Oklahoma Baseball moves up five spots in latest USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll
Although fluctuation in the polls may be frustrating, the Oklahoma Sooners baseball team is trending in the right direction with two weeks left in the regular season.
The Sooners benefitted from a positive move in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll on Monday after taking two of three games from Ole Miss over the weekend. OU moved up five spots to spots to No. 16. The upward change, tied for the biggest jump in the country this week, came after the Sooners dropped six spots the week before after losing two of three against Georgia.
Most importantly for Oklahoma, the winning puts the team in a better position for the postseason.
Six of the top 10 teams in the poll are fellow Southeastern Conference teams. Texas held its spot at No. 1 despite being swept by Arkansas, the now-No. 2 team. LSU moved down two spots to fourth, while Georgia ranked sixth, Auburn eighth, and Vanderbilt 10th.
But it isn't just the big dogs with whom the Sooners are fighting for NCAA Tournament positioning. Tennessee, the defending national champion, ranked just outside of the Top 10 at No. 12, while Alabama (20) and Ole Miss (22) ranked behind Oklahoma from the SEC.
Every team has six league games remaining. Texas leads the league by two over Arkansas, who is two games ahead of Georgia and LSU. Tennessee ranks fifth in the SEC standings with Vanderbilt and four teams slot one game behind them in a tie for seventh: Auburn, Alabama, Ole Miss, and Oklahoma.
The Sooners' injection into the Top 16 in the country suggests that NCAA Tournament Regional hosting duties remain a distinct possibility. The odds of seeing postseason games played in Norman go up with a higher finish in the SEC, where the league could see as many as 10 teams host.
Oklahoma plays Kentucky in its penultimate series of the season and closes things out with Texas next week.
Full USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll
Rank School Record Points First-Place Votes Previous Rank 1 Texas 38-8 713 12 1 2 Arkansas 40-9 669 10 5 3 Florida State 33-10 666 5 8 4 LSU 38-11 653 0 2 5 North Carolina 35-10 652 1 3 6 Georgia 39-11 625 2 7 7 Oregon 33-13 533 0 10 8 Auburn 33-15 528 0 11 9 Clemson 37-12 498 0 4 10 Vanderbilt 34-14 442 0 15 11 Oregon State 34-12 426 0 12 12 Tennessee 37-11 416 0 6 13 West Virginia 39-7 404 0 13 14 Coastal Carolina 37-11 364 0 19 15 UC Irvine 34-11 355 0 9 16 Oklahoma 32-14 241 0 21 17 UCLA 34-13 239 0 14 18 Troy 34-14 192 0 22 19 NC State 30-15 180 0 17 20 Alabama 36-12 166 0 16 21 Southern Miss 35-13 147 0 23 22 Mississippi 33-15 145 0 18 23 Arizona 33-14 132 0 24 24 Louisville 32-15 127 0 20 25 Dallas Baptist 33-13 46 0 NR
Schools Dropped Out
No. 25 Kansas;
Others Receiving Votes
Northeastern 32; USC 25; Georgia Tech 24; Kansas 20; Iowa 19; TCU 18; Florida 15; Duke 10; UTSA 8; Miami (FL) 8; Western Kentucky 5; Arizona State 4; Wake Forest 1; Texas A&M 1; Southeastern Louisiana 1;
List Of Voters
The USA TODAY Sports board of coaches is made up of 30 coaches at Division I institutions. All are members of the American Baseball Coaches Association. The board for the 2025 season: Mik Aoki, Richmond; Andrew Checketts, UC-Santa Barbara; Jim Chester, Gardner-Webb; Reggie Christiansen, Sacramento State; Terry Davis, Western Illinois; Jeff Forehand, Lipscomb; Craig Gibson, Mercer; Justin Haire, Ohio State; Danny Hall, Georgia Tech; Brian Hamm, Yale; Charlie Hickey, Central Connecticut State; Josh Holliday, Oklahoma State; Randy Hood, UNC-Wilmington; Omar Johnson, Jackson State; Ed Kahovec, Holy Cross; Ryan Klosterman, Bryant; Geoff Loomis, Portland; Sean Lyons, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville; Scott Malone, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi; John McCormack, Florida Atlantic; Jake McKinley, Nevada; Jim Penders, Connecticut; Evan Porter, Nebraska-Omaha; Marc Rardin, Western Kentucky; Sherman Reed, Coppin State; Jake Sabol, Central Michigan; Kevin Schnall, Coastal Carolina; Dan Skirka, Murray State; Alex Sogard, Wright State; Butch Thompson, Auburn.
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