Around the NCAA: SEC edition

One of the best conferences for college baseball is once again delivering tons of raw and insane talent.

It’s crazy to think that there are already four teams with 30-plus wins in the SEC. For reference, the leading team in the Big Ten is only sitting at 24 wins currently.

Right now as of this article on April 16, there are eight teams ranked within the top 25, including the top four overall seeds all from the SEC.

I’ll highlight each team here in this article to show you how mighty the SEC truly is.

Tennessee Volunteers, 30-6 (10-5)

Tennessee has been an offensive juggernaut this season, and the fact that they lead the SEC in home runs this season proves that, at 95 total.

There are five different players on the Vols roster this season with 10 plus home runs already. They include Blake Burke, Kavares Tears, Billy Amick, Christian Moore and Dylan Dreiling.

In what has been a down year for Florida and LSU, who met in the title game last season, the SEC is up for the taking, and the Volunteers have a good chance to hit their way to the title.

Texas A&M Aggies, 33-4 (11-4)

The Aggies went a perfect 22-0 in non-conference games this season, and although they’ve struggled a bit in the SEC, this is the consensus No. 1 team in all of America.

The pitching duo of Evan Aschenbeck and Ryan Prager has been deadly this season, and they are a combined 11-0 on the season, along with both having an ERA under 2.00 on the year.

The bullpen for the Aggies has also been an insane weapon they have had all season, with all 18 of their pitchers in the pen getting at least some game action this season.

Texas A&M is going to be the team to beat in Omaha this summer.

Arkansas Razorbacks, 30-5 (12-3)

After a tough weekend series loss against Alabama, Arkansas will look to get back on track this week, but overall they have faced little trouble this season.

The one knock you could put on the Razorbacks is their 3-3 road record, versus an incredible 25-1 record when at home. The Razorbacks are not a heavy power-hitting team, and on the road, they have struggled.

What this does prove on the other hand though is that head coach Dave Van Horn has been an instrumentalist with his roster this season. Arkansas is going to be a top team in the College World Series, and Van Horn is a major reason why.

If Arkansas can improve how it performs on the road, it will be a tough out.

Kentucky Wildcats, 30-5 (14-1)

Consistency is key, and the Wildcats have seemed to solve the puzzle of how to defeat SEC teams this season. Kentucky has not lost to a ranked team so far in the 2024 campaign.

Nick Lopez is fifth this season in batting average across the entire SEC sitting at .392 as of April 16. The Wildcats' entire lineup has a knack for the ball, and their success at the plate has led them to the top of the SEC.

Last season the best team in the SEC finished with 10 total losses on the season, and with the way Kentucky is playing, it does not appear they will get close to hitting that number this season.

Even though the conference is not superstar-heavy as it was last season, you can’t knock what the Cats are putting together this season.

Giustino Racchini is a first-year studying broadcast journalism. To contact him please email him at gar5448@psu.edu.