Where will Arkansas baseball land after final SEC weekend?
The Arkansas baseball team still has a shot at a regular-season SEC championship heading into the final weekend of play.
The Diamond Hogs, who have been ranked inside the top five all year and spent about half the season at No. 1, are a game behind Kentucky for the conference lead with three games left. Arkansas is traveling to the league’s third-place team, Texas A&M, for its finale while the Wildcats are off to Nashville to play Vanderbilt.
Kentucky owns a one-game lead over Arkansas, which means a series sweep of the Commodores and UK is the outright champs. No one can catch them. If Vandy takes a game, Arkansas still needs to win its series against A&M. If Kentucky drops just one of the three games, Arkansas needs a sweep. Tennessee, which is tied with the Diamond Hogs for second, needs the same outcome.
While a conference title brings home a trophy, what happens after the SEC Tournament is what matters most. Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas A&M all have national championship dreams. Shooting for a conference tournament crown could potentially wear out a team before the race for the real prize the following weekend.
The good news for all four teams is that the top four finishers in the regular season all receive byes for the tournament next week Hoover. The byes mean fewer games even with wins. Fewer games means less chance at injury and less fatigue.
It’s time for the home stretch.
