Texas Baseball Finishes Regular Season Inside D1Baseball Top Three

A strong end to the regular season bumped the Longhorns up a spot in D1Baseball's top 25.

Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

After starting the season on a torrid pace, the Texas Longhorns (42-11, 22-8) found themselves sitting comfortably atop both the SEC standings and D1Baseball top 25. However, every team deals with a rough patch at some point. For Texas, that came in the form of a 1-5 showing and back-to-back series losses against the Arkansas Razorbacks and Florida Gators.

Despite that, though, the Longhorns still found themselves atop the conference standings heading into their final series against the Oklahoma Sooners. All they needed to take home at least a share of the SEC crown was one win over the Sooners, while a win and an Arkansas loss against Tennessee would give them it outright.

They secured both on Thursday evening, giving Texas the SEC title in its first season as a member of the conference. Not stopping there, the Longhorns also took the series finale after dropping game two and climbed up one spot to No. 2 in the final D1Baseball rankings for the regular season.

Texas Longhorns outfielder Jonah Williams (55) eyes the ball as he runs for second bas in the second inning as the Longhorns take on the Florida Gators. | Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It isn't hard to see why the Longhorns moved up a spot in these rankings, as their series win over the Sooners not only clinched the regular season conference title, but was their eighth conference series win of the season. That is an impressive feat in the SEC, regardless of the rough stretch against Arkansas and Florida in back-to-back weekends.

Now, the Longhorns turn their attention ahead once again to the beginning of postseason play. Claiming the conference title earned them the No. 1 overall seed in the SEC Tournament as well as a crucial double-bye, with their first game set for May 22 at 3 p.m. CT.

While winning the SEC Tournament as well would be a great way to build momentum heading into the NCAA Tournament, it is not an absolute necessity. As it currently stands, there is a good chance the Longhorns will enter the Field of 64 as the nation's top national seed on their journey to Omaha.