It was a long time coming, but the Big 12-leading Oklahoma baseball Sooners finally managed to make their way into the college baseball top 25 this season.
I may have been the only one that noticed and was a bit upset by this, but for the past several weeks, the Sooners have either shared or been the outright leader in the Big 12 baseball standings, but they were nowhere to be seen in the top-25 rankings for college baseball this season.
After sweeping BYU on the road this past weekend, the Sooners fourth Big 12 series sweep this season in six conference series so far, Oklahoma finally garnered enough votes to leap frog all the way up to the No. 18 spot in both the USA Today Baseball Coaches Poll and the D1 Baseball .com Poll.
Oklahoma (24-14, 14-4) is one of just two Big 12 schools ranked in the top 25 this week. Oklahoma State (26-14, 11-6) is the other, falling back to No. 22 this week after sitting 17th just the week before. The Sooners' in-state rival broke into the top 25 for the first time, at No. 25, the week of April 8..
That is in sharp contrast to where the Sooners are headed after this season. Oklahoma and Texas both leave the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference, beginning next season. This week, there are seven SEC teams ranked in the top 25, including the top-three teams (No. 1 Texas A&M, No. 2 Arkansas and No. 3 Tennessee) and four of the top five (No. 5 Kentucky).
Big 12 teams have been moving in and out of the top 25 all season. When the first national rankings came out for the 2024 college baseball season in early February, three Big 12 teams made the cut: No. 5 TCU, which is one of the teams the Sooners swept this season, No. 13 Texas and No. 22 Texas Tech.
By the time April 1 rolled around, TCU was the only Big 12 team appearing among the top 25, having dropped all the way to the 25th spot. A week later TCU was out, and Oklahoma State moved into the No. 25 position. When the April 15 rankings were released, Oklahoma State was up to No. 17 in the USA Today poll, and West Virginia, which a week ago was tied with Oklahoma for first place in the Big 12 had slipped into the No. 24 spot.
Bear in mind that Oklahoma State, West Virginia and Texas all stand 11-4 in the Big 12 and trail the Sooners by two full games, yet this is the first week the Oklahoma has been ranked in the top 25 this season.
It is also worth noting that Oklahoma was picked to finish tied for sixth (with West Virginia), behind conference favorite TCU, Texas, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Kansas State, in the Big 12 Preseason Poll.
The Sooners have four Big 12 series remaining in the 2024 regular season, starting with a huge series at home this weekend against Texas. After that, OU goes to Lubbock May 3-5 to take on Texas Tech, then back home at L. Dale Mitchell Park to host Baylor May 10-12, and close out the regular season at Cincinnati the weekend of May 16-18.
A long ways still to go, but for right now, at least, the Sooners are sitting pretty and are finally getting the national recognition they deserve.