Over the past few weeks, a handful of SEC baseball teams have focused on No. 13.
No, don’t worry, Swifties aren’t trying to dominate another sport. Thirteen is considered something of a “magic” number in the world of SEC baseball.
As The Tennessean’s Aria Gerson points out, every SEC team to reach 13 regular-season conference wins with a top-30 RPI since 2012 has made the NCAA Tournament.
RELATED: SEC baseball tournament bracket set after wild final day
The 2024 SEC baseball regular season concluded on Saturday. Things went well so that there were 5 SEC teams that finished with the 13-win mark in conference play. All 5 are in the top 30 in RPI.
Six other SEC teams finished with 17 or more conference wins. Those 6 teams are considered NCAA Tournament locks, and many are likely to host the NCAA Regionals. Gerson notes that the SEC has never had more than 10 teams in the field of 64.
If the SEC has a limit of 10 bids, the 5 teams with 13 conference wins could be fighting for 4 spots. There is also the automatic bid to the SEC tournament champion to take into account. (Ole Miss, which finished 27-28 overall and 11-19 in SEC play, is the No. 12 seed in the SEC Tournament and outside the NCAA Tournament picture.)
Ahead of the SEC Tournament, here’s a summary of the NCAA Tournament resume for the 5 teams with 13 conference wins:
RPI/SOS via WarrenNolan.com
Alabama (33-21 overall)
- RPI: No. 18
- Schedule strength: Number 5
- Quad Record 1: 13-18
- Q2: 4-1
- Q3: 4-1
- Q4: 14-1
- Series results vs. other 4:
- South Carolina: series victory (2-1)
- LSU: W (2-1)
- Florida: n/a
- Vanderbilt: n/a
- SEC Tournament: Tuesday against 10th-seeded South Carolina
South Carolina (33-21)
- RPI: No. 19
- CALL FOR HELP: No. 7
- Q1: 9-18
- Q2: 6-1
- Q3: 4-1
- Q4: 14-1
- Series vs. other 4:
- Vanderbilt: victory (3-0)
- Alabama: defeat (1-2)
- Florida: victory (2-1)
- LSU: n/a
- SEC Tournament: Tuesday against seventh-seeded Alabama
Florida (28-26)
- RPI: No. 24
- CALL FOR HELP: No. 1
- Q1: 13-17
- Q2: 2-6
- Q3: 2-2
- Q4: 11-1
- Series vs. other 4:
- LSU: W (2-1)
- South Carolina: L (1-2)
- Vanderbilt: P (1-2)
- Alabama: n/a
- SEC Tournament: Tuesday against Vanderbilt, eighth seed
Vanderbilt (35-20)
- RPI: No. 27
- CALL FOR HELP: No. 16
- Q1: 10-17
- Q2: 3-0
- Q3: 6-0
- Q4: 16-3
- Series vs. other 4:
- South Carolina: L (0-3)
- LSU: W (2-1)
- Florida: victory (2-1)
- Alabama: n/a
- SEC Tournament: Tuesday against ninth-seeded Florida
LSU (36-20)
- RPI: No. 30
- CALL FOR HELP: No. 21
- Q1: 7-13
- Q2: 11-5
- Q3: 4-0
- Q4: 14-2
- Series results vs. other 4:
- Florida: defeat (1-2)
- Vanderbilt: P (1-2)
- Alabama: defeat (1-2)
- South Carolina: n/a
- SEC Tournament: Tuesday against sixth-seeded Georgia
Keynote USA
For the Latest Sports News, Follow @Keynote USA Sports on Twitter.