FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas is ranked No. 3 in the final USA Today Baseball Coaches Poll of the 2022 season.
National champion Ole Miss was ranked first and national runner-up Oklahoma was ranked second in the poll that was released Monday. A testament to the surprising nature of their runs in the postseason, neither team was ranked in the final coaches poll of the regular season.
The Razorbacks (46-21) were a national semifinalist and finished one victory short of playing for the national championship at the College World Series. Arkansas had a 17-13 record against teams ranked in the final coaches poll, including 3-3 against Ole Miss.
The Razorbacks were the only team to beat the Rebels during the NCAA postseason, 3-2 in their first national semifinal matchup last Wednesday. Ole Miss won 2-0 the following day to advance to the championship series.
Arkansas is ranked in the final coaches poll for the fourth consecutive season that ended with the College World Series. The Razorbacks were ranked No. 8 in 2021, No. 6 in 2019 and No. 2 in 2018 when they lost to Oregon State in the national championship series.
The Razorbacks have played in the College World Series three times since 2018. There was no College World Series in 2020.
Ole Miss and Arkansas led eight SEC teams in the final rankings. Texas A&M, the other national semifinalist, was ranked fourth, followed by Auburn (7), Tennessee (9), Florida (21), LSU (22) and Vanderbilt (24).
All eight teams that participated in the College World Series were ranked in the top eight. Arkansas also won games in Omaha over Auburn and Stanford, which finished sixth in the poll.
North Carolina, which Arkansas defeated twice in a super regional in Chapel Hill, N.C., was ranked 15th in the final poll. Oklahoma State, which lost twice to the Razorbacks at its home regional, was ranked 17th.
Arkansas’ final ranking represents a gain of 10 spots from its 13th-place ranking in the final coaches poll before the NCAA Tournament. Prior to that, the Razorbacks had been ranked in the top 10 for 30 consecutive weeks.
Arkansas has been ranked in 76 consecutive coaches polls dating to 2017. The coaches poll is the ranking of record for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
USA Today Baseball Coaches Poll, June 27
1. Ole Miss (42-23)
2. Oklahoma (45-24)
3. Arkansas (46-21)
4. Texas A&M (44-20)
5. Notre Dame (41-17)
6. Stanford (47-18)
7. Auburn (43-22)
8. Texas (47-22)
9. Tennessee (57-9)
10. Oregon State (48-18)
11. Virginia Tech (45-14)
12. East Carolina (46-21)
13. Southern Miss (47-19)
14. Louisville (42-21)
15. North Carolina (42-22)
16. Connecticut (50-16)
17. Oklahoma State (42-22)
18. Maryland (48-14)
19. Texas State (47-14)
20. Miami (40-20)
21. Florida (42-24)
22. LSU (40-22)
23. UCLA (40-24)
24. Vanderbilt (39-23)
25. Texas Tech (39-22)
Dropped Out: Gonzaga (18), Virginia (19), UC-Santa Barbara (21), TCU (23), Georgia Southern (24)