SEC Baseball Power Poll: Week 10 Results

In this week's power poll, the question about which team is the best in the league proved to be far from settled.  Four different teams received first place votes in the poll.  Mississippi State rebounded a bit following a three game sweep against the Missouri Tigers, and Florida and LSU moved into the top three of the poll as well.

1. South Carolina (Average: 2.25) (Two first place votes)

Previous: 1

Overall Record: 30-10, 10-8

Last Week: 0-1 vs. Charleston Southern, 0-1 at the Citadel, 2-1 at Auburn

Thoughts on the Gamecocks:

-- Can't drop games and catch Florida in the East, especially with the Gators' schedule.
-- Nearly blew a series against Auburn, but still took care of business. I'm not entirely sold on the Gamecocks yet.

2. Florida (Average: 2.88) (Three first place votes)

Previous: 3

Overall Record: 28-13, 12-6

Last Week: 1-0 at Florida Gulf Coast, 3-0 vs. Georgia

Thoughts on the Gators:

-- Maybe not the best team in the SEC. But the best team right now? Absolutely.
-- Currently on a six game winning streak, they should be on a 12 game winning streak going into their series with Alabama the first weekend in May.
-- Swept Georgia this week and Missouri comes to town next week. Good opportunity to rack up wins and extend their lead in the East.

3. LSU (Average: 3.00) (Two first place votes)

Previous: T4

Overall Record: 30-10-1, 10-7-1

Last Week: 1-0 vs. Southern Miss, 2-1 at Ole Miss

Thoughts on the Tigers:

-- Won five of six against the Mississippi teams over the last two weekends, an impressive statement by the Tigers. Also, we're going to need to limit the amount of Aaron Nola commentary allowed during ESPN broadcasts. He's a great pitcher, but there are also nine other people on the field.
-- The Bayou Bengals are the hottest team in the SEC right now, as winners of 10 of their last 12.
-- Turning it around, slowly.

4. Alabama (Average: 3.38) (One first place vote)

Previous: 2

Overall Record: 28-12, 12-6

Last Week: 1-0 vs. Jackson State, 1-0 vs. UAB, 2-1 at Tennessee

Thoughts on the Crimson Tide:

-- Austen Smith not haven a broken bone was huge, and he hit two, two run homers in Sundays game. Continues to lead the team in most categories. Wade Wass has settled in and is providing power, 15 doubles and three home runs. Thomas Burrows continues to be a very impressive freshman closer, with four wins and eight saves, having allowed only two runs in 18 appearances. The Tide has a tough closing schedule, but with their pitching and defense and some timely hitting could hold on until the end, and come out as regular season champions.
-- The Tide just keeps rolling. But the remaining SEC schedule is brutal, as Alabama ends the season with South Carolina, Florida, LSU, and MSU. Maintaining their lead in the West won't be easy.
-- Play someone.

-- Their upcoming schedule is brutal.  We should know much more about them in about three weeks.

5. Ole Miss (Average: 5.75)

Previous: T4

Overall Record: 30-11, 10-8

Last Week: 1-2 vs. LSU

Thoughts on the Rebels:

-- They lost the series, but the Rebels went toe-to-toe with LSU for three games. I was very impressed with the way this team played. With a favorable schedule remaining, expect the Rebels to make a run at the West title.

-- When you play in so, so many really close games and you win most of them, eventually you are going to lose one or two.  Plus LSU just LSU's all of us; don't feel bad about it Rebels.

T6. Vanderbilt (Average:6.38)

Previous: 6

Overall Record: 29-12, 8-10

Last Week: 1-0 vs. Middle Tennessee State, 1-2 at Arkansas

Thoughts on the Commodores:

-- After going 2-4 in their last six conference games, I'm sure they are excited to see Georgia and Missouri are their next two SEC series.
-- Yet another head-scratching series loss for Vanderbilt.

-- 29-12 and in a disappointing season tells you all you need to know about Vanderbilt and their program.  They are missing big pieces from last year's team more than they might have thought they would.  Georgia and Missouri are a nice reprieve though!

