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Every February, SEC baseball offers the same basic challenge. After a weekend of games (and maybe another game or two for teams in less arctic climates), the early returns are promising for the SEC. But there’s not always much to go with on that front. Yes, Texas A&M, LSU and Tennessee are all unbeaten. But so are South Carolina, Oklahoma and Alabama. A week in, there’s just enough information to get excited… but not enough to be certain.
No problems, though. In the SEC power rankings, we’ll try to distill a week or so of baseball into some sort of meaning. Here’s a rundown of where the SEC stands moving ahead… and a few quick points to watch as the overall picture hopefully grows clearer.
Here are our updated SEC baseball power rankings heading into Week 2 of the 2025 season:
16. Missouri (1-2)
The Tigers actually were a positive surprise in Week 1, as they played a tough opening slate in Puerto Rico. Unfortunately, Mizzou has the only losing record in SEC play. The issue remains pitching — a 7.92 ERA in week 1 doesn’t necessarily bode well.
15. Auburn (4-1)
At one point on Wednesday night, the Tigers were trailing North Alabama after losing a game to Holy Cross (they did come back to beat UNA). This isn’t to say they’re not good, but several of the teams toward the back end of the SEC have had more impressive starts. One thing to watch — Auburn was third in stolen bases in the SEC after 4 games.
14. Kentucky (1-1)
File under the not-trying-to-exaggerate point, but a split to open the season at Lipscomb probably wasn’t on Kentucky‘s bingo card. The good news is that the team ERA is 1.20. The bad news is that UK had one game of big hitting and one of almost none — and just 1 homer in 2 games.
13. South Carolina (5-0)
This is the other side of trying not to overreact. How good are Sacred Heart or Winthrop? Yes, the Gamecocks are 4-0. They still hit just .262 against some less-than-stellar competition.
12. Ole Miss (3-1)
The Rebels took on a murderer’s row to open the season. Yes, they were crushed by Texas, but they bested a ranked Arizona team and crushed Clemson to end their season on a positive note. Frankly, if this week was representative of Ole Miss‘s quality of play, they’re still way underrated here.
11. Mississippi State (3-1)
The Bulldogs smoked Manhattan, but took a road loss to Southern Miss. The pitching (1.74 ERA, 48 strikeouts in 31 innings) is probably the story so far. Pico Kohn got off to a nice start with 11 whiffs in 5 frames.
10. Alabama (5-0)
To give an example of the unpredictable nature of the early season, Ole Miss might be better than Alabama. The Tide played a much softer schedule, but did dominate it. Fifty-two runs in 4 games is certainly a statement. A .384 mark and a SEC second-best 8 homers was impressive. Justin Lebron hitting .538 with 5 extra-base hits through the first 4 seems very much on form.
9. Oklahoma (3-0)
Hard to assess wins over Lehigh, but something that does stand up is hitting .394 and stealing 15 bases, one off the pacesetter in the SEC. Easton Carmichael opened at .545 with 2 doubles, a triple, and 2 homers.
8. Georgia (4-1)
A loss to UNC Wilmington was a little concerning. But not as concerning as a .214 team batting average. Charlie Condon really isn’t walking through the clubhouse door.
7. Vanderbilt (4-1)
The good news for Vanderbilt took the form of solid wins over Grand Canyon and UC-Irvine. The bad news is that each was a 1-run decision. The Commodores will have to win a lot of close games, because it’s not clear that the offensive punch will be there to keep up with the top of the SEC.
6. Texas (2-1)
The Longhorns did drop an extra-inning game to Louisville, but walloped Ole Miss and then beat a ranked Oklahoma State squad. The Horns put together 7- and 8-run innings over the weekend, which is certainly a good sign. Luke Harrison and Jared Spencer each delivered shutout starting pitching performances.
5. Florida (4-0)
Florida battered Air Force over the weekend. A couple of factors that could be important — UF’s 16 stolen bases leads the SEC and their pitchers not only have 61 strikeouts in 34 innings, but they’ve only allowed 7 walks. Luke McNeillie’s 13 strikeouts sits atop the SEC leaderboard. Or the flashy highlight — Brody Donay hit 4 home runs already. Holy Jac Caglianone!
4. Arkansas (4-0)
An unbeaten start over Washington State was predictably solid. Transfer Brent Iredale had 9 RBI, but the story is on the mound. Arkansas‘s 1.91 ERA is pretty telling of a team with the best starting pitching in the league (although LSU might have something to say about that).
3. Tennessee (4-0)
Sure, Hofstra and UNC-Asheville aren’t tough competition. But Tony Vitello’s squad jump right back into raking and whiffing. UT hit .415 and bashed a dozen homers. On the mound, the 1.61 ERA answered all the relevant questions. Tennessee is really, really good. Why did they move down? Well, one very specific reason.
2. LSU (4-0)
Again, the danger of overreaction. Except for that danger, this might have been the greatest pitching statement to open the season. LSU turned a question mark into an exclamation mark. The totals: 34 innings, 3 earned runs, 3 walks, 52 strikeouts. That’s an 0.53 ERA. The hitting was solid. But the pitching was otherworldly. Now, does it mean anything or did the Tigers get a jump off of a glorified intramural game? Check back in a couple weeks.
1. Texas A&M (3-0)
The kings did nothing to lose the crown. Jace LaViolette ripped 3 homers and has clearly not missed a beat. If one were the type to look for a blemish on a supermodel, a 4.50 ERA for the Aggies is a little eyebrow-raising. But Texas A&M came out ready to claim a spot based on more than preseason hype and Week 1 did nothing to suggest a stumble.
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.
