SEC Baseball Tournament

The SEC Baseball Tournament (sometimes known simply as the SEC Tournament) is the conference championship tournament in baseball for the Southeastern Conference (SEC). It is a double-elimination tournament and seeding is based on regular season records. The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.

Tournament

The SEC Baseball tournament is a double-elimination tournament held each year at Regions Park in Hoover, Alabama. Eight of the 12 teams in the SEC make the tournament each year. The winner earns the SEC's guaranteed bid to the NCAA Tournament. The other seven teams who qualify for the SEC tournament more often than not earn at-large bids to the NCAA field of 64 teams, due to the reputation of the SEC as one of the nation's elite baseball conferences.

History

The tournament was first held in 1977.

1977-1986

From 1977-1986 the tournament consisted of four (out of 10) teams competing in a double elimination bracket.

1987-1991

In 1987, the tournament expanded to 6 teams (out of 10), while remaining a double-elimination tournament.

1992

With the addition of Arkansas and South Carolina to the conference, the SEC held an eight team (out of 12) double elimination tournament. The tournament followed a format that included reseeding the teams once only four were still active in the tournament.

1993-1995

The SEC held separate tournaments for the Eastern and Western divisions in 1993, 1994 and 1995. The tournament games counted in the league standings, and the team with the best winning percentage at the end of each tournament, covering 24 regular season SEC games plus tournament games, was crowned league champion. Each division tournament consisted of all six teams in that division. The SEC devised the plan in the hopes of garnering two automatic berths to the NCAA tournament for each of the tournament champions; however, the NCAA rejected the SEC plan, instead awarding one automatic bid to the division tournament champion with the highest overall winning percentage.

1996-1997

For two years, eight teams qualified for the league tournament; however, the teams seeded fifth through eighth were forced into a single-elimination play-in round. The two winners of the play-in games advanced to the main bracket, which was a six-team, double-elimination format, exactly the same as the NCAA regional format used through 1998.

1998-2007

Starting in 1998, the SEC adopted the "Omaha" bracket, splitting the eight qualifying teams into two four-team double elimination brackets. The division winners are seeded 1 and 2, while the remaining six teams are seeded 3 through 8. Seeds 2, 3, 6 and 7 form bracket one, while seeds 1, 4, 5 and 8 are in bracket two. The two bracket winners meet in a winner-take-all championship game. This was the format used in the College World Series from 1988 through 2002, prior to the NCAA instituting a best-of-3 championship series in 2003.

In 1998, the top three teams in each division plus two "wild card" teams qualiifed for the tournament. In 1999, the qualification standards were changed to the top two teams in each division plus the next four teams based upon overall conference winning percentage, which remains in place through 2008. Since 1996, SEC teams have played 30 conference games (10 3-game series), with each team playing all five of its division opponents and five of six opponents from the opposite division.

2008

In 2008, the SEC adopted a "flipped bracket" on a trial basis. The tournament still consists of 8 teams in a double elimination bracket, however, after two days of play the undefeated team from each bracket will move into the other bracket. This reduces the amount of rematches teams will have to play in order to win the tournament. [ [http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080520/SPORTS/805200306/1002/sports SEC BASEBALL: Tourney big for all eight teams] ]

Champions

*: LSU and Mississippi State were declared 1990 tournament co-champions by SEC commissioner Roy Kramer when lightning and rain ended play in the championship game with LSU leading 6-0 with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning.

By School

ee also

External links

* [http://www.secsports.com/new/sports/bbc/bbctourneymiscinfo.html SECSports.com Miscellaneous SEC Baseball Tournament Information]
* [http://www.secsports.com/new/sports/bbc/alltimetourneyresults.html SECSports.com All-Time SEC Baseball Tournament Results]
* [http://www.secsports.com/new/sports/bbc/bbctourneyrecords.html SECSports.com SEC Baseball Tournament Records]
* [http://www.secsports.com/new/sports/bbc/bbcalltournteam.html SECSports.com SEC Baseball Tournament All-Tournament Teams]

References