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SEC Baseball Power Rankings: Conference play begins

Mar 16, 2026 | 10:00 AM
Texas Baseball

Texas Athletics

By Chris Marler

It was a fantastic opening weekend in SEC play. There were multiple ranked matchups and a top five showdown in Fayetteville. Now that the dust has settled, and Vanderbilt and LSU have finally stopped scoring runs, here are our SEC Power Rankings after the opening weekend of conference play. 

The Top Ten 

1. Texas 

There’s no change at the top this week as Texas took care of Ole Miss, winning two of three after dropping the opener. That didn’t mean they left the weekend without any concerns, though. 

The Longhorns got a little luck as Ole Miss starter Cade Townsend left the game early on Saturday. The Texas pitching staff continues to steal the show. They collectively have a 2.54 ERA on the year, and are the only staff in the league holding opponents to under .200 at the plate with a .189 opponent’s batting average. 

The scary part is that the offense is starting to look just as good. They are outscoring opponents by 143 runs through 19 games and are still one of three teams hitting over .330 in the SEC. 

2. Arkansas 

I flirted with putting Arkansas at No. 3 behind Georgia, but beating a top five team deserves to make a jump up to No. 2 for the Hogs. 

For the second straight weekend Gabe Gaeckle looked like the ace we hoped he would be when the season started. He went nearly six innings striking out four and allowing just two earned runs. More importantly, he was incredibly efficient, throwing just 90 pitches in 5.2 innings with 62 of them going for strikes. 

As of Sunday, seven of their eight starters in the lineup were over .300 at the plate, and the offense continues to improve.  

3. Georgia 

I was shocked last week at the amount of people who were adamant that Georgia wasn’t a top three team in the SEC right now. They lead the nation in home runs with 66, and they lead the SEC in batting average (.343). Their slugging percentage plummeted under .700 for the first time this season all the way down to .692. 

They also lead the SEC in fielding percentage, which might not jump off the page, but it highlights how balanced this team is, playing fundamentally sound baseball while still raking at the plate.

4. Mississippi State 

It’s really hard to win away from home in college baseball, and no one understands that better than Mississippi State. They now have four losses on the season. All four are away from home, and all four are against top ten teams. 

It’s way too early to sell your shares of State stock. They’re still second in the SEC in hitting with a .338 average, but the pitching staff has taken a step back recently, dropping to tenth in ERA (3.79) and allowing the second most home runs in the SEC with 17. 

There’s no reason to think they still aren’t good enough to get to Omaha. 

5. Auburn 

I reluctantly put Auburn on upset alert in our weekend preview against Missouri since the Tigers from Columbia were on a 13 game win streak. That was also because I had zero faith in Alabama or South Carolina, which proved to be accurate. 

Auburn swept Missouri by doing what they do best – pitching lights out and scoring enough runs to win. Auburn only scored six runs in the first two games of the series, but they only allowed five all weekend long. That’s the identity of this team, and that won’t change anytime soon. This pitching staff is awesome.  

6. Oklahoma 

People scoffed when I put Oklahoma in the top five of these rankings after week one. That seemed foolish since they went undefeated scoring double digit runs in all three games of the opening weekend against really good competition. 

The Sooners rank top five in the SEC in batting average (.314) and have stolen a second best 62 bases on the season. They were outscored on the weekend against Texas A&M, but they still won the series which is all that matters. 

7. Texas A&M 

Texas A&M is playing good baseball, but they came up short in Norman. That’s pretty frustrating since they scored 27 runs on the weekend, not to mention that both losses were by one run. 

They’ve hit the ball well this season ranking 4th in the SEC in batting average (.329), but the pitching has been less than stellar. The Aggies have given up the most home runs of any pitching staff in the SEC (18), have the 11th ranked ERA (3.81) and the second highest opponent batting average at .239. That has to improve. 

8. Kentucky 

Kentucky baseball is basically Missouri football but on the diamond. It feels like no matter what they do, it’s going to take a while for anyone to take them seriously. 

Kentucky kicked off SEC play by sweeping Alabama and the Wildcats only trailed for four innings of all 27 on the weekend. They play baseball like it’s 1988. They don’t hit the long ball a ton, but they play small ball better than almost anyone, leading the SEC in stolen bases with 64 and sacrifice hits with 16. That’s more than double the next closest team in the league. 

9. Tennessee  

Tennessee had a 5-0 lead halfway through their rubber match against Georgia on Sunday. They fell short, but they showed a ton of fight. This is a Tennessee team that still struggles at the plate more than anyone is used to seeing. It’s very hard to win on opening weekend on the road though, and this team could have very easily left Athens with a series win. 

10. Ole Miss 

There’s a case for Ole Miss to be ahead of Tennessee since they were the first team to beat Texas this season. That’s one of, if not the best, wins for any team in America through the first month of the season. 

The concern is that after their opening game win in Austin, they were outscored 19-4 in the final two games. The pitching staff still remains their strength as a team, but they took a beating this weekend. 

Bottom Six 

  1. Florida 
  2. Vanderbilt 
  3. LSU 
  4. Alabama 
  5. Missouri 
  6. South Carolina
Chris Marler

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