SEC Power Rankings: Week 12

We have two weekends of conference play left, and things couldn’t be tighter. Alabama and Oklahoma are tied up at the top, Texas A&M is a game back, and a few other times are waiting in the wings, hoping for some slips by the aforementioned trio. While it’s been a unique year in the conference, thanks to more-than-expected weekly sweeps and a clear line of delineation, all the results for the last seven weeks have led to what appears to be a photo finish. One thing worth noting—if there’s a tie at the top of the standings at the end of the regular season, those two (or three?) teams will be co-champions. The tiebreaker mechanisms are utilized to determine SEC Tournament seeding.

No superlatives this week in the column; instead, we’ll focus on informing the good people of the world about the details of the conference’s announcement that the SEC Softball Tournament is moving to Madison, Alabama, starting in 2027. We talked to South Carolina head coach Ashley Chastain Woodard earlier this week on Good Morning Softball America about the move to Madison:

SEC Softball Power Rankings

Once again, here’s a quick disclaimer. These are power rankings, which are very different from a Top 25 poll, per se. How these teams are slotted is not how I have them in my Top 25 ballot. No, this list is all about how you’re playing right now. It’s a snapshot of the current on-field product. Now, without further ado, here are the newest SEC Power Rankings:

1. Texas A&M (34-12, 14-4 SEC)

Surprise! Look, these are power rankings, and I’m not sure any SEC team has been as consistent lately as Texas A&M. A home sweep of Mississippi State was impressive, and Mya Perez has firmly inserted herself into the SEC Player of the Year chat. Crucially, though, Sidne Peters was pretty outstanding in the circle this weekend. The Aggies needed a sweep to keep up in the standings, and they pulled it off. They’ll need another (or at the very least a series win) this weekend at South Carolina to stay solidly in the race.

2. Oklahoma (43-6, 15-3)

I’m not sure if it’s a commentary on the respect for Oklahoma or the up-and-down week for the rest of the league that the Sooners are second after a 2-2 week. The good? Isabela Emerling was a total game-changer in the Arkansas series, providing the big momentum-grabbing swings in Game One and Game Three. The Sunday response to the loss was typical OU softball, and a welcome change to the slow starts that Patty Gasso had mentioned in a prior postgame presser. Kendall Wells continues to be the scariest bat in the conference.

The bad? The Sooners looked a little tired at times after such a daunting stretch, and they just weren’t as crisp as you’d expect in the midweek against Oklahoma State or the first two games against the Razorbacks. Still, the Sooners have the highest ceiling of anybody in the country. A 2-2 week doesn’t change that.

3. Alabama (43-4, 15-3)

Welp. Last week, I wrote about how the Tide avoided a trap series at Auburn and gave the team kudos…and then Alabama promptly lost to Samford for the first time since 1997, literally the year I was born. The game itself was a perfect storm of lacking execution/poor situational hitting/the opponent taking advantage of a chance, and the Tide lost. That made the response on the weekend against Kentucky even more crucial, and Patrick Murphy’s club indeed answered appropriately. Jocelyn Briski remains the SEC Pitcher of the Year frontrunner, and the offense continues to create a lot of opportunities each and every inning. The odds are good that the Samford loss last week will simply be a strange, unexpected blip in a strong 2026 season for the Crimson Tide.

4. Florida (43-6, 16-5)

There’s a world where Florida is number one on this list, but the Gators needed to truly take care of business against Auburn, and…well, that didn’t happen. The two wins were lopsided, but the shutout loss at home was a stunner. Credit to Ella Harrison for pitching a gem, but it was a major surprise to see the Gators drop a game they frankly needed to stay in true contention for the SEC regular season title. On the good side, Townsen Thomas has been hitting better and better throughout league play, and Taylor Shumaker is now fourth in the SEC in conference play batting average. Keagan Rothrock was outstanding, too. The Gators have a massive week coming up, with a Wednesday battle with Florida State on deck and a home/home weekend double dip against UCF.

5. Texas (35-7, 12-6)

“It doesn’t take a crystal ball to see / A cowboy always finds a way to leave / Drinkin’ Jack all by myself / He’s choosin’ Texas, I can tell.”

Yes, I’m quoting Ella Langley when discussing the Longhorns, mainly because I watched her open for Morgan Wallen on Saturday night in Bryant-Denny Stadium (she, like the whole concert, was phenomenal). Now, is the quote actually relevant to this team, or did I just want to include an Ella Langley lyric? Not important. What is important is that Mike White’s club bounced back in a nice way with a road series win at Georgia, who’s playing good ball. The offense made necessary adjustments to Addisen Fisher in Game Three, and the rest of the lineup (Vivi Martinez, Leighann Goode, Hannah Wells) came through with the big hits to secure the series. Is it a concern that Teagan Kavan gave up some runs this weekend, plus yet another key homer in the seventh inning? A little bit. However, when given the choice against most of the teams in the SEC and certainly around the country, I’m choosin’ Texas. There it is, there’s the connection.

6. LSU (32-14, 9-9)

The Tigers are finding ways to win, and I love it. This weekend’s sweep of Ole Miss wasn’t easy by any stretch of the imagination, but LSU kept finding the big hits each and every time to snatch up the victory. Tori Edwards reemerging and driving in eight runs in the series is a massive development. Paytn Monticelli was clutch in the circle, collecting all three wins. I’m not sure the Tigers are close to their ceiling yet, but they’re winning tight games and starting to swing it well up and down the order. Things are looking strong in Baton Rouge, but they’ll need to keep it up this weekend in Starkville.

