Kentucky Baseball Slips Six Spots in Final Regular Season Poll

DanielHagerKSR

Kentucky-Baseball-Slips-Six-Spots-Final-Regular-Season-Poll — Photo by Addison Jarecki | UK Athletics

After closing their regular season out with a series loss at home to now No. 2 ranked Florida, Kentucky baseball fell six spots to No. 25 in D1Baseball’s final regular season Top 25 Rankings.

Since making their way into the Top 25 back on March 21st, the ‘Cats have been ranked every week except one. They ranked as high as No. 10 in the country after sweeping Missouri to win their 21st game in a 22-game span back on April 3rd.

We have made it to the postseason, so these rankings are rather meaningless at this point. All that matters right now is that Kentucky is an eight-seed in the SEC Tournament, scheduled to face nine-seed Alabama in a first-round single-elimination matchup on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. CDT (5:30 p.m. EST). No better time than the postseason.

🆕 D1Baseball Top 25 Rankings (Presented By @NettingPros)@AuburnBaseball, @TexasBaseball and @AlabamaBSB enter the D1Baseball Top 25, and @WakeBaseball maintains its perch atop the rankings heading into conference tournament week. https://t.co/GIDDt95cQT
— D1Baseball (@d1baseball) May 22, 2023

Eight of the top nine seeds (excluding South Carolina) in this week’s SEC Tournament are ranked in the Top 25. After closing out their season having won all three of their final SEC series, Alabama has jumped back into the Top 25 at No. 24 a day before their matchup with the ‘Cats. There is no tougher gauntlet in the country than the SEC, as Kentucky would have to win *at least* five games against ranked opponents to be crowned conference tournament champions.

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“This league is a real challenge,” coach Nick Mingione said after Saturday’s loss to Florida. “Having been in it for 17 years, it doesn’t get easier. It gets harder.”

Kentucky finishes the regular season ranked No. 2 in RPI, a spot behind Wake Forest. They were also ranked No. 21 in Baseball America’s final regular season poll. Those numbers don’t mean much anymore, as the ‘Cats just have to go win now.

SEC teams in Top 25 rankings

2. Florida (SEC Tournament 1-seed)
4. Arkansas (2-seed)
5. LSU (3-seed)
8. Vanderbilt (4-seed)
13. Tennessee (7-seed)
19. Auburn (5-seed)
24. Alabama (9-seed)
25. Kentucky (8-seed)