As the SEC baseball slate winds past the two-thirds mark this weekend, the league remains unpredictable and volatile.
Texas A&M is moving on up, but only 3 SEC teams hit the weekend slate ahead of 10-8.
With that in mind, the middle of this week’s SEC power rankings is nearly random. There are a handful of top teams, a handful of awful teams that will miss the NCAA Tournament, and on a given day, everybody else. But here’s how it shakes out.
16. Mizzou (20-22 overall, 3-16 in SEC)
With Thursday’s loss to Arkansas, the Tigers clinched a losing SEC season. That’s 8 consecutive losses for Mizzou, who is pretty much stuck here in the basement.
15. South Carolina (20-22, 5-13)
Taking an 18-6 sweep from Mississippi State seems about on pace for this team, which could come out of the weekend having sealed a losing SEC campaign.
14. LSU (24-18, 6-12)
Getting swept at home by A&M via a combined 22-8 margin definitely exposed LSU as a team that belongs near the bottom of the SEC, particularly after 6 straight league losses.
13. Kentucky (26-13, 8-10)
Off 3 straight losses (and 35 runs allowed in those 3), Kentucky gets a chance to get right against South Carolina. The Wildcats are still in decent NCAA Tournament shape, but could certainly use a series win this weekend.
12. Vanderbilt (25-17, 9-9)
Vanderbilt did grab a series win over Kentucky, and could get a nice boost by closing SEC play with Mizzou and South Carolina. That said, they have to survive weekends with Texas and Alabama first.
11. Tennessee (27-15, 8-11)
The Vols really could have used a win to open their series with Alabama, with 2 of their last 3 weekend series matchups on the road and the third being Texas at home. Tennessee isn’t in great NCAA shape, and could wind up on the bubble.
10. Ole Miss (30-12, 10-8)
After winning 3 SEC series runs in a row, Ole Miss’s schedule gets tough to close: Georgia, Arkansas, A&M, and Alabama lie ahead, with the Hogs and Tide matchups on the road. A .500 SEC season would leave the Rebels in solid NCAA shape.
9. Arkansas (28-15, 10-9)
A 1-run win over Missouri on Thursday gets the Hogs back above. 500 in the league. Arkansas could still be in the NCAA hosting picture, thanks in part to a fairly light schedule to close.
8. Florida (28-14, 10-8)
Florida had won a series with Georgia, but followed it up with a series loss to Auburn at home and then a nonconference loss to Jacksonville. It’s hard to figure this team out.
7. Alabama (29-14, 10-9)
Bama was 1-5 in the last 6 SEC games, but a 12-8 win in Knoxville on Thursday seemingly righted the ship a bit. After this week, Bama’s only other road trip will be at South Carolina.
6. Oklahoma (28-12, 10-8)
OU swept Mizzou and thus has 5 SEC wins in a row. Trips to Auburn (this weekend) and Arkansas can still prove challenging and the Sooner pitching will have to hold up to stay in NCAA hosting position.
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5. Mississippi State (31-10, 10-8)
A sweep of South Carolina chased away a 6-game SEC losing streak. They need a home series win against LSU, because the remaining matchups are Texas, Auburn, and Texas A&M, with the 2 Texas schools hosting those weekend battles.
4. Auburn (28-12, 10-8)
A series win at Florida marked 3 in a row for Auburn. It’s still a challenging run ahead for Auburn, but the Tigers could well end up within the top 8 seeds if they continue to pitch this well.
3. Texas (30-8, 11-6)
Texas’s superpower was on display against Alabama as the Horns allowed 5 runs in 3 games, winning 2 out of 3. Don’t forget that Texas finishes the SEC season with 3 home games against Missouri. A top seed in Hoover can still come Texas’s way, particularly if frosh Sam Cozart continues to shine out of the bullpen.
2. Georgia (32-10, 13-5)
UGA won its series with Arkansas, including that 26-14 runaway football score (9, count them 9, homers for UGA in that one) on Saturday. A mid-week run-rule loss to Georgia Tech was humbling and UGA will have to hone in on its consistency with road matchups at Ole Miss (this weekend) and Auburn (the final weekend) still ahead.
1. Texas A&M (31-7, 12-5)
A sweep at LSU made it 7 straight SEC wins for the Aggies. Road trips to Florida (this weekend) and Ole Miss could be good proving grounds. Caden Sorrell is one of the most underrated players in the SEC, but if the Aggies keep winning, he’ll be impossible to sleep on.
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Joe Cox is a columnist for Saturday Down South. He has also written or assisted in writing five books, and his most recent, Almost Perfect (a study of baseball pitchers’ near-miss attempts at perfect games), is available on Amazon or at many local bookstores.
