SEC Baseball Power Rankings: Top four break away as regular season winds down

Another pretty exciting weekend of SEC baseball action is in the books, and the results have created changes in this week’s league power rankings. While the top four remains in tact, below them we see plenty of movement.

The headline of the weekend, not just in the SEC but across the country, was Tennessee at Kentucky. Tennessee entered the weekend ranked No. 4 by D1Baseball, while Kentucky was No. 3. That wasn’t the only matchup between two top 25 teams in the SEC either, as Texas A&M at Alabama and Arkansas at South Carolina also headlined the slate.

Eight SEC teams made D1Baseball’s top 25 rankings this week, with the entire top four coming from the league. Nine teams from the SEC made our latest Field of 64 projections, with five hosting.

Here is how our SEC baseball power rankings look this week.

1. Texas A&M

Weekly Record: 3-1
Overall Record: 35-5 (13-5 in SEC)
Previous: No. 1
Upcoming Week: vs. Houston (TUE), vs. Georgia (FRI-SUN)

Texas A&M started their week with a dominating 15-5 midweek victory over Air Force, and then took a trip to Tuscaloosa to take on Alabama over the weekend. The series began with a doubleheader, which the Aggies took both ends of. They won the opener 10-5 before clinching the series with an 18-9 victory. While Alabama took the finale 10-9, Texas A&M came away with another strong weekend showing and holds firm in this week’s SEC baseball power rankings.

2. Arkansas

Weekly Record: 4-1
Overall Record: 34-6 (14-4 in SEC)
Previous: No. 2
Upcoming Week: vs. Arkansas Pine-Bluff (TUE, neutral), vs. Florida (FRI-SUN)

Arkansas had a pretty strong week from start to finish, starting with a pair of midweek victories over Texas Tech. The Razorbacks won 9-8 and 5-4 to sweep the midweek series. Over the weekend, Arkansas went to Columbia to take on South Carolina and battled it out. The Razorbacks took the opener 2-1, before a doubleheader to wrap up the weekend. South Carolina won the first 6-3 to set up a rubber game in the final game, where Arkansas won 9-6 to take the weekend.

3. Tennessee

Weekly Record: 3-1
Overall Record: 33-7 (12-6 in SEC)
Previous: No. 3
Upcoming Week: vs. Western Carolina (TUE), vs. Missouri (THU-SAT)

Tennessee started the week off in strong fashion by beating Bellarmine 20-5 in a midweek game, then went to Lexington for the weekend’s most intriguing series. The Vols dropped the opener 5-3, meaning they needed to win each of the final two games to take the series. That’s exactly what they did, winning 9-4 to even the series and 13-11 in an exciting finale to take the weekend. Tennessee doesn’t move up in our SEC baseball power rankings, as they were already No. 3 last week. But they are right there as one of the elite teams at the top.

4. Kentucky

Weekly Record: 2-2
Overall Record: 32-7 (15-3 in SEC)
Previous: No. 4
Upcoming Week: at South Carolina (FRI-SUN)

After defeating Louisville 17-13 in a midweek slugfest to kick off last week, Kentucky hosted Tennessee in a massive SEC series. Kentucky took the opener 5-3, but couldn’t get it done the next two days. The Wildcats fell 9-4 and 13-11 in the weekend’s final two games, losing their first SEC series of the season. Even though they lost the series, Kentucky isn’t falling as they still sit 15-3 and atop the SEC standings.

5. Vanderbilt

Weekly Record: 3-1
Overall Record: 29-11 (10-8 in SEC)
Previous: No. 6 (+1)
Upcoming Week: vs. UT Martin (TUE), vs. Mississippi State (FRI-SUN)

Vanderbilt was looking to get back on track last week and that’s exactly what they did, starting with a 15-4 midweek victory at Lipscomb. They then hosted Florida over the weekend in what turned into an exciting series. Vanderbilt took the first two games 10-5 and 5-2, before falling 6-2 in the finale. But the story of the weekend ultimately became JD Thompson’s ejection, which will carry a suspension through this week as well.

6. South Carolina

Weekly Record: 2-2
Overall Record: 27-13 (9-9 in SEC)
Previous: No. 5 (-1)
Upcoming Week: vs. Kentucky (FRI-SUN)

South Carolina’s week began by winning 4-3 in a midweek game at The Citadel, and they then hosted Arkansas over the weekend. It was a hard-fought series, with Arkansas winning 2-1 in the opener but South Carolina evening things up with a 6-3 win in the second game. In the finale, the Gamecocks fell 9-6 to drop the series. South Carolina has an opportunity to shake things up and move into hosting territory this weekend against Kentucky in a series that could have a big impact on our SEC baseball power rankings.

7. Mississippi State

Weekly Record: 4-0
Overall Record: 26-14 (10-8 in SEC)
Previous: No. 8 (+1)
Upcoming Week: at Memphis (TUE), at Vanderbilt (FRI-SUN)

Mississippi State is coming off of a strong week, starting with an 11-0 win over Alcorn State in the midweek. They then hosted Auburn over the weekend and grinded out a series sweep, winning 8-1 in the opener before taking both ends of a doublehader, 3-1 and 5-3. Now sitting 10-8 in the SEC, the Bulldogs are in a great spot heading into the final stretch. Next up, the look to add another impressive stamp on their resume when they face Vanderbilt on the road.

SEC Baseball Power Rankings: 8-14

8. Georgia (+1)
9. Alabama (-2)
10. Florida
11. LSU (+1)
12. Ole Miss (-1)
13. Missouri
14. Auburn

Georgia was considered for the top seven in this week’s SEC baseball power rankings, but finish just short at No. 8. The Bulldogs are 29-10 overall, 9-9 in the SEC and just won two out of three against Ole Miss this weekend. Alabama dropped out of the top half after a 1-3 week that included losing two out of three against Texas A&M. Both Georgia and Alabama look like two seeds at this point in the NCAA Tournament, with the opportunity to move up.

At the start of the year, saying Florida and LSU are side-by-side wouldn’t have been a surprise, just not this lowly-ranked. Florida comes in at No. 10, with LSU rising a spot to No. 11. The Gators won their midweek game against Jacksonville and then took the finale against Vanderbilt to avoid the sweep. The Tigers went 3-1 this week including winning two out of three at Missouri. LSU needs to keep winning to even make the SEC Tournament, as they would be out as of today at 5-13 in the SEC.

Ole Miss lost two out of three against Georgia this weekend, but sits in an interesting spot. The Rebels are 6-12 in the SEC and sit just ahead of LSU on the cut line for the SEC Tournament. They also have a strong RPI, and could sneak into the NCAA Tournament with a strong end to the year, with some help.

Missouri and Auburn round out the bottom of our SEC baseball power rankings for the second weeks. Missouri went 2-2 on the week and avoided the sweep against LSU by winning the second game. Auburn went 1-3 on the week, beating Georgia Tech in a midweek game before getting swept by Mississippi State over the weekend. Missouri is fighting for its spot in the SEC Tournament, while Auburn is all but out with a 2-16 leauge record.