2021 SEC Baseball Tournament Bracket Finalized
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The SEC baseball regular season has come to a close and with the final game's conclusion, the 2021 SEC Baseball Tournament bracket was locked in place.
Alabama baseball finished its season with a 29-22 overall record and was 12-17 in conference play, placing them in the tournament as the No. 10 seed.
While the Crimson Tide entered this past weekend as the seventh-ranked team in the conference, its three losses to Mississippi State caused the team to quickly drop in the standings. Combine the loss with victories for both LSU and Georgia, and Alabama suddenly fell three spots to its final spot of 10th.
On Friday night, Arkansas wrapped up the SEC regular-season title with a walk-off victory over Florida. The Razorbacks completed a solid regular season, finishing the year 42-10 and an impressive 22-8 in conference play. In doing so, Arkansas — along with Tennessee, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt — will receive a day off on Tuesday and will play its first game on Wednesday.
Eight other teams will take to the diamond the day prior to determine their opponents. No. 5 Ole Miss will play No. 12 Auburn, No. 6 Florida will face No. 11 Kentucky, No. 7 South Carolina will meet No. 10 Alabama and No. 8 Georgia will compete against No. 9 LSU.
As of the latest D1Baseball poll, seven SEC teams rank in the top 25 teams in the nation. While Arkansas is the No. 1 team in the nation, Vanderbilt and Tennessee are close behind at Nos. 3 and 4, respectively. Florida and Mississippi State round out the top 10 in ninth and 10th while Ole Miss and South Carolina sit at No. 13 and No. 21, respectively.
The 2021 SEC Baseball Tournament makes its return to Hoover Metropolitan Stadium after a year-long hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With both Alabama and Auburn in the field, its certain to be a welcome return to the city of Hoover, Ala.
While the NCAA announced last week that its softball and baseball regionals will both be held at full capacity barring state and local guidelines, the SEC Tournament will still be hosted with limited capacity. At this year's event, no general admission seating will be available. Instead, all seating will be assigned due to COVID-19 protocols.
This year's SEC Tournament will run from Tuesday through Sunday, with four games being played the first three days of competition. On Friday, two games will be played and on Saturday two more in the tournament semifinals.
Sunday's lone game will determine the tournament champion. All games will be broadcast on SEC Network with the exception of the championship game, which will be aired on ESPN2.
Here is the full 2021 SEC Baseball Tournament schedule:
TUESDAY, MAY 25 — FIRST ROUND (SINGLE ELIMINATION)
Game 1 — No. 6 Florida vs. No. 11 Kentucky (9:30 a.m. CT)
Game 2 — No. 7 South Carolina vs. No. 10 Alabama (1 p.m. CT)
Game 3 — No. 8 Georgia vs. No. 9 LSU (4:30 p.m. CT)
Game 4 — No. 5 Ole Miss vs. No. 12 Auburn (8 p.m. CT)
WEDNESDAY, MAY 26 — SECOND ROUND (DOUBLE ELIMINATION)
Game 5 — No. 3 Mississippi State vs. Game 1 winner (9:30 a.m. CT)
Game 6 — No. 2 Tennessee vs. Game 2 winner (1 p.m. CT)
Game 7 —No. 1 Arkansas vs. Game 3 winner (4:30 p.m. CT)
Game 8 — No. 4 Vanderbilt vs. Game 4 winner (8 p.m. CT)
THURSDAY, MAY 27 — THIRD ROUND (DOUBLE ELIMINATION)
Game 9 — Game 5 loser vs. Game 6 loser (9:30 a.m. CT)
Game 10 — Game 7 loser vs. Game 8 loser (TBD)
Game 11 — Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner (4:30 p.m. CT)
Game 12 —Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner (8 p.m. CT)
FRIDAY, MAY 28 — FOURTH ROUND (DOUBLE ELIMINATION)
Game 13 — Game 9 winner vs. Game 11 loser (3 p.m. CT)
Game 14 — Game 10 winner vs. Game 12 loser (6:30 p.m. CT)
SATURDAY, MAY 29 — SEMIFINALS (SINGLE ELIMINATION)
Game 15 — Game 11 winner vs. Game 13 winner (1 p.m. CT)
Game 16 — Game 12 winner vs. Game 14 winner (3:30 p.m. CT)
SUNDAY, MAY 30 — CHAMPIONSHIP (SINGLE ELIMINATION)
Game 17 — Game 15 winner vs. Game 16 winner (TBD)
