Examining SEC race with 1 week left: Hogs alone in 1st place

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With just one week remaining in the regular season, Arkansas sits alone atop the SEC standings.

The Razorbacks took two of three games at Tennessee in a battle between the two division leaders and also got some help to put themselves in the driver's seat heading to the final weekend.

Not only did they move ahead of the Volunteers for the overall conference lead, but fellow contenders Mississippi State and Vanderbilt each lost their series to give them some breathing room - albeit not much.

Despite playing at home, the Bulldogs were stunned by last-place Missouri in the biggest upset of the year. They had to rally to win Game 1 before dropping the next two games.

That gives Arkansas a two-game lead in the SEC West. With only three games remaining, the Razorbacks would clinch at least a share of the division title - and a top-two seed in the SEC Tournament - with one win over Florida *or* one Mississippi State loss at Alabama.

If both of those things happen, or if one of them happens twice, Arkansas would clinch its first outright division title since 2011. It shared the title in 2018 and 2019 with Ole Miss and Mississippi State, respectively.

The Rebels are still alive for at least a share of the SEC West title, but it'd require them sweeping Georgia, Florida sweeping Arkansas and Mississippi State losing at least two games to Alabama. Regardless if it's a two- or three-team tie, though, Arkansas owns the tiebreaker and would get the top-two seed in Hoover.

In the East, Tennessee maintained its half-game lead for the division title thanks to Vanderbilt also losing two of three games. Even without Gunnar Hoglund, Ole Miss managed to beat the Commodores in Game 1 and then took the rubber match 13-10.

Meanwhile, Florida had a chance to sweep Georgia, but instead had to settle for a series win, which pulled it within a game of Tennessee. That means the top three teams in the East are separated by just one game heading into the final weekend.

Because of that, several scenarios are still in play for the SEC East title. Even South Carolina could get into the mix, but that'd require sweeping the Volunteers, Vanderbilt getting swept by Kentucky and Florida losing at least two of three at Arkansas.

It is much more likely that one of those top three teams will end up on top of the division and contend for the overall title with Arkansas.

The Razorbacks can take care of the second part of that by winning at least two games against the Gators this weekend. They'd be 21-9 and only the Volunteers - with a sweep of South Carolina - would be able to catch them and share the overall crown.

Other scenarios could result in Tennessee, Vanderbilt or Florida overtaking them for an outright regular-season title - something Arkansas has claimed just once, in 1999, since joining the conference in 1992. (The Razorbacks shared the 2004 regular-season title with Georgia.)

There is just as much drama at the bottom of the bottom of the SEC standings, with three teams vying for seemingly one spot in the SEC Tournament.

Auburn is currently in the driver's seat for the 12th and final seed in Hoover thanks to a series win over Texas A&M. Even though they're tied at 8-19, the Tigers now own the tiebreaker with the Aggies and have a one-game lead over Missouri heading into their series in Columbia.

The fact that Missouri is just one game back is incredible, as it had to win a pair of games in Starkville to remain within striking distance. Winning two of three over Auburn would make them both 9-21, with Missouri getting the nod via the head-to-head tiebreaker.

However, the Aggies aren't dead yet. They don't own the tiebreaker with Auburn or Missouri, but could still jump ahead of them with either a series win or sweep against LSU - depending on the result of the Auburn-Missouri series.

If Texas A&M pulled off a sweep, it would also put LSU at risk of missing the SEC Tournament. If that happened and Auburn swept Missouri, there would be a three-way tie at 11-19 and LSU would be the odd-man-out with a 2-4 record against those teams, compared to Texas A&M's 4-2 and Auburn's 3-3.

Of course, that would become a four-way tie if Kentucky was also swept by Vanderbilt and those tiebreakers still need to work themselves out.

Listed below are the division standings, as well as each team's remaining series and the current SEC Tournament seeding...

(REMINDER: In the SEC Baseball Tournament, the two division winners receive the top two seeds, regardless of record. For seeds 3-12, divisions don't matter and the order is based solely on record in SEC play.)