Why Texas remains No. 1 despite weekend sweep by Arkansas

The commanding lead in the SEC standings and some high-profile series results helped the Horns.

With a Thursday start to the series against the Arkansas Razorbacks ending with the Texas Longhorns getting swept in a 13-8 defeat on Saturday in Fayetteville, it seemed like a certainty that head coach Jim Schlossnagle’s team would tumble from the top spot in the D1 Baseball rankings.

But when the rankings came out on Monday morning, the Longhorns were still ranked No. 1.

So, what happened?

The head-to-head series wins that had helped Texas amass a five-game lead in the SEC standings helped the Horns, as well as some other results around the country.

Texas benefited from rival Texas A&M’s success when a three-run home run by Caden Sorrell in the eighth inning of Sunday’s 6-4 win over then-No. 2 LSU helped the Aggies take the home series against the Tigers and knock them down to No. 3 in the rankings.

Then-No. 3 Clemson might have been a candidate to supplant Texas, but entered the weekend after a series loss and dropped two out of three to Florida State, the new No. 2 team that has two more losses than the Longhorns and sits at No. 6 in the RPI compared to No. 2 Texas.

At No. 4, North Carolina remained in that spot because the Tar Heels didn’t play a weekend series. No. 5 Oregon took two out of three games against a Michigan State team that is under .500 in conference play.

And while Georgia moved up to No. 6 from No. 9, the Longhorns still have the series sweep over the Bulldogs, which blocked the Razorbacks from advancing higher than No. 7 after winning the head-to-head matchup against Arkansas.

So, Texas got some help and some continued respect for its historic start in SEC play — entering the weekend, the Longhorns were one of three programs to start 19-2 or better since 1996 when the 30-game SEC schedule began, joining the 2013 Commodores (19-2) and the 2022 Volunteers (19-2).

Texas hosts a solid Lamar team on Tuesday, then remains at UFCU Disch-Falk Field to face surging Florida, winners of four straight SEC games to move up to No. 11 in the conference standings.