SEC Baseball Power Rankings - Road Tests

Normally, the first 2 weeks of the season are kind of ho-hum. A lot of Incarnate Word and Southeast State Mechanical School. Not this season. We have had some really good water marks so far this year and we know team’s weaknesses and what the major strengths are for most teams. So let’s see what the rankings look like after week 2.

#1 LSU – LW 2 – (7-0)

• vs. Bryant – FRI – 13-6 W, SAT – 17-8, SUN – 4-3 W

This could just as easily be Vanderbilt too so no real big deal here. Bryant is a solid team but have faltered the past couple of seasons. I will give LSU the nod this week cause 17 runs is hard to do, even when the other team is making errors to help you out.

#2 Vanderbilt – LW 3 –(5-1)

• vs Pepperdine – SUN G1 – 6-3 W, SUN G2 – 6-2 W

I live in Nashville so I can feel for the Dores here only getting 2 games in against the Waves. Sunday was the first day in 23 days that it had not rained in the Athens of the South so I can give a golf clap for Vandy to even get 2 in. Sadly for the Dores, they don’t really play a team with a pulse until Samford comes calling on March 12^th. I do have to give a tip of the cap to Vandy in the uniform department. They broke out their Salute to Service threads Sunday and they looked clean!

#3 Ole Miss – LW 4 – (4-2)

• @ Tulane – FRI – 6-4 W, SAT – 13-12 L, SUN – 6-3 W

This really couldn’t have gone better for both teams really. Ole Miss gets a nice road series win and Tulane gets a dramatic walk off winner on Saturday to kind of kick start their season and serve notice that they are doing small things to get back where they were in the late 90s/early 2000s. Sorry Rebel fans, but I have to share the final call from Saturday.

#4 Florida – LW 1 – (5-3)

• vs Miami – FRI – 5-2 L, SAT – 9-3 W, SUN – 4-1 W

OUCH! What a rough week for the Gators. First you go 0-2 in the mid-week vs USF and North Florida and then drop Game 1 in Miami….Offa. But then you have a nice finish taking the series with Miami, both in convincing fashion. Florida has a history of stumbling early out of the gates, I can remember a few years back dropping Game 1 of the season to Duke before Duke was even near the baseball map. So no true panic in Gainesville yet, but it’s something to follow.

#5 Arkansas – LW 5 – (5-1)

• @ Southern California – THU 6-3 W, FRI – 8-6 W, SAT – 6-4 L/10

A bit of an eyebrow raise that this wasn’t a sweep but not a shock. This has been a fun home-n-home series and something it seems more teams are starting to do thank goodness! Last season, Arkansas needed a walk off homer to finish a game in the series, so what does Southern Cal do for the Saturday night finish?

#6 Auburn – LW 6 – (6-2)

• @ UCF – FRI – 4-1 W, SAT – 6-1 L, SUN 13-9 W

We have sorta talked about it, but to boil it down, Auburn did something very few SEC teams do in the non conference (although it happened at a good clip this weekend), go for a true road series and it paid off in showing the freshman arms the road and allowing the team to get the feel of a different stadium early in the season. Mississippi State did the same kind of thing last year and, while they took their lumps both on and off the field, they were able to be in the final 4 of the College World Series. Let’s pray the same result happens for Auburn, but there is a long road to go.

#7 Georgia – LW 7 – (6-0)

• vs UMass – Lowell – SAT G1 – 6-2 W, SUN G1 – 13-5, SUN G2 – 12-5 W

Yup….

#8 Mississippi State – LW 9 – (6-1)

• vs Southern Miss – FRI – 1-0 L/10, SAT – 8-1 W, SUN – 4-3 W

AH! Now here is what I like! This had a Super Regional feel all weekend and it did not disappoint. Friday was an absolute pitchers duel, with Ethan Small going 6.1 no hit innings to highlight. Saturday, State jumped all over the Eagles early and then Sunday would finish like this…

#9 Texas A&M – LW 8 – (7-1)

• vs Illinois-Chicago – FRI – 3-1 W, SAT – 4-0 W, SUN – 7-2 L

This one is a bit more interesting that most, Ill-Chicago is no pushover mind you but Texas A&M should have swept this series on first look. In the Sunday game, A&M jumped out to a quick 2-0 that held until the top of the 6^th when UIC broke out on top for good. I didn’t get a chance to catch this one as I had everything programmed for my computer to have video for the Auburn game, but this Sunday matchup will be one I catch at some point this week since there are no midweek Auburn games.

#10 South Carolina – LW 11 (6-1)

• vs Utah Valley – FRI – 15-3 W, SAT – 6-5 W, SUN – 10-3 W

I am going to call this a solid win and a nice bounce back after a bumpy opening weekend that seems to be a lot tougher than anyone thought out of Liberty. Utah Valley is one of those teams that had 40+ win seasons but was ineligible for the tournament a few years ago, and to be honest I haven’t really kept up with them since so I will give Carolina the nod for now. But ohhhhh buddy does it get fun this weekend. A 3 game set with Clemson in one of my favorite nonconference series every year. 1 game in Clemson, 1 game in Greenville and the rubber match in Columbia. This one will be fun.

#11 Tennessee – LW 12 – (7-0)

• vs Indiana – FRI – 5-1 W, SAT – 11-0 W, SUN – 5-3 W

Coming into this weekend there were 2 teams in the country that had not given up a run in any game. One was UCLA, not a shock. The other was…it was Tennessee. And, if you go by innings played, the Vols were the last team to give up a run (UCLA in the 3^rd to Georgia Tech, UT to Indiana in the 6^th). To say that is a bit of a shock is an understatement and if Carolina had dropped a game to Utah Valley, I could have had an argument to move Tennessee to 9. This is a definite team to watch and the next 6 will tell you what you should do from here with Tennessee. I know in my eyes, I don’t think an Auburn sweep is a lock by any means with this team like I did at one point.

#12 Kentucky – LW 10 – (3-3)

• @ #4 Texas Tech – FRI – 7-4 L, SAT – 10-7 L, SUN – 19-4 L

This one hurts. The Cats were hopeful to take the series in this one with Tech looking shakey in the opening weekend against Oregon. However, the Red Raiders righted the ship in a big way but sweeping the Cats out of Lubbock. It’s definitely not the end of the world but Kentucky would do well to go 5-0 this week and it can be done. The next game against a team with a pulse is Wright State in a midweek before you look ahead to Baton Rouge in the middle of March.

#13 Alabama – LW 13 – (5-2)

• vs Ball State – FRI – 7-1 W, SAT – 8-5 L, SUN – 6-0 W

Good series win to add to the belt but this should have been a sweep. Ball State will not contend in the MAC and Bama will take plenty of losses in the months to come to where you have to beef up your resume and record before then. I feel like I’m watching a live action Planet Earth, where the narrator says ‘This Polar Bear is not having any luck adding to his fat reserves for the winter.” This is Alabama baseball….

#14 Missouri – LW 14 – (4-4)

• vs Northeastern – THU – 4-3 L
• vs Rhode Island – FRI 8-6 L, SAT – 12-4 W, SUN – 7-0 W

Solid series win over Rhode Island to pull back to .500 for the Tigers. Again, pulling you, but you REEEEALLY need to go 3-0 this week (Alabama A&M on Tuesday, @ Central Arky Friday, vs South Dakota State on Saturday).