Three major SEC baseball series upsets have NCAA tournament implications

The SEC has established itself as the most competitive college baseball conference in recent years. This season has been no different, seeing teams compete in what has become an incredibly dense field at the top of the conference.

Now, with only a couple of series left in the regular season, games are as important as ever. Nothing makes that more obvious than three series that happened over the weekend, which could have major NCAA Tournament implications for the SEC.

In three of the SEC’s series this weekend, there were major upsets. In all three of those series upsets, bubble teams beat locks to make the tournament.

• Auburn took two out of three from LSU
• Texas A&M took two out of three from Florida
• Georgia took two out of three from Tennessee

These series are all going to be huge boosts for the bubble teams. They’re resume builders and they’re putting all three of those teams in a position to make the NCAA Tournament. Doing this without really affecting the other three teams’ chances is huge for the SEC with it looking like the conference could get as many as eleven teams in the NCAA Tournament.

Of course, there is still some time for things to change. Teams have two more series left this season as well as the SEC Tournament.

Georgia has Missouri and LSU coming up, plus a midweek game against Western Carolina. That’s a dangerous schedule. Missouri isn’t likely to make the NCAA Tournament, so losing that series could send Georgia back to the bubble. However, beating LSU would be huge.

Similarly, Auburn needs to take care of business against defending national champion Ole Miss and Missouri. The Tigers also have a midweek game against Jacksonville State. Meanwhile, Texas A&M has to deal with an Alabama team in turmoil and a struggling Mississippi State squad.

After that, a deep run in the SEC Tournament would certainly help. However, it’s clear that this weekend helped all of these teams.

An SEC baseball team is coming under scrutiny

The Alabama baseball program has come under scrutiny amid an alleged betting scandal. After sportsbooks in multiple states stopped taking bets on Alabama baseball, people started to raise their eyebrows. Shortly after, head coach Brad Bohannon was fired by the school.

Now, Andy Staples and David Ubben of The Athletic have confirmed that Bohannon was fired after he “was found to be connected with betting activity.”

When Bohannon was initially fired, it was reported that it was “for, among other things, violating the standards, duties, and responsibilities expected of University employees.”

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey also weighed in, insisting on a zero-tolerance policy for gambling on games.

“The University of Alabama has taken swift action after information about baseball sports wagering activity was questioned by industry regulators,” Sankey said in a statement. “Ensuring the integrity of athletic competition is our highest priority, and for that purpose the SEC monitors gambling activity through its relationship with US Integrity and has done so since 2018.”

Jason Jackson is the interim baseball coach at Alabama.