With conference play just a couple of weeks away, SEC baseball has been unpredictable to say the least. Who had Mississippi State sporting the worst record in the league, as they currently do? Or Missouri, Kentucky and Auburn to have better winning percentages than Florida or LSU? Granted, it’s been uneven competition so far, but the league has been pretty wild. But we’ll try to make some sense of it all with your weekly power rankings.

14. South Carolina (7-4)

The Gamecocks snuck past Appalachian State and then got swept by rival and No. 21-ranked Clemson. Normally, SC wouldn’t drop to 14th in these rankings, but some of the SEC’s expected cellar-dwellers have been demonstrably better than the Gamecocks. So until Carolina shows improvement, they move to the basement.

13. Texas A&M (7-4)

It was a 2-2 week for the Aggies, with wins over Houston Baptist and Iowa and losses to Washington State and Wichita State. A&M is tied for last in the SEC in batting average (.254) and has the fewest home runs (6). A&M’s pitching has kept them competitive so far, but .500 weeks against relatively weak competition don’t provide a ton of hopeful news.

12. Missouri (9-1)

Yes, they haven’t played anybody, but the Tigers have shown real strides from last season. Both on the plate and the mound, Mizzou has been competitive. Can it continue against No. 19 Gonzaga this weekend? That probably tells the tale of whether the Tigers hold this spot, continue to climb or slide back to the bottom of the league.

11. Alabama (9-4)

A 4-1 week for Alabama boosts them a bit. The Tide’s pitching staff has done a good job of throwing strikes (just 33 walks in 114 innings pitched), but the hitters have to bring in more runs. If the Tide can improve on driving in runs from scoring position, they could be an NCAA Tournament team. If not, the rest of the West will feast on them.

10. Auburn (11-2)

A 6-0 week for Auburn showcased the team’s pitching and overall depth. So far, Vandy and Tennessee are the only teams with better ERA numbers (1.80 team ERA) and Samford transfer Sonny DiChiara (.472 average, 5 home runs) has led a surprisingly potent offense. A series with Ole Miss lurks late next week.

9. Kentucky (10-2)

The Wildcats would have moved up after a series win over TCU … but they also lost to Western Kentucky early in the week. UK’s team ERA (4.75) is last in the SEC. Fortunately, their batting average (.335) is No. 2 in the league. The hitting is legitimate, but the pitching has to improve if UK wants to make a postseason run.

8. Georgia (9-2)

The Bulldogs felt better than this ranking last week… and then they lost their weekend series to Georgia Tech, with the 2 losses being 11-7 and 7-0. If the Bulldogs (No. 18 in Baseball America’s poll) are going to justify higher preseason expectations, they have to pitch better.

7. Mississippi State (6-6)

A 2-3 week included a series loss to Tulane and potential bad injury news on ace pitcher Landon Sims. Suffice it to say that 2022 hasn’t gone the way the Bulldogs expected …. at least so far. MSU is 13th in the SEC in ERA and 12th in batting average … and that’s with conference play looming in less than 2 weeks.

6. LSU (9-3)

The Tigers won their first 2 games of the week but then dropped their last 2 to Texas and Baylor. LSU (No. 16) has been fine at the plate (.319 team average) but inconsistent on the mound. Working in transfers and youngsters will be key heading into SEC play, but for now, the Tigers took a step back this week.

5. Florida (10-3)

A series win over Miami to finish the weekend, with the last 2 games being 8-1 and 11-3 Gator wins, suggests that Florida is in the thick of the SEC East race. The Gators moved up 5 spots to No. 13 nationally. Florida pitchers tied for 2nd in the SEC in strikeouts and are 5th in ERA. At the plate, the Gators’ 27 home runs are 2nd only to Tennessee.

4. Tennessee (10-1)

UT lost to No. 1 Texas on Friday, but they easily handled Baylor and Oklahoma in their other 2 games. The Vols lead the SEC in runs scored and home runs (30), and are 2nd in team ERA. Trey Lipscomb has been a machine at the plate (SEC-leading 23 RBIs and tied for league home run lead with 5). If the young pitchers can keep working this well, the No. 11-ranked Vols could well end up in Omaha.

3. Arkansas (7-3)

The Razorbacks did lose to Southeast Louisiana on Friday but bounced back to win that series by giving up just 3 runs over the final 2 games. The pitching has had to be good, because Arkansas’ .254 batting average ties for last in the SEC and they have just 8 home runs. Get the bats started, though, and all will be well for the No. 9-ranked Hogs.

2. Vanderbilt (10-2)

In 5 games, not only did the Vandy Boys sweep the week, but they allowed just 7 runs. Vandy leads the SEC in ERA (1.66) and the offense is coming around. Vandy, ranked No. 7, may lack a bit for star power, but the team game is coming along fine heading toward SEC play.

1. Ole Miss (10-1)

The Rebels did take a loss, 1-0 in 12 innings to UCF. But they won that series, scoring 17 runs over the other 2 games. The No. 4-ranked Rebels have been incredibly balanced, sharp on the mound and at the plate. They’ve excelled in the clutch, hitting .402 with runners in scoring position and .471 with the bases loaded. The West will be tough, but barring a crazy next week, the Rebels will likely enter conference play as the division favorite.