There were only modest changes to the SEC baseball power rankings after Week 13. Most notably, Auburn moved up to No. 2 after a series win over Mississippi State, setting up an explosive final series between No. 1 and No. 2.
Tennessee was the other big riser this week after a series win against Texas. No team dropped more than two spots from last week as the standings have now solidified.
Here are our power rankings:
1. Georgia
Record: 41-11 (21-6)
Last week: 1
Up next: at Auburn
Georgia already has the SEC regular-season title wrapped up and leads the country in home runs. The Bulldogs’ postseason ceiling will be determined by how well a pitching staff that has largely been average performs.
2. Auburn
Record: 35-15 (16-11)
Last week: 3
Up next: Georgia
Auburn has surged down the stretch and looks primed for a top-8 seed. But there is a word of caution: teams with Auburn’s profile, with deep pitching staffs carrying a meh offense, tend to flame out early in the postseason.
3. Texas A&M
Record: 37-12 (16-10)
Last week: 4
Up next: Mississippi State
Already not a particularly deep team, Texas A&M has taken a hit with recent injuries to top freshmen Nico Partida and Boston Kellner.
4. Texas
Record: 37-12 (16-10)
Last week: 2
Up next: Missouri
Texas is limping a bit to the finish line. A team with stars like Dylan Volantis, Sam Cozart and Aiden Robbins should set up well for the postseason, but the Longhorns do need more out of the rest of their roster.
5. Mississippi State
Record: 38-14 (15-12)
Last week: 5
Up next: at Texas A&M
Ryan McPherson returned from injury, only to have another concern with his ankle. If he can return fully healthy for the postseason, the Bulldogs become that much more dangerous.
6. Florida
Record: 34-18 (15-12)
Last week: 6
Up next: LSU
Florida is set up well to host after surging late in the season. The Gators still need to get a little more out of their offense, though, to project to advance.
7. Arkansas
Record: 34-18 (15-12)
Last week: 8
Up next: at Kentucky
Like Florida, Arkansas is surging at the right time after a slow start to the season. Power production has started to come more often for a team that has strong pitching as always.
8. Ole Miss
Record: 34-18 (14-13)
Last week: 8
Up next: at Alabama
Ole Miss can host with a series win over Alabama and is a sneaky pick to make it far into the postseason due to a power-based offense, two strong starting pitchers in Hunter Elliott and Cade Townsend and an elite bullpen stopper in Walker Hooks.
9. Alabama
Record: 35-17 (16-11)
Last week: 9
Up next: Ole Miss
Alabama is tracking toward a national seed, but the Crimson Tide might be a popular pick to get upset due to a statistical profile that doesn’t stand out.
10. Tennessee
Record: 34-18 (13-14)
Last week: 12
Up next: at Oklahoma
Which version of Tennessee will show up any given series? The Vols have a series win over Texas and a sweep of Mississippi State, but they got swept by Vanderbilt and lost series to Kentucky, LSU and Kent State.
11. Oklahoma
Record: 31-18 (13-14)
Last week: 10
Up next: at Tennessee
Oklahoma’s hosting dreams are likely dead barring a sweep of Tennessee, but the Sooners are still in a decent spot heading into the postseason.
12. Kentucky
Record: 30-18 (12-15)
Last week: 11
Up next: Arkansas
Kentucky is back on track to make it to the NCAA Tournament despite having won just two of its nine SEC series, tied for the fewest in the SEC.
13. Vanderbilt
Record: 29-24 (11-16)
Last week: 13
Up next: South Carolina
Losing a series to Missouri was certainly not what Vanderbilt needed as the nation’s longest NCAA Tournament streak is now near-certain to come to an end.
14. LSU
Record: 29-24 (9-18)
Last week: 15
Up next: Florida
Turns out a sweep of South Carolina was not proof that the Tigers had turned their season around, as they turned around and got swept by Georgia. LSU no longer has enough games left to get to an SEC record that would get it in the NCAA Tournament.
15. South Carolina
Record: 22-30 (7-20)
Last week: 15
Up next: at Vanderbilt
South Carolina now has its first 30-loss season in program history and its first eight-game losing streak since the JFK administration. This program needs a complete overhaul.
16. Missouri
Record: 23-27 (6-21)
Last week: 16
Up next: at Texas
Both South Carolina and Missouri have two series wins this season, and that’s a significant improvement for Missouri.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Georgia, Auburn are tops in SEC baseball power rankings after Week 13