It has been an eventful two days in the conference tournaments. A lot has changed as it relates to potential hosting selections and some at-large bids. Before the weekend opened at Hoover, Ole Miss was on the outside fringes of the hosting discussion and LSU looked to be in good shape for a potential top eight seed. We may be seeing a reversal of fortunes.
Should the Rebels knock off Vanderbilt in Sunday’s SEC tournament title game, the D1 baseball committee may have a much more difficult decision to make about seeding. Yes, the Rebels should absolutely host, but where will they fall in the national seeding process? LSU looked to be a rather fragile top eight selection and they have now dropped out of the top ten in RPI. How much will that matter come Monday?
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There is also some faint chatter about Kentucky making the field as a thirteenth SEC team in the field. It is going to be close and the Wildcats can ill afford much in the way of bid stealers. Most of that has calmed now that the weekend is here, but it appears that Nick Mingione’s club is still on the bubble of potential inclusion.
Earlier this week, there was some talk about two SEC teams having to head out west. That may not ring true in the end as so many teams west of the Mississippi have earned their spots in the field. Arkansas-Little Rock won the Ohio Valley and should be a team that finds a spot in a western regional somewhere. That could also prove to be the case for Creighton who won the Big East.
Placement is difficult to predict. One of the things that may work in Mississippi State’s favor is that Ole Miss and Southern Miss may both host. That brings two more regional spots east of the Mississippi that were not projected a couple of weeks ago.
Speaking of teams out west, UCLA is making a late case to host and will know play Nebraska for the Big-10 tournament title. Oregon has dropped several spots in the RPI and may end up being a road team. While there are just over a dozen of hosting spots essentially locked up, the committee will have to have some difficult discussions about the final few. Southern Miss is in that mix.
No matter where Mississippi State is sent next weekend, the focus will be on winning baseball games. Who and where they play remains a matter of speculation. All of that ends on Monday when the bracket is revealed. The expectation is that the Diamond Dawgs will either be one of the lesser two seeds or strong three seeds. In the end, you play the same game no matter which one of those designations one receives. The joy of Starkville is that State is still playing.
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