The Southeastern Conference baseball tournament ended today with a Vanderbilt 3-2 victory over Ole Miss. Both clubs are expected to see their names called this evening when the D1 baseball committee announces the sixteen host sites. Nashville was certain to host a regional prior to this week’s festivities at Hoover. Ole Miss made a run to Sunday and brought with them some heat that has them moving up from the two-line to the hosting expectation.
I am not sure the SEC has ever been healthier as a baseball league. Of course, it did not hurt adding NCAA tournament mainstays Texas and Oklahoma to the family. With those additions, the league could see thirteen teams make the tournament bracket.
Here is how it all stacks up ahead of tonight’s hosting announcement and tomorrow’s full bracket reveal. Mondays’ presentation will take place at 11 AM CT. It can be viewed on ESPN2 and streamed on the ESPN App.
Top Eights:
The chatter ahead of the SEC tournament was that the committee was expected to chose at least four league teams in the top eight, but no more than five. It will be interesting to see if that line of thinking sticks.
The four that appear to be on the most solid footing are: Arkansas, Georgia, Texas and Vanderbilt. From there, it gets a little interesting. One could make a case for both Auburn and LSU as top eight teams. Before the conference tournaments began, it appeared LSU would coast in as the fifth SEC top eight with Auburn on the outside looking in.
Auburn swept LSU during the regular season, but the Bayou Bengals finished ahead of the Tigers in the SEC regular season standings by two games. Butch Thompson’s club has the #3 RPI and the #1 SOS. As stated here before, if that does not prove worthy of a top eight, it is tough to imagine what will. LSU dropped out of the top ten in RPI with a loss to Ole Miss on Saturday. One of the blemishes on the LSU resume is a non-conference SOS of 221.
The question here is if not both sets of Tigers, then who? The committee has proven to have a knack for making history. Could we see Coastal Carolina push into the top eight with their win over Southern Miss in the Sunbelt tournament title game?
North Carolina is an absolutely lock, but their mercy-ruling of Clemson in the ACC final may have the Tigers sweating it out a bit. They are certain to host, but they will likely end up seeded somewhere 9-to-16.
There are some projections that have the SEC getting six of the top eight. Those predictions may hold, but I suspect it ends up being five rather than six. No matter what number Auburn and LSU have next to their names, they will be hosting next weekend.
Still hosting at home:
There is no question that no SEC team improved their place in the post season pecking order this week more than Ole Miss. The Rebels were just a whisper in the hosting discussion when the week began. Ole Miss finished the regular season with a 16-14 SEC record along with Alabama and Tennessee. The Tide bowed out in their first and only game in Hoover against Tennessee. The Vols knocked off Texas before getting shelled by Vandy on Saturday.
Ole Miss pushed by both Alabama and Tennessee and should be considered a lock to host in Oxford. Tennessee is just a spot behind Ole Miss RPI at #13 and beat the Rebels head-to-head. It could go either way for Tennessee, but will the committee allow the SEC to have half of the hosting spots? Ole Miss will be the seventh barring something crazy and then it boils down to resume comparisons with other teams with similar qualifications for the Vols.
The rest:
Oklahoma picked up a pair of important wins in the SEC tournament when they knocked off Kentucky and Georgia. The Sooners beat Mississippi State in the best two-of-three series in Norman during the regular season. On the strength of their two wins in Hoover, they are also ahead of State in the RPI. That likely means OU is a #2 and the Diamond Dawgs are a #3.
Kentucky appeared to have had their bubble burst, but some other results around the country have helped them remain in the discussion. The Wildcats finished the regular season with a 13-17 league mark. Part of those thirteen wins were a pair against Tennessee and a trio against Oklahoma. They may be the last team in the tournament, but fans should not be surprised if their name pops up on the screen.
Missouri, South Carolina and Texas A&M will all be watching the NCAA tournament from home. All three entered the week with the understanding that they needed to win the automatic qualifier for the SEC. They did not.
Placement:
With Ole Miss hosting, many were hoping that meant that State could slide into a potential regional at Southern Miss. That is still possible, but the Golden Eagles saw their winning streak snapped today against Coastal Carolina. The thinking was that a Golden Eagle win would have likely removed much, if not all, doubt about a Hattiesburg regional. It may still work out that way, but it will be tight.
The thinking ahead of the week was that there would be three west coast regionals: Oregon, Oregon State and UCLA. Oregon State is a hosting lock and they might even be a top eight. One never knows what the committee is going to do. Oregon State was competing for a top eight and now have an RPI 17. All three should remain hosting sites in the eyes of the committee. We may see an SEC team or two head west for the weekend.
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