The regular season comes to an end in the SEC and just like we all thought, it’s Tennessee at the top along with … the Kentucky Wildcats!
What an incredible year for Kentucky who didn’t even start the year in the Top 25 and is now looking to be a top eight national seed.
They finished the regular season off with a series win against Vanderbilt, while Tennessee swept South Carolina to earn a share of the title.
The win was huge for Vanderbilt as it got them to 13 conference wins, making them feel much better about their at-large chances no matter what happens in Hoover.
Even with the same number of conference wins, South Carolina might be sweating it out after losing their last six SEC games.
Florida had a huge series win at Georgia that should make them feel more confident on selection Monday.
Alabama made things a lot more difficult on themselves by dropping the first two games at Auburn. But they did manage to win the third game and get to that 13-win mark in the conference. With their RPI, that should be good enough to get them in this year.
Auburn finished strong – as Butch Thompson’s teams normally do – going 6-6 in their last four SEC series. They also had a mid-week win over Georgia Tech during that stretch. But it was too little too late.
With everything that was on the line this weekend, a great matchup between Arkansas and Texas A&M got overlooked. And if you missed the Thursday night game you missed one of the best pitching and defensive games of the year.
The Aggies ultimately took the series at home, but both teams are a lock to be a national seed.
Mississippi State’s chances of hosting look much better after winning a series against Missouri and finishing with 17 conference wins.
A lot of eyes were on the LSU-Ole Miss matchup as it felt like whichever team won that series would have a good shot at an at-large bid. Credit to LSU who swept Ole Miss and now sets themselves up to be one of the most dangerous three seeds in the bracket if they get in.
What to Watch for in Hoover
Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Arkansas, Texas A&M, and Mississippi State are locks to make the tournament.
Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas A&M are all locks as national seeds, while Georgia and Mississippi State are locks as hosts. Georgia could potentially play itself into a top-eight seed with a big week in Hoover.
You have a collection of teams with 13 wins in Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Florida, LSU, and Alabama.
The Crimson Tide have the highest RPI of that group and 12 Quad 1 wins, so they seem like the safest bet to get in the tournament out of this group no matter what happens in Hoover.
All of these teams will feel much better if they can get a win on Tuesday.
LSU has the lowest RPI of the group, but after their sweep of Ole Miss, they now have a top 30 RPI.
It’s unlikely the committee lets all five of those 13-win teams get in as that would be 11 SEC teams.
LSU and South Carolina are the two teams who really can’t afford to lose on Tuesday in Hoover.
Needless to say, none out of that group would be able to play their way into a hosting spot as they’re all just hoping they don’t get left out at this point.
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