Can Florida’s Kevin O’Sullivan , whose teams won the SEC Championship in 2011 and 2015 and the National Title in 2017, capture another SEC Tournament Championship. (Photo courtesy of WRUF).
The prolific SEC Baseball Tournament commences Tuesday at the Hoover Met with the best baseball in the country being played in the Met this week.
National seedings in the NCAA Tournament are on the line. The top 8 national seeds host throughout the Regionals and the Super Regionals. It’s the best path to Charles Schwab Field in Omaha and the College World Series, Friday, June 16th- Monday, June 26th. It’s also an ability to win a conference championship, which is always a goal for SEC teams. Florida won the SEC regular season. Here are the National rankings according to D-1 Baseball, the premier ranking service in the country. I’ve listed the top 10 nationally and the other SEC teams in the Top 25.
No.1 Wake Forest. No.2 Florida. No.3 Stanford. No.4 Arkansas. No.5 LSU. No.6 Clemson. No.7 Coastal Carolina. No.8 Vanderbilt. No.9 Connecticut. No.10 Oregon State. Tennessee is No.13. Auburn is No.19. Alabama is No.24. And Kentucky is No,25.
Here are my predictions for this sensational tournament. All games will be televised by the SEC Network except for the Championship game at 2 PM Sunday, which will be broadcast by ESPN2. All times listed below are Central.
Here are the final records for the top 12 teams in the SEC Tournament.
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Florida 20-10, 42-13
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Arkansas 20-10, 39-15, Florida wins tiebreaker
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LSU, 19-10, 42-13
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Vanderbilt, 19-11, 37-17
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Auburn 17-13, 33-19-1
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South Carolina, 16-13, 38-17
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Tennessee, 16-14, 38-18
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Kentucky, 16-14, 36-17
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Alabama, 16-14, 38-17
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Texas A&M, 14-16, 32-23
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Georgia, 11-19, 29-26
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Missouri, 10-20, 30-23
Here are my predictions for this terrific event in college sports. All games will be televised by the SEC Network except for the Championship game at 2 PM Sunday, which will be broadcast by ESPN2. All times listed below are Central.
Tuesday, 5/23, Single Elimination games.
Tournament seedings listed before each team.
9:30 AM
#6 South Carolina 10, #11 Georgia 1
12-12:30 PM unless there is a rain delay or extras in the first game.
No.7 Tennessee 7, No.10 A&M 2
4:30 PM
No.9 Alabama 4, No.8 Kentucky 3
7:30 PM ish
No. 5 Auburn 10, No.12 Missouri 2
Wednesday, 5/24, Double Elimination games
9:30 AM
South Carolina 6, No. 3 LSU 4
12 PM ish
UT 9, No. 2 Arkansas 6
4:30 PM
No.1 Florida 5, Alabama 3
7:30-8 PM ish
No. 4 Vanderbilt 5, Auburn 4
Thursday, 5/25, Double Elimination games
9:30 AM
Arkansas 7, LSU 6, LSU eliminated
12 PM
Auburn 8, Alabama 4, Alabama eliminated
4:30 PM
UT 9, South Carolina 5
7:30 PM
Vanderbilt 5, Florida 4
Friday, 5/24, Double elimination
3 PM
Arkansas 8, South Carolina 6, South Carolina eliminated
6:30 PM
Florida 9, Auburn 8, Auburn eliminated
Saturday, 5/25, Single elimination
12 PM
Tennessee 10, Arkansas 9
3 PM
Vanderbilt 6, Florida 5
Championship Game, Sunday, 5/26
2 PM ESPN2
Vanderbilt 10, Tennessee 8
SEC Champion
Vanderbilt Commodores
Top 8 National seeds from SEC.
Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Florida, Arkansas, LSU
Top 16 seed from the SEC. Host a Regional.
Auburn
8 Responses
I have not been following SEC baseball much other than the firing of the Bama coach. I am going with your pick. Let’s go Dores and anchor down.
Thanks, Bama.
AU and Bama have been hot of late. Vandy with the big series win over Arky last weekend. UT has been hot too. I think you are spot on. Both Vandy and UT have the pitching needed to succeed in this tournament. Arky and Florida will be tough. I don’t think LSU really has the arms right now.
I didn’t follow it too closely but did know that the SEC was/is very strong. Thanks for the details.
War Eagle!
Good analysis, MB. Thanks a lot.
Thanks, SH.
Several teams have a legit chance to win. Vandy is one of those that could win. I saw where the last 4 winners also won the regular season. I like Florida and Arkansas chances also.
Thanks, WP. UT is definitely a factor, too, and, as MB says, you can’t sleep on Bama or AU. Should be fun. Thanks for the excellent commentary, Walter.