This week is the Bon Jovi moment of the SEC baseball regular season.
For those who don’t remember the 1980s, the significance is that, as the secondary New Jersey bard noted, “Whoa, we’re halfway there.” It has been a surprising run in the SEC, but a week in which Tennessee stumbles was a surprising one indeed.
We’ll stick with the 3-tier mode of the SEC in our rankings. Here’s the rundown on SEC baseball’s current stack-up:
SEC Power Rankings for Week 9
Let’s start with the teams with no hope left whatsoever:
The no-hopers
16. Missouri (12-20, 0-12)
It’s not that getting swept at Arkansas was surprising. But getting run-ruled in all 3 games and outscored 51-9 really isn’t the statement the poor Tigers needed to make. The good news is that this week’s series with Florida has to get somebody an SEC win or 2.
15. Florida (21-14, 1-11)
It’s time. Sure, Florida was a top preseason team. But after getting swept at home by Vanderbilt (and outscored 20-5), it’s hard to not conclude that the last dregs of hope ran out on the Gators. There are still a few light weekends coming up, but Florida has put itself in a position where multiple sweeps are the only prayer of digging out of this massive hole.
14. South Carolina (20-14, 2-10)
The Gamecocks did double their SEC win total by taking the opener of the series against Mississippi State, but still lost the series to one of the league’s other struggling teams while getting outscored 20-11. South Carolina’s pitching, while not great, has been competitive, but the Gamecocks bats have been strangely silent. USC is hitting just .278 and their 36 homers rank among the SEC’s non-slugging squads.
13. Mississippi State (20-13, 3-9)
An SEC series win keeps the Bulldogs among the (2) lower-tier teams that still have a slight chance to fight out of the cellar area. Florida and Missouri are still ahead on the schedule, so if State sneaks a series win over Alabama, it could be upwardly mobile in a hurry. Credit to MSU’s pitching staff, with 379 strikeouts, just 4 off the pace of SEC leader LSU.
12. Texas A&M (17-15, 3-9)
After getting run-ruled by Tennessee, the Aggies awoke and won the series. Is this the sign of something legitimate growing or just a glorified fluke? Watch for the South Carolina series this weekend. With road trips to Arkansas and Texas and a series with LSU upcoming, A&M needs a sweep to have a real shot at climbing up the SEC ladder to possible NCAA Tournament play.
The hopefuls
These are the teams that still have hope when it comes to postseason play:
11. Kentucky (18-12, 5-7)
Kentucky played a tough series with Ole Miss and had 3 super-competitive games… but only won 1. This Kentucky team doesn’t have the attention to detail of last year’s squad and with a series at Texas looming is the team most likely to fall back if either Mississippi State or A&M put on a late run.
10. Oklahoma (22-9, 5-7)
Yes, Oklahoma is still very good… and pitched well enough to make 2 of the 3 losses LSU very much in doubt. But scoring 4 runs in 3 games left the Sooners outside looking in. And given the punch in the rest of the SEC, it’s a problem Oklahoma has to fix promptly. Top 25 rankings are fine and well, but at 5-7, the Sooners need to win their series with Vandy or the doubt about this team will start to get much louder.
9. Vanderbilt (25-8, 7-5)
Meanwhile, Vanderbilt probably isn’t as good as it looked in blasting Florida. Even with a winning mark, the Commodores have a tough back end of their SEC schedule. This Vandy team feels like one that ends up going 13-17 or so in SEC play. If the bats come around (15th in SEC in batting average at .277, 16th in home runs at 28), Vandy is legit. If not, back to that 13-17 kind of year.
8. Auburn (23-10, 6-6)
Winning a big home-state series with the Crimson Tide gets the Tigers a jump this week. There’s an argument to be made that Auburn deserves to leap Alabama into the top tier. Let’s see what the next 2 weekends with LSU and Texas yield before we get too quick to jump the Tigers up the ladder.
The best of the SEC
These teams are the cream of the crop in a loaded SEC:
7. Alabama (28-6, 7-5)
The Tide dropped a tough series to Auburn, which makes for losses in 2 of Bama’s last 3 SEC series matchups. Sweep Mississippi State and get to 10-5 and all is fine. Lose this series and Alabama is probably downwardly mobile into the second tier of the SEC. Pitching depth is looking like a concern.
6. Ole Miss (26-7, 8-4)
Ole Miss squeaked through a series with Kentucky, which didn’t really hurt or help the Rebels any. They narrowly avoided an ugly loss, but there’s a survive and advance moment or 2 in most 10-week SEC jaunts. Hosting a riled-up Tennessee in Oxford this week should provide a little more detail on direction.
5. Georgia (30-5, 8-4)
So the jump of Georgia last week seems a bit premature. With a better pitching staff, Texas not only swept Georgia, but held the dangerous Bulldog offense to just 8 runs in 3 games. For the team that leads the SEC in homers (92), the weekend felt like a fluke. But a home series against Arkansas will bring another outstanding pitching staff… so either Georgia slides back to the middle of the league or has a big weekend to remember. Either way, must-watch stuff here.
4. Tennessee (29-4, 9-3)
Did Tennessee wake up Texas A&M? Off of 23 runs in the last 2 games, the Aggies might indeed have sprung to life. The Vols still have some intriguing road trips ahead and this weekend at Ole Miss gives a ready chance to reclaim a bit of the Vol mojo.
3. Texas (27-4, 11-1)
There’s been an element of waiting on the other shoe to drop on the Longhorns. But after shutting down the Georgia offense, it’s time to accept the Texas pitching staff as brilliant. The Longhorns don’t strike out a ton of people (just 282 in 270 2/3 IP), but they don’t give up homers (17, which is 4 less than second-place LSU). Texas goes to Kentucky this week and is likely to continue an 8-game SEC winning streak.
2. LSU (31-3, 10-2)
An impressive sweep of Oklahoma in which the Sooners scored just 4 runs? That’ll do. LSU isn’t the behemoth of the past, with “just” 53 homers so far. But the Tigers lead the SEC in doubles (82) and have the third fewest strikeouts at the plate. Add that to a pitching staff that holds opponents to a .207 average and has the SEC’s top strikeout total (383), and being second is no fluke. This week finds the Tigers at Auburn.
1. Arkansas (31-3, 11-1)
The thought coming into the year was that Arkansas would have an elite pitching staff but be okay at the plate. The pitching has been mostly as advertised. But hitting .335 as a team and being third in the SEC with 74 homers (behind only Georgia and UT)? That’s why they’re tops in the SEC. Arkansas, much like LSU, has been impressive for balance. Both look like teams that can win slugfests or pitchers’ duels. This week at Georgia should be a nice test for the Hogs.
SEC Baseball Power Rankings, Week 9: Tennessee stumbles, Arkansas shines and more Saturday Down South.
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