If you love college baseball, the SEC tournament should satisfy your appetite and then some.
An expanded version of the conference tournament begins Tuesday at the park in Hoover, Ala., where Michael Jordan played as a gangly minor league outfielder. First pitch is at 10:30 a.m. EDT and the last out probably won’t get scored until the wee minutes of Wednesday morning.
If that’s not enough, the same thing happens Wednesday and again Thursday: 12 games in three days, followed by two Friday and two Saturday before getting to the final one-game championship matchup Sunday.
The added day (six days of play instead of the traditional five) is the first major change to the format since 1996, and it puts 10 teams in the tournament instead of eight. The format adds more games, which is great for the fans, but it also makes the brackets virtually indecipherable. Plus, it takes the student athletes out of the classroom for one more day as final exams approach.
Of course the stated reason for the change is the opportunity afforded those student athletes, and, of course, the desire to improve their overall collegiate experience: that and the addition of Texas A&M and Missouri, although neither of them is in the tournament, or even in the SEC yet. The official start date for A&M and Mizzou is July. But, the conference might as well get the jump on a 10-game tournament with or without them, or so the argument goes.
Another reason is the potential for more NCAA bids. LSU played well last year, amassing a 30-22 record, but didn’t get an NCAA invite, because they didn’t make the SEC tournament. Never mind that the two teams in the College World Series were Vanderbilt and South Carolina, with the Gamecocks repeating as champions.
No conference tournament; no post season. So it’s hard to argue with giving teams like the Tigers a shot.
"I'm all for as many teams as possible being invited, and I don't just feel that way because of what happened to us last year," LSU coach Paul Mainieri said before the tournament. "I felt that way since I've been in this league. This league is such a grind that the margin between the top teams and a good portion of the teams can come down to a good break or bad break on whose season will continue."
But, for all the logical and noble rationales – the ones conference officials will insist were paramount in their deliberations – another factor can’t be overlooked. More schools in the tournament mean more fans pouring into Hoover to buy soft drinks and souvenirs. And more games mean more tickets and more television. All of which translates into more money for a conference that is already richer than Greece and fast approaching Italy and Spain.
Granted, baseball isn’t a goldmine like football and basketball, but it’s not golf or water polo, either.
Money played a part in the decision-making. You can bet your last dollar on it, although that’s not recommended.
Throw in the fact that the conference could be vying for its third straight College World Series crown, and it’s easy to understand why Mike Slive wants the tournament to go on and on for as long as possible.
Perhaps the format will make more sense next year, when 10 out of 14 teams make the tournament. But the brackets aren’t as important as the matchups.
And if you’re into baseball there will be plenty of great games in the next six days. In fact, more than enough.
