FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas has been ranked as the No. 2 program in the nation in D1Baseball’s biennial list of the top-100 programs in college baseball.
D1Baseball’s rankings place an emphasis on a tradition of consistent winning in the last decade, especially in the last five years, with the ultimate goal being to identify programs in the best shape currently with an eye towards the next five to 10 years.
Arkansas, which moved up one spot from its 2019 ranking (No. 3), has won 246 games since 2017, the most of any team in the nation. The Hogs are the only team in the country with at least 45 wins in each of the last five full seasons.
The Razorbacks were third in our Top 100 Program Rankings the last time we did this exercise, and guess what? The Hogs are up one spot to No. 2 overall. It’s a well-deserved move up in the pecking order. The Hogs have had quite an impressive run over the past five seasons. They reached a Regional final in 2017, but have experienced an incredible amount of success since that point. Arkansas won 48 games in 2018 and was an out away from winning its first national title. Still, a national runner-up finish is a special accomplishment. Dave Van Horn’s club followed up that heartbreak with another CWS trip and a 46-win campaign in 2019 before having an insane season in 2021 that did not include a single SEC series loss. The Hogs dropped a heartbreaker to NC State in the Fayetteville Super Regional that year. This past season, the Hogs got off to a slow start, but still went 46-21 and you got it, made yet another trip to Omaha. Three Omaha trips in the last five seasons is a strong accomplishment. In addition to its on-field success, the Hogs have created a national, winning brand. Arkansas is recruiting at a high level coast-to-coast, and the facilities in Fayetteville just keep getting better and better. The Hogs recently completed the construction of a brand new player development facility. What’s next? Who knows, but you can bet that something is on the agenda. They’re always building in Northwest Arkansas. On top of all that, the administrative support is excellent and it’s almost impossible to find fans more dedicated to their program than Arkansas fans. All the boxes are checked with this program. — Kendall Rogers, D1Baseball
The Razorbacks posted a 46-21 overall record in 2022, highlighted by the program’s 11th trip to the College World Series. It was the Hogs’ third trip to Omaha in the last four full seasons as they also punctuated 45-win seasons in both 2018 and 2019 with College World Series appearances.
In 2021, Arkansas won 50 games for only the fourth time in program history, claiming its first SEC overall title since 2004 and its first outright SEC crown since 1999. The Hogs became only the second team since the SEC expanded to 30 games to win all 10 of their conference series.
Arkansas capped its regular-season SEC championship with the program’s first SEC Tournament championship, becoming only the third SEC team since league play expanded in 2012 to win both the regular season and tournament championship in the same season.
The SEC leads all conferences with 13 teams (out of its 14 current members) in D1Baseball’s Top 100. The SEC also occupies each of the top four spots in the rankings — No. 1 Vanderbilt, No. 2 Arkansas, No. 3 Mississippi State, No. 4 Florida — for the second time in a row.
For complete coverage of Arkansas baseball, follow the Hogs on Twitter (@RazorbackBSB), Instagram (@RazorbackBSB) and Facebook (Arkansas Razorback Baseball).
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