Jason Jackson credits Alabama baseball team for overcoming adversity, blocking out noise

Jason Jackson was tasked with keeping the Alabama Crimson Tide baseball squad’s season on track, and that’s exactly what he’s done thus far.

Following Brad Bohannon’s firing for his involvement in a gambling scandal, Jackson assumed control as the Crimson Tide’s interim manager. He’s been impressed with Alabama’s ability to overcome adversity and block out the noise, which Jackson attributed to the Crimson Tide being an older, more mature team.

“Well, I think fortunately we have a really older, mature team,” stated Jackson. “And I know we’ve said that a bunch, but I think that’s so important. With something like this, they’ve done a great job of just keeping things consistent. And that’s what we’ve tried to do as coaches, too, is just keep things business as usual, and the more we can stay in our routines and the more we can keep things business as usual and the more it feels like that for them.

“But they’ve done a really good job of kind of blocking everything out, and sometimes just stuff kind of helps you focus a little bit.”

Now, Alabama is set to face off against the Florida Gators in the SEC Baseball Tournament on Wednesday following their victory over the Kentucky Wildcats on Tuesday. The Crimson Tide are looking to stay hot, and Jason Jackson is just keeping them on track, doing a commendable job at the moment.

Jason Jackson makes case for Alabama to be top-16 seed, host regional

Continuing, Alabama may have finished eighth in the SEC regular season but still have a legit chance of hosting a regional in the NCAA Tournament. The selection committee would have to rank them within the top 16 seeds in order to play in Tuscaloosa. Heading into the SEC Tournament there is a chance but things still need to fall in the right direction.

Interim head coach Jason Jackson gave his case for Alabama to host a Tuscaloosa Regional, with the team’s high RPI being his main point. The Crimson Tide have a winning record against top teams as well, mainly against SEC opponents. Overall, a solid resume put together by a program going through a lot.

“I think the fact that our RPI is at 12th,” Jackson said during Tuesday’s game against Kentucky. “We’re sitting there at 16-13 against RPI top 50. We led the league in run differential at +48. We were in the top three in the league in pitching and hitting — I think the only team to do that.”

History is on Alabama’s side as well. Jackson pulled out a stat dating back over a decade, proving the Crimson Tide deserved to be one of the 16 nationally ranked teams. Similar teams in the SEC have a long history of hosting in the NCAA Tournament. 

“Also, since 2012, you’ve had 51 teams in our league with a top 16 RPI and of those 51, 45 have hosted. And then of the six that didn’t host, only two of those had 16 wins. I think that’s definitely a feather in our cap. I know it’s a tough job but we got some things working in our favor.”