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We're two weeks into the SEC baseball season. That means it's time to overreact. Let's pretend the teams we see today are the finished products we'll see in May. Let's forget all the rules about small sample sizes and cast judgement on what we've seen through the first six games.
For some teams, we'll boil it all down to what they put on the field last weekend. Texas and Tennessee will meet in the College World Series, while Texas A&M and Florida won't win a game all season. Georgia has the best lineup we've ever seen.
In reality, LSU fans know the danger of overreactions. At one point last year, it looked like LSU would miss the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers turned it around and ended up a few outs away from hosting a Super Regional. A few teams this year will see similar turnarounds. But for now, let's overreact. Here are five overreactions after two weekends of SEC baseball.
Texas A&M and Florida both entered the year expecting to compete for a national championship. The Aggies are College World Series runner-ups and the Gators have established a championship standard under Kevin O'Sullivan.
A&M began SEC play by dropping three to Alabama and followed it up with an 0-3 weekend vs. Vanderbilt. Alabama and Vanderbilt are good teams, but neither is in the top class of the SEC.
Florida's losses are better with the Gators on the wrong end of sweeps vs. Tennessee and Georgia. Still, the Gators expect to win no matter the opponent. 0-6 is not where either of these teams planned to be. If they continue at this pace, they'll be sitting at home when postseason baseball rolls around.
However, this is an overreaction piece, so I'll admit its likely at least one of these teams is playing in the NCAA Tournament. The Gators have an impressive nonconference resume and will have plenty of chances to prove their worth in the SEC.
It's hard to imagine a better way for a lineup to start conference play than what Georgia has done so far. The Dawgs wrapped up the Florida series by scoring 17 runs on Saturday and 15 runs on Sunday. In UGA's first SEC series, the Bulldogs totaled 36 runs vs. Kentucky.
So far, it's been a barrage of offense vs. quality competition. It doesn't look like Georgia is slowing down anytime soon. Despite the loss of Charlie Condon, the Bulldogs offense still has the juice.
Third basemen Ryland Zaborowski leads the SEC with a 1.009 slugging. If Zaborowski keeps hitting at a level anywhere close to that, it will prove tough to get outs vs. this lineup in 2025.
Oklahoma and Texas are new to the SEC. So far, they've adjusted well, with two series wins apiece. Texas began its SEC slate with a win on the road at Mississippi State. The Longhorns followed it up by taking two of three from No. 2 LSU.
Oklahoma started its SEC tenure with a series win over South Carolina before taking two of three from Mississippi State. After six games, Texas is 5-1 and OU is 4-2.
Texas looks like one of the best teams in the country and OU has one of the best starter-reliever combinations in the country. Let's go out on a limb and predict both will host a Super Regional in June.
Naturally, LSU's Derek Curiel will be compared to Dylan Crews. Both are outfielders. Both were highly touted prospects who opted to pass on pro ball and head to LSU.
Crews finished his freshmen campaign with 18 homers while hitting .426. He walked 71 times with only 46 strikeouts. That's a high bar, but there's a chance Curiel matches Crews' overall production. Curiel won't hit 18 homers, but he can match Crews' 36 extra base hits. Curiel already has nine doubles and two triples to go along with his two long balls.
Like Crews, Curiel walks more than he strikes out and his .566 on-base percentage is almost equal to Crews' .577.
Curiel's bat-to-ball skills are elite. It gives him a chance to put up Crews-like numbers even as LSU gets deeper into conference play.
Ole Miss was voted to finish 15th in the SEC in the preseason coaches poll. There wasn't much faith in the Rebels to remain competitive when conference play got underway. Now, Ole Miss is 4-2 in the SEC and 19-5 overall. The Rebels are riding a four-game win streak.
Yes, three of Ole Miss' conference wins were against Missouri, but the Rebels took a game from Arkansas, too.
The next two weeks will be big for Mike Bianco's squad. Ole Miss gets Florida this weekend. UF is down right now. The Rebels can take advantage of that or be the reason Florida finds life again. Next weekend, Ole Miss gets Kentucky for three games. That should be a manageable series.
If Ole Miss can go 4-2 over the next two weeks, it will be in a much better spot than many projected.
This article originally appeared on LSU Wire: SEC baseball overreactions: Texas and Georgia surge, Florida crumbles
Continue reading...
