The Rebels are now 5-10 in the SEC. The other 5-10 team in the SEC is Missouri, who lost two out of three against Georgia. Missouri is just 16-21 on the season.
If the season ended today, LSU and Auburn would miss the SEC Tournament. The national championship curse is hitting LSU right now, as the Tigers are 22-15 overall and 3-12 in the SEC following this past weekend’s series loss at Tennessee. Auburn continues to struggle as well, and sits at 18-17 overall and 2-13 in the SEC after an 0-4 week that included getting swept by Kentucky.