Auburn Consensus Top-5 in Rankings After Latest SEC Series Win

Though the Auburn Tigers took a little bit of time to get up to speed in this baseball season, Butch Thompson’s squad has found its path in a big way over the past few months. On Saturday, a 13-2 victory over the 10th-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs cemented a sixth-straight SEC series win for the Tigers, and ranking committees are taking notice.

So, after a 10-3 loss to the Bulldogs, followed by two straight wins, 5-4 and 13-2, and a midweek 10-2 win over UAB to boot, how did the Tigers fare in this week’s rankings? Auburn Tigers on SI takes a look at three major ranking systems and analyzes where Butch Thompson’s squad landed in each.

Baseball America: No. 4 (previously No. 6)

The Tigers broke out of a two-week dormant phase this week, at least in the eyes of Baseball America, which finally moved Auburn above Georgia after weeks of effort from both squads. Mississippi State fell just two spots, from No. 10 to No. 12, a testament to just how good the Tigers have been playing. 

This is the first time this season that the Tigers have cracked the top five in the eyes of Baseball America, which is a major testament to just how well Butch Thompson’s squad has come together against top opponents in recent weeks. 

Perfect Game: No. 5 (previously No. 7)

The Tigers made another two-rank jump this week in the eyes of Perfect Game, which, like Baseball America, did not move the Tigers at all in last week’s rankings. Mississippi State was punished much more severely for its losses this weekend, though, perhaps due to the Tigers’ series-ending mercy rule victory.

Interestingly, Perfect Game, unlike Baseball America, did not rank the Tigers above the Georgia Bulldogs this week, meaning the Tigers’ upcoming series against the Bulldogs will have immense implications for the future ranking of both teams.

D1 Baseball: No. 5 (previously No. 8)

D1 Baseball has been much more hesitant to give the Tigers their flowers this season, but a dominant series victory against a group that they had ranked as the No. 10 team in the country is quite hard to ignore. The Bulldogs, for comparison, dropped to 13th in this week’s rankings, falling as many spots as the Tigers gained.

D1 Baseball has punished Auburn quite severely for being swept by Alabama back in March, and even had the Tigers ranked as the 11th-best team in the country entering week 10. However, they seem to have seen the light that Butch Thompson is shining on the Plains, and they seem fully bought in to what the Tigers have in store.

The Tigers certainly still have much to prove as they make a push to host part of this year’s NCAA tournament, and their final week of play will certainly test everything that they have put together throughout the season. Auburn is slated to play Georgia, which outranks the Tigers in two of the three ranking systems, so this weekend should have massive implications on both teams’ eventual rankings.

First, the Tigers will head to Jacksonville to take on Jax State in a midweek matchup on Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT, before returning home to host the Bulldogs in what will be their final games of the regular season.

Play between the Tigers and Bulldogs will start on Thursday at 7 p.m. CT, before heading to games two and three on Friday at 7 p.m. CT and Saturday at 2 p.m. CT.

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