For some teams, we'll boil it all down to what they put on the field last weekend. Texas and Tennessee will meet in the College World Series, while Texas A&M and Florida won't win a game all season. Georgia has the best lineup we've ever seen.
In reality, LSU fans know the danger of overreactions. At one point last year, it looked like LSU would miss the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers turned it around and ended up a few outs away from hosting a Super Regional. A few teams this year will see similar turnarounds. But for now, let's overreact. Here are five overreactions after two weekends of SEC baseball.
Florida and Texas A&M will both miss the NCAA Tournament
Texas A&M and Florida both entered the year expecting to compete for a national championship. The Aggies are College World Series runner-ups and the Gators have established a championship standard under Kevin O'Sullivan.
A&M began SEC play by dropping three to Alabama and followed it up with an 0-3 weekend vs. Vanderbilt. Alabama and Vanderbilt are good teams, but neither is in the top class of the SEC.
Florida's losses are better with the Gators on the wrong end of sweeps vs. Tennessee and Georgia. Still, the Gators expect to win no matter the opponent. 0-6 is not where either of these teams planned to be. If they continue at this pace, they'll be sitting at home when postseason baseball rolls around.
However, this is an overreaction piece, so I'll admit its likely at least one of these teams is playing in the NCAA Tournament. The Gators have an impressive nonconference resume and will have plenty of chances to prove their worth in the SEC.
Georgia will finish the season slugging over .620
It's hard to imagine a better way for a lineup to start conference play than what Georgia has done so far. The Dawgs wrapped up the Florida series by scoring 17 runs on Saturday and 15 runs on Sunday. In UGA's first SEC series, the Bulldogs totaled 36 runs vs. Kentucky.
So far, it's been a barrage of offense vs. quality competition. It doesn't look like Georgia is slowing down anytime soon. Despite the loss of Charlie Condon, the Bulldogs offense still has the juice.
Third basemen Ryland Zaborowski leads the SEC with a 1.009 slugging. If Zaborowski keeps hitting at a level anywhere close to that, it will prove tough to get outs vs. this lineup in 2025.
Oklahoma and Texas will both host super regionals
Oklahoma and Texas are new to the SEC. So far, they've adjusted well, with two series wins apiece. Texas began its SEC slate with a win on the road at Mississippi State. The Longhorns followed it up by taking two of three from No. 2 LSU.
Oklahoma started its SEC tenure with a series win over South Carolina before taking two of three from Mississippi State. After six games, Texas is 5-1 and OU is 4-2.
Texas looks like one of the best teams in the country and OU has one of the best starter-reliever combinations in the country. Let's go out on a limb and predict both will host a Super Regional in June.
Derek Curiel's freshman campaign will be better than the one we saw from Dylan Crews
Naturally, LSU's Derek Curiel will be compared to Dylan Crews. Both are outfielders. Both were highly touted prospects who opted to pass on pro ball and head to LSU.
Crews finished his freshmen campaign with 18 homers while hitting .426. He walked 71 times with only 46 strikeouts. That's a high bar, but there's a chance Curiel matches Crews' overall production. Curiel won't hit 18 homers, but he can match Crews' 36 extra base hits. Curiel already has nine doubles and two triples to go along with his two long balls.
Like Crews, Curiel walks more than he strikes out and his .566 on-base percentage is almost equal to Crews' .577.
Curiel's bat-to-ball skills are elite. It gives him a chance to put up Crews-like numbers even as LSU gets deeper into conference play.
Ole Miss will finish in the top half of the SEC
Ole Miss was voted to finish 15th in the SEC in the preseason coaches poll. There wasn't much faith in the Rebels to remain competitive when conference play got underway. Now, Ole Miss is 4-2 in the SEC and 19-5 overall. The Rebels are riding a four-game win streak.
Yes, three of Ole Miss' conference wins were against Missouri, but the Rebels took a game from Arkansas, too.
The next two weeks will be big for Mike Bianco's squad. Ole Miss gets Florida this weekend. UF is down right now. The Rebels can take advantage of that or be the reason Florida finds life again. Next weekend, Ole Miss gets Kentucky for three games. That should be a manageable series.
If Ole Miss can go 4-2 over the next two weeks, it will be in a much better spot than many projected.
This article originally appeared on LSU Wire: SEC baseball overreactions: Texas and Georgia surge, Florida crumbles
Continue reading...
