As we enter the last week of the Southeastern Conference baseball this week, the No. 11 Ole Miss Rebels look to secure the Western Division crown and a NCAA tournament host site.
The Rebels enter the week with a 37-15 overall record, 17-10 in the SEC. This past weekend, the Rebels took two-of-three games from the Georgia Bulldogs. They hammered the Dogs 12-2 Friday, fell 2-0 on Saturday and treated fans Sunday to another thrilling walk-off win.
The Rebels are in a tight race with their in-state rivals the Mississippi State Bulldogs for the divisional crown. Over the past few series, State has demonstrated growing confidence with big series wins and sweeps. The Bulldogs have a record of 16-11 in conference, just a game behind Ole Miss. Last weekend, they took their series from Tennessee.
This week the Rebels close out the regular season with a midweek game at Arkansas State in LIttle Rock. Then, it’s on to Texas A&M in College Station, Texas, where HottyToddy.com will have complete on-the-scene coverage.
MSU travels to Alabama this weekend trying to find away to take the division.
A series win over the Aggies should ensure that Ole Miss hosts a regional at Swayze Field. That would be an exciting event that Rebel fans have been waiting for since 2009.
The super regional possibilities are a bit more murky. Because of a complicated computer-generated ranking system called the RPI, even a sweep or series win over A&M and a win in the regional might not guarantee a super regional host bid for Ole Miss, which is fighting to become a national seed.
It all has to do with strength of schedule.It’s certain, however, that a series loss to the the Aggies will preclude super regional possibilities, so the best course for the hot Rebels is simply to keep on winning.
HottyToddy.com sports staff
