Not So Super Bulldog Weekend Thoughts

[Todd4State]

I am VERY disappointed with how we played this weekend. Especially from a pitching and