Where Vanderbilt Baseball is in the Conference Standings Following Oklahoma Loss – Sports Illustrated

What has been a down season in Nashville for Vanderbilt baseball got worse over the weekend as it lost a home series to No. 16 Oklahoma. After winning the series opener Thursday, Vanderbilt lost the final two games of the series and dropped to 7-8 in conference play.
As a result of the series loss, Vanderbilt’s RPI ranking dropped to 100th. Though it is just one spot below what it entered the Oklahoma series with, it is certainly not where Vanderbilt wants to be, nor thought it would be at this point in the season.
After what was an interesting weekend in the SEC, the logjam of standings got more complex as Vanderbilt is in a five-way tie for ninth in the SEC. With how crowded the conference is, Vanderbilt is just a game back of fifth in the conference, but just a game ahead of 14th in the SEC.
Heading into what is another big week for Vanderbilt, here is a current look at the SEC standings. Tiebreakers are not factored in.
The urgency for Vanderbilt feels like it cannot get much higher despite the fact that there is still five more SEC series to play, including the Commodores’ weekend series at Kentucky this weekend.
The reason for so much urgency right now does not have as much to do with Vanderbilt's position in the conference as it does with its projection for the NCAA Tournament field. Before the series loss to Oklahoma, Vanderbilt was rated as the fourth team out of the tournament, according to Baseball America. After losing two of three to the Sooners, it is more than likely Vanderbilt will continue to drop when the next projections come out.
It has not been the season Vanderbilt expected to have when it began in mid-February, but pitching injuries have been a major factor into the direction Vanderbilt has gone this season. 
But at this point, the Commodores cannot think about the effect those injuries have had. Vanderbilt has to think about how to fix the holes the roster has displayed on the field. And it needs to get turned around now. Three of the next four weekends are series on the road. The one in that stretch that is at home? Texas.
With eight conference losses already, 16 losses in total and not many impressive wins on the resume, Vanderbilt’s room for error is razor thin for the foreseeable future. The Commodores have a midweek matchup at Lipscomb Tuesday night that is a must-win game before playing at Kentucky for three games. First pitch between Vanderbilt and Lipscomb is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
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Graham Baakko is a writer for Vanderbilt Commodores On SI, primarily covering football, basketball and baseball. Graham is a recent graduate from the University of Alabama, where he wrote for The Crimson White, WVUA-FM, WVUA 23 as he covered a variety of Crimson Tide sports. He also covered South Carolina athletics as a sportswriting intern for GamecockCentral.
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