The SEC has continued to be one of the most dominant conferences in college baseball, with the last five national championship teams hailing from the conference. Before the 2025 season, eight SEC teams were listed in the preseason Top 25 according to D1 Baseball, including Texas A&M, LSU, Arkansas, Georgia and Florida.
Now over a month into the season and three weeks into conference play, the state of the SEC is not what was expected. Many teams projected to finish the season highly ranked have found early struggles while other teams continue to rise and exceed preseason poll expectations. Here’s what has happened in the SEC so far:
Texas A&M, South Carolina among five teams finding early struggles in conference play
The Texas A&M Aggies were the preseason No. 1 ranked team, according to D1 Baseball, but the Aggies have since dropped completely from the top 25 and just this past weekend earned their first SEC win of the season.
So far, the Aggies have started 1-8 in conference play after being swept by No. 17 Alabama and No. 22 Vanderbilt. The Aggies found its first win last Friday night against Kentucky but dropped the series 2-1.
“I mean we’re upset,” Texas A&M head coach Micheal Early said. “I mean every game we lose it’s devastating to me; it’s devastating more to the players and everyone apart of the organization so we’re going to keep pushing.”
Another team with high preseason rankings that also started conference play poorly is Florida. The Gators were ranked No. 10 in the preseason but have struggled to earn its first SEC win under head coach Kevin O’Sullivan.
The Gators found itself in a similar situation to Texas A&M, starting the first two weekends of conference play 0-6 with loses to No. 2 ranked Tennessee and No. 4 Georgia. Over the weekend, the Gators won its first conference game against No. 15 Ole Miss but still dropped the series 2-1 to move to 1-8 in SEC play overall.
Missouri is the last SEC team that started the first two weekends 0-6 after dropping both series against No. 2 LSU and No. 24 Ole Miss. The Tigers were unable to avoid its third sweep over the weekend, this time falling to No. 7 Texas in all three contests. The Tigers are now dead last in SEC standings and are the only team without a conference win after the third week of play.
The South Carolina baseball team, under new head coach Paul Mainieri, have started SEC play 1-8 after falling to No. 12 Oklahoma, No. 3 Arkansas and most recently to No. 1 Tennessee. The Gamecock offense has continued to struggle in the first three series with opponents outscoring the Gamecocks 79-44.
Junior utility player Ethan Petry, one of the nation's top draft prospects according to Perfect Game, has helped lead the Gamecock offense with 8 home runs and batting .370. Petry has 52 career home runs in his three years and is looking to become the programs all-time home run leader, which was set by Justin Smoak (62) in 2008.
“I think we competed like crazy the first two games and this third game just kind of methodically, we got beat,” Mainieri said. “But I’m glad we don’t have to play those two teams again.”
Mississippi State was ranked No. 18 in the preseason, but has only found one win so far this season in the conference and has joined Florida, South Carolina and Texas A&M with a 1-8 record. The Bulldogs were most recently swept by No. 8 LSU in Baton Rouge and look to face another team looking for its first series win in South Carolina.
In the middle of the pack stands Alabama and Ole Miss with a record of 6-3, Oklahoma with 5-4 and Auburn, Kentucky and Vanderbilt with 4-5 records after three weeks.
The emergence of Alabama sophomore infielder Justin Lebron as one of the top players in the conference has helped the Tide, with Lebron batting .342 with 13 home runs so far this season.
Two of the top freshmen in the conference, infielders Tyler Bell of Kentucky and Brodie Johnston of Vanderbilt, have helped support their respective teams during the season. Both have 5 home runs in their freshman campaign with Bell batting .347 and Johnston batting .309.
10 SEC teams among Top 25 ranking after third week of conference play
No. 1 Tennessee, the 2024 National Champions, has once again found itself at the top after a dominant weekend against South Carolina, sweeping the Gamecocks to move to 8-1 in conference play.
The Volunteers offense hit 7 home runs against the Gamecocks over the weekend while the pitching staff struck out 23 batters. Junior infielder Andrew Fischer added 2 more home runs over the weekend totaling 11 on the season now.
“One thing you learn in this program is you know you have so much depth in the order,” Fischer said. “You can easily hand the bat to the next guy in the order, so if I don’t leave the yard then someone else will.”
No. 2 Arkansas and No. 3 Georgia follow closely with their own 8-1 records after sweeping both of their opponents this past weekend.
The Razorbacks offense is led by junior infielder Wehiwa Aloy, sophomore utility player Kuhio Aloy and sophomore outfielder Charles Dalavan. The three have a combined 27 home runs and 102 RBI for the Razorbacks, with Wehiwa Aloy being one of the nation’s top draft prospects, according to Perfect Game.
For the Bulldogs, fifth-year utility player Ryland Zaborowski leads the team with 14 home runs so far, putting him in second place so far this season for all of D1 baseball.
No. 5 Texas has had a successful start in their first season in the SEC under new head coach Jim Schlossnagle. The Longhorns have started the conference slate 8-1, with sweeps over Mississippi State and Missouri.
The No. 7 LSU Tigers have followed closely with a 7-2 conference record after sweeping Missouri and Mississippi State, with the two losses being against Texas.
What's next?
The South Carolina Gamecocks travel to Mississippi State for a three-game series starting Friday at 7 p.m. The game will be streaming on SEC Network+.