The Oklahoma baseball team enters the final weekend of the regular season in position as a lock for the NCAA Tournament. The question remains just where the Sooners will play.
And the weekend set against Texas will go a long way in determining their destination.
OU enters Week 10 of the Southeastern Conference slate in a tie for 10th in the 16-team league. With a 13-14 record in league play and a 32-17 mark overall, the Sooners will undoubtedly receive an invitation to the NCAA Tournament. But it’s a far cry from last year when the Sooners were awarded a national seed and hosting duties in Norman.
That, however, didn’t work out, as Connecticut dismantled Oklahoma in the Regional. With this season’s record, OU will almost certainly be traveling for their first set of tournament games. There are simply too many teams ahead of them in the SEC standings to suggest otherwise. Barring a sweep of the Longhorns and perhaps a deep run in the SEC Tournament next week, that is.
Even with a sweep, the Sooners wouldn’t be able to catch the top five teams in the standings and would therefore receive only one bye in the conference tournament. What is more likely, however, is that OU loses the set to Texas and stumbles down in the standings, finishing somewhere between No. 14 and No. 9.
Any finish lower than ninth would result in the Sooners having to play in the opening round in Hoover, Alabama, next Tuesday. Five wins would be required to capture the SEC Tournament. Seeds No. 5 through 8 receive automatic byes to the second round, and the league’s top four finishers receive byes into the quarterfinals. The tournament is single-elimination.
Here’s how the standings look and each team’s schedule heading into Thursday.
1. Texas Longhorns (20-7)
Remaining SEC series: at Oklahoma
2. Arkansas Razorbacks (18-9)
Remaining SEC series: vs. Tennessee
3. LSU Tigers (17-10)
Remaining SEC series: at South Carolina
T-4. Vanderbilt Commodores (16-11)
Remaining SEC series: vs. Kentucky
T-4. Georgia Bulldogs (16-11)
Remaining SEC series: vs. Texas A&M
T-4. Auburn Tigers (16-11)
Remaining SEC series: at Ole Miss
T-7. Tennessee Volunteers (15-12)
Remaining SEC series: at Arkansas
T-7. Alabama Crimson Tide (15-12)
Remaining SEC series: at Florida
9. Ole Miss Rebels (14-13)
Remaining SEC series: vs. Auburn
T-10. Kentucky Wildcats (13-14)
Remaining SEC series: vs. Vanderbilt
T-10. Oklahoma Sooners (13-14)
Remaining SEC series: vs. Texas
T-10. Florida Gators (13-14)
Remaining SEC series: vs. Alabama
13. Mississippi State Bulldogs (12-15)
Remaining SEC series: at Missouri
14. Texas A&M Aggies (10-17)
Remaining SEC series: at Georgia
15. South Carolina Gamecocks (5-22):
Remaining SEC series: vs. LSU
16. Missouri Tigers (2-24):
Remaining SEC series: vs. Mississippi State
This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Updated SEC Baseball Standings ahead of final weekend