7. Georgia (33-13, 10-8)

Tough one for Georgia. At the very least, the Bulldogs were in it with Texas, but the clutch pitching wasn’t there in games one and three to win the series. On a good note, Addisen Fisher was excellent in Game Two, and Jaydyn Goodwin’s home run in the seventh inning of Game Three was electrifying. The defense also made play after play throughout the series. Still, this probably feels to Tony Baldwin like a missed opportunity to truly make a statement and creep even more into the Supers host conversation. The Bulldogs just couldn’t quite get it done.

8. Arkansas (36-8, 11-7)

The Razorbacks are tough to evaluate here, so let’s make a pros and cons list. 

Pros: 

-Payton Burnham was incredible in Game Two, and Robyn Herron did a great job slamming the door

-Tianna Bell and Ella McDowell kept coming up with big hit after big hit 

-The fight at the end of Game One carried over into Game Two, allowing Arkansas to hand Oklahoma a home loss for the first time this season

Cons:

-The status of Dakota Kennedy following an apparent knee injury in Game One (she didn’t return the rest of the weekend, and her absence was certainly felt in Game Three)

-Robyn Herron the other two games (4.2 IP, 8 ER allowed)

-Sunday (the Razorbacks kind of let go of the rope there at the end of the series)

So you see, things kind of even out. That probably means being placed right in the middle of these rankings is appropriate.

9. Tennessee (38-7, 12-6)

Tennessee only played at midweek at Duke, and the Lady Vols had to sit in it a bit as they utilized a true conference bye week. A mega-massive home rivalry series against Alabama looms this weekend. I’m sure the Lady Vols would love nothing more than to solidify a pristine NCAA Tournament seed with a series win and potentially knock the Tide out of the SEC race in the process.

10. South Carolina (26-21, 5-13)

I’ll just say it here—I think this is a little low for South Carolina. The Gamecocks made big strides this week, beating Clemson and proving that one Columbia is superior to the other. The main difference was that Carolina let Jori Heard cook. Heard picked up three complete game victories in just a few days with a weekly ERA of 1.00, and the offense finally had her back against a Missouri pitching staff that’s proven to be pretty solid. The last two series are hard (Texas A&M and at Alabama), but I think this is the formula for the Gamecocks. Keep it going.

11. Missouri (24-24, 7-11)

Larissa Anderson had some interesting comments after the Game Three loss to South Carolina, mentioning how a bases-loaded moment in the second inning seemed to take the wind out of their sails. For the Tigers, that singular sequence seems emblematic of the season—Missouri has put itself in positions to win, but the results haven’t always come through. Right now, though, the Tigers just need victories, point-blank. An added game against SIUE can certainly help the overall record. Missouri needs to pick off a couple of conference games before the season wraps up, or it’ll be another missed NCAA Tournament.

12. Auburn (24-21, 3-15)

Ella Harrison! Yes! The Game Two performance was outstanding and was yet another example of how the Rutgers transfer is more than capable of going off against any offense once on a weekend. The Tigers couldn’t follow through in Game Three, but it feels like the Tigers have a little bit more juice now that Destiny Rodriguez is back from injury. This weekend feels like a superb opportunity at home against…

13. Ole Miss (28-21, 2-16)

Hotty Toddy, Gosh Almighty, this team is playing hard…but not winning. Ole Miss has done just about everything you can do to make getting swept look competitive, and I firmly believe that the Rebels are capable of making life complicated for some host in the NCAA Tournament. Madi George is on a tear, Persy Llamas is always a threat, and every team in this league knows that Ole Miss will never go down without a fight. This weekend provides a chance to finally face an unranked SEC team, and it’ll be interesting to see if some of the good play against the top squads in the league translates into victories against Auburn.

14. Mississippi State (34-14, 6-12)

The Mississippi State thing is a little baffling to me. I’ve said it for weeks—this is clearly a good team. The Bulldogs have all the elements you could want, and yet they aren’t winning series or, this past weekend at Texas A&M, even a game. Five straight losses are a surprise with the talent available, and the SEC play batting average has dipped to .215 (11th in the league), with the ERA is up to 3.81 (11th in the league). Not an ideal combination. 

15. Kentucky (25-25, 1-20)

For an inning and a half, I saw Kentucky look like a team ready to fight. The sixth and top of the seventh in Game Two at Alabama was the most electricity the Wildcats have provided in weeks, and it appeared that this team would finally snap the SEC play losing streak. Then, the bottom of the seventh inning happened in a fashion that was truly a microcosm of the season. There were some mistake pitches, multiple changes in the circle, and some awful luck on a controversial missed call, which all led to Alabama walking it off. Unfortunately, it’s just been that kind of year in Lexington…and now Texas comes to town to wrap up the hardest conference slate ever recorded. 

Series This Week

• Missouri at No. 6 Arkansas
• No. 8 Texas at Kentucky
• No. 13 Georgia at No. 2 Oklahoma
• No. 9 Texas A&M at South Carolina
• Ole Miss at Auburn
• No. 14 LSU at No. 21 Mississippi State
• No. 3 Alabama at No. 11 Tennessee (S, S, M)