Will Mississippi State Baseball Make The SEC Tournament In 2018?
By Ethan Lee
What Other Teams Are Struggling Right Now?
Alabama, for all intents and purposes, is done. It’s impossible for the Crimson Tide to make their way into the SEC Tournament. That’s one less team for Mississippi State to have to worry about and it means that there’s only one other spot for a team to be eliminated from the SEC Tournament.
More than likely, that means that Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas A&M will be the teams that MSU needs to keep an eye on. And, this weekend, it just so happens that the two main teams Mississippi State needs to worry about, Mizzou and Tennessee, will play each other.
The Tigers and Vols will play a series that’ll likely decide which of them makes it into the SEC Tournament and who won’t get in. That is dependent on how things play out between Mississippi State and Florida.
MSU could really use just one win this weekend or for the Vols to play well. If Tennessee takes two games, or Mississippi State wins one, then the following scenario is avoided as Missouri is sitting on the outside looking in.
If the Gators sweep, Missouri wins two this weekend, and Tennessee wins one game, then the trio of Mississippi State, Mizzou, and the Vols will have identical SEC records and winning percentages. Given that Missouri has a tiebreaker over Mississippi State in the form of a series win.
That means Missouri is in. And, with how the SEC tiebreaker rules work, Tennessee gets in over MSU.
Tennessee has a win over Florida from earlier this year. The Gators are the top seeded team. In a scenario in which the Bulldogs are swept this weekend, that means that MSU would have no wins over top seeded Florida.
Thus, in this situation, MSU could be out.