T6. Mississippi State (Average: 6.38)

Previous: 8

Overall Record: 26-15, 10-8

Last Week: 1-0 vs. Alcorn State, 3-0 at Missouri

Thoughts on the Bulldogs:

-- John Cohen overhauled the lineup after the Dawgs dropped 2 to the rival BearSharks. State responded by winning all 4 games last week and finally scoring a few runs. The Dawgs are still in search of a Sunday starter, however. Honestly, put teams 3-10 in the poll in a hat and draw names at random. As of now it's SCar, FL, everyone else, and Mizzou.
-- They got to play Missouri this past weekend, walking out of Columbia with three SEC wins #blessed.
-- Big sweep over Missouri. However, the fact that it took two extra innings games is worrisome. And Wes Rea was out of the lineup the last two games of the series, which is a bad sign for the slumping team leader.

8. Kentucky (Average: 6.50)

Previous: 7

Overall Record: 26-14, 9-9

Last Week: 1-0 at Louisville, 2-1 at Texas A&M

Thoughts on the Wildcats:

-- Took care of business against Texas A&M. Not sure what to make of this team other than A.J. Reed is really good.

-- Like a majority of the rest of the league, this team is up and down.  They still hit a ton, but they seem to have certain holes that keep them from being on of the top two or three teams in the league.  It still somehow feels like we don't know much about them though.  Maybe that's just me.

9. Arkansas (Average: 8.50)

Previous: 10

Overall Record: 25-16, 9-9

Last Week: 1-0 vs. Stephen F. Austin, 2-1 vs. Vanderbilt

Thoughts on the Razorbacks:

-- Like so many other teams, Arkansas is up and down, with their latest efforts being on the upside of things.  Granted, Vanderbilt has really struggled in SEC play, at least for Vanderbilt standards, but the series win for Arkansas was still a good one.

10. Tennessee (Average: 11.00)

Previous: 9

Overall Record: 25-13, 7-11

Last Week: 1-0 vs. Western Carolina, 1-2 vs. Alabama

Thoughts on the Volunteers:

-- Not a bad showing against Alabama, but this team clearly belongs in the middle or lower tier of SEC teams.

-- After that hot start they've regressed to the mean, but they still are a better team than they have been in previous years.  It's just hard to gain any footing in the SEC where the best teams in the league are great and even the middle of the pack teams are top-25 material.

11. Georgia (Average: 11.50)

Previous: 12

Overall Record: 21-18-1, 7-9-1

Last Week: 0-1 at Georgia Tech, 0-3 at Florida

Thoughts on the Bulldogs:

-- Not a good team.

-- Not a good team, and yet still ranked above three other SEC teams in the power poll.  Is #SECbasketballfever bleeding over into SEC baseball more and more?  NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

12. Texas A&M (Average 11.75)

Previous: 11

Overall Record: 24-17, 8-10

Last Week: 1-0 vs. Abilene Christian, 1-2 vs. Kentucky

Thoughts on the Wildcats:

-- This Aggies team is pretty uninspiring.

-- They played it close with a good Kentucky team, so I'm not as down on A&M as some people are this week.  Still, they have been less than impressive on the whole this season.

13. Auburn (Average: 12.00)

Previous: 13

Overall Record: 22-19, 7-11

Last Week: 0-1 at Samford, 1-2 vs. South Carolina

Thoughts on the Tigers:

-- Very not a good team.
-- Came VERY close to taking two out of three from South Carolina. This team has been inconsistent in Sunny Galloway's first season at the helm, but they're competing more than I thought they would.

-- 22-19, but easily is a few losses going the other way away from being about eight spots higher in this poll.  They will get better under Galloway, but it looks more and more like that will be in the future, not this season.

14. Missouri (Average: 13.75)

Previous: 14

Overall Record: 17-21, 6-12

Last Week: 0-1 at. Missouri State, 0-3 vs. Mississippi State

Thoughts on the Tigers:

-- Very, very not a good team.
-- Blowing a 7-3 lead on Sunday had to hurt.

-- Got swept by MSU? WHO DOES THAT?!  == is an MSU fan