Last night's win over auburn was pretty much a must have based on how things are trending in the league going into the postseason. While losing the series was disappointing, one thing this Bama team has done well at is finding a way to get the series finale win on some weekend's where they've played poorly. As it stands now (and as shown below), 5 teams finished with a 17-13 SEC record... Bama, LSU, Vandy, South Carolina, and Florida. The Tide only played 2 of the other 4 (South Carolina and LSU), and won both series. I personally don't like the committee putting very much stock (any, really) into the results in Hoover, but they have, and will. I think the season should stand on it's on, or at least 98% of it.
Before we go any further, for comparison sake:
RPI Rankings
#18 Alabama
#19 South Carolina
#24 Florida
#27 Vanderbilt
#30 LSU
Strength of Schedule
#1 Florida
#5 Alabama
#7 South Carolina
#16 Vanderbilt
#21 LSU
Obviously, in both metrics, combined with the head-to-head wins over South Carolina and LSU, Bama is sitting in a better spot right now compared to the rest. One thing we don't need is for a bunch of bid stealers to emerge this week... if that were to happen, The 13&17 Club will be sweating heavily going into the selection show.
At this point, Bama is just fighting for a better regional grouping, though I have little faith that it matters much based on how this committee has sorted them in the past. Bottom line, Bama is going to have to beat at least 1 really good baseball team twice, on the road, to advance to a Super. And this is waaaayyyyyy down the road stuff here... but if Bama can get into a Super, I can guarantee the matchup won't be any worse than last year's was.
Back to the SEC Tournament for a moment... here is the bracket...
IMO, unless you're Ole Miss, LSU, or Vandy, winning the tournament really has no benefit. A top seeded team like Arkansas or the Vols (for just 2 examples) going on a run and throwing everything they have at it is reckless given what lies ahead days later. But, more than likely,we will see a team go all in on winning it, have their moment in the blazing hot sun holding the tournament trophy, then watch them come out tired and flat, and lose to a much less talented team on their own field in the regionals, ending their season prematurely.
Anyway, I'd just like to see Bama win 1... anything beyond that is fine.
Before we go any further, for comparison sake:
RPI Rankings
#18 Alabama
#19 South Carolina
#24 Florida
#27 Vanderbilt
#30 LSU
Strength of Schedule
#1 Florida
#5 Alabama
#7 South Carolina
#16 Vanderbilt
#21 LSU
Obviously, in both metrics, combined with the head-to-head wins over South Carolina and LSU, Bama is sitting in a better spot right now compared to the rest. One thing we don't need is for a bunch of bid stealers to emerge this week... if that were to happen, The 13&17 Club will be sweating heavily going into the selection show.
At this point, Bama is just fighting for a better regional grouping, though I have little faith that it matters much based on how this committee has sorted them in the past. Bottom line, Bama is going to have to beat at least 1 really good baseball team twice, on the road, to advance to a Super. And this is waaaayyyyyy down the road stuff here... but if Bama can get into a Super, I can guarantee the matchup won't be any worse than last year's was.
Eastern Division | SEC | | Overall | ||||||||
Team | W | L | Pct | W | L | Pct | Last 10 | Streak | Home | Away | Neutral |
Tennessee | 22 | 8 | .733 | 46 | 10 | .821 | 8-2 | W 4 | 35-3 | 9-6 | 2-1 |
Kentucky | 22 | 8 | .733 | 39 | 12 | .765 | 6-4 | L 1 | 21-6 | 16-5 | 2-1 |
Georgia | 17 | 13 | .567 | 39 | 14 | .736 | 8-2 | L 2 | 29-5 | 8-9 | 2-0 |
Vanderbilt | 13 | 17 | .433 | 35 | 20 | .636 | 3-7 | W 1 | 27-8 | 4-12 | 4-0 |
South Carolina | 13 | 17 | .433 | 33 | 21 | .611 | 3-7 | L 6 | 22-10 | 9-10 | 2-1 |
Florida | 13 | 17 | .433 | 28 | 26 | .519 | 5-5 | W 2 | 19-13 | 9-12 | 0-1 |
Missouri | 9 | 21 | .300 | 23 | 32 | .418 | 4-6 | W 1 | 15-14 | 7-16 | 1-2 |
Western Division | SEC | | Overall | ||||||||
Team | W | L | Pct | W | L | Pct | Last 10 | Streak | Home | Away | Neutral |
Arkansas | 20 | 10 | .667 | 43 | 12 | .782 | 5-5 | L 1 | 33-3 | 7-8 | 3-1 |
Texas A&M | 19 | 11 | .633 | 44 | 11 | .800 | 5-5 | W 1 | 32-3 | 9-8 | 3-0 |
Mississippi State | 17 | 13 | .567 | 36 | 19 | .655 | 6-4 | L 1 | 25-9 | 8-9 | 3-1 |
LSU | 13 | 17 | .433 | 36 | 20 | .643 | 7-3 | W 3 | 27-9 | 7-11 | 2-0 |
Alabama | 13 | 17 | .433 | 33 | 21 | .611 | 5-5 | W 1 | 22-8 | 8-12 | 3-1 |
Ole Miss | 11 | 19 | .367 | 27 | 28 | .491 | 3-7 | L 5 | 19-12 | 7-15 | 1-1 |
Auburn | 8 | 22 | .267 | 27 | 26 | .509 | 6-4 | L 1 | 18-13 | 5-12 | 4-1 |
Back to the SEC Tournament for a moment... here is the bracket...
IMO, unless you're Ole Miss, LSU, or Vandy, winning the tournament really has no benefit. A top seeded team like Arkansas or the Vols (for just 2 examples) going on a run and throwing everything they have at it is reckless given what lies ahead days later. But, more than likely,we will see a team go all in on winning it, have their moment in the blazing hot sun holding the tournament trophy, then watch them come out tired and flat, and lose to a much less talented team on their own field in the regionals, ending their season prematurely.
Anyway, I'd just like to see Bama win 1... anything beyond that is fine.
