Should the Mississippi State Baseball Program Celebrate a Co-Championship?

Depending on how the events of the coming weekend, the Mississippi State Baseball team could be co-champions of either the SEC west and possibly the overall SEC championship.

The Mississippi State baseball team is currently tied with the Texas A&M Aggies for the SEC West lead. If things were to stay like they are after this coming weekend, then the Aggies would get the higher seed in the SEC Tournament.

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But if it were to play out like so, the Bulldogs would also be defined as co-champions of the SEC West along with the Aggies. To take it a step further, if both teams were to finish ahead of the Florida Gators, then they would be defined as overall SEC Co-Champions.

So the question is should the team celebrate and honor the season as such even though they might be in a situation where they would lose the tie-breaker to the team they tied with?

Bulldog fans are likely to be split on such a topic. We often ridicule Ole Miss fans for hanging a banner for their SEC West Football Co-Championship in 2003. If unsure of what i am talking about, here you go.

But there is a very distinct difference in football and baseball. In football, being a co-champ and losing the tie-breaker means the other team gets to go to Atlanta while the loser stays home. If the Mississippi State baseball team were to tie Texas A&M, both teams would be playing in Hoover and one would simply be a better seed for the tournament.

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Complicating matters even more is there could be a three way tie for the SEC West and possible overall championship. If both the Mississippi State baseball And Texas A&M baseball teams won two of three this weekend, and the LSU Tigers swept the Gators, then all three teams would finish the season 20-10 and a half game ahead of the Gators. All three would be Co-Champions of the SEC. Texas A&M would own the tie-breaker in this situation as well.

Another possible scenario for a three way tie involves the Bulldogs winning two of three this weekend while Ole Miss and LSU both get sweeps. All three would finish the season 20-10 as well, but this time the Mississippi State baseball team would hold the tie-breaker.

Obviously, Bulldog fans would like to have the titles all by themselves. The best chance they will have to do so would be to sweep the Razorbacks and make either Texas A&M or Florida have to do the same thing to keep pace with MSU. And if they did, will you think of this Mississippi State baseball team as champions eve if they lost the tie-breaker?

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Personally, I would want it celebrated for the reasons I have already pointed out. In football, there is a clear reward for the team that holds the tie-breaker advantage. There isn’t such a reward in baseball. That’s my opinions and I am sure there will be some who disagree.