At a glance: Oklahoma baseball resume improving, still a chance to be regional host

The Oklahoma baseball team heads into its final six games of the regular season with a lot to play for. This week the Sooners head to Lexington for a three-game series against Kentucky and then return home for a regular season finale series hosting No. 1 Texas. 

While the final six games will certainly affect where Oklahoma baseball finishes in the SEC standings, Oklahoma’s hopes of hosting a regional for the second consecutive season in Norman remain intact after taking this past weekend’s series from Ole Miss. 

“I’m not the guy that does that. I don’t dwell on that. I try to go game to game. Control what we can. If we go somewhere or if we host, I’m good either way,” said Oklahoma head coach Skip Johnson after Sunday’s 7-3 loss to Ole Miss. 

Even if Skip Johnson doesn’t want to look into the future, I do. We do. So let us take a closer look at where things stand, entering the final two weekends of the regular season. 

The Polls

Following this weekend’s Ole Miss series, Oklahoma baseball made significant leaps in the weekly Top 25 polls. They jumped 11 spots in Perfect Game’s Top 25 to No. 13 and moved four spots north in D1Baseball.com’s to No. 17. While checking in at No. 16 in Baseball America’s Top 25, a move of five spots. 

Where Oklahoma finds itself in RPI 

Oklahoma finds itself in a healthy position in the various RPI polls. They are No. 22 in Warren Nolan and NCAA RPI. They are No. 23 in D1Baseball.com’s RPI. 

The good news is there’s going to be plenty of opportunity to gain valuable Quad 1 victories this weekend in Lexington, despite Kentucky’s RPI No. 41. All road games vs. Top 60 RPI teams count as Quad 1 games. Obviously, when Texas heads to town, those will be meaningful games to end the year. Not just in the RPI but also in terms of the conference standings.

The Standings 

With six games left in the regular season, Oklahoma baseball finds itself in a four-way tie for fifth place in the SEC standings at 13-11, alongside Alabama, Auburn and Ole Miss. Despite getting swept in Fayetteville over the weekend, Texas remains in first place at 19-5 with a two-game lead over Arkansas. The Hogs sit in second place with a 17-7 record. Georgia and LSU are tied for third place with a 15-9 record. Tennessee and Vanderbilt are just a game behind in the loss column, sitting at 14-10 in conference play. 

The team that could really shake up the standings is Florida. We mentioned the surging Gators in last week’s Power Rankings and they continue to trend in the right direction after sweeping South Carolina in Columbia over the weekend. Kevin O’Sullivan’s club has turned in four consecutive winning weekends and have won 11 of its last 13 games in conference play. The Gators close the regular season with a trip this weekend to Austin and a home series versus Alabama. 

The race to 17 conference wins 

There’s two – let’s call them — barometers that SEC baseball folks point to when talking about an NCAA Tournament resume. The first number is 13. It’s been said before that if a team gets to the 13 conference wins, total you usually feel good about your chances of getting into the NCAA Tournament. That box has been checked with a pair of wins this past weekend over Ole Miss. 

The other ‘golden ticket’ number is 17. The Sooners have some work to do there. But if Oklahoma can win four of its final six games, that box would also be checked. What does that mean? It means you should be – at the very least – optimistic about Oklahoma’s chances of hosting a regional in Norman for the second consecutive season. Ultimately, it would stand as another sign of improvement for Skip Johnson’s program. The Sooners haven’t hosted a regional in back-to-back years since 2009-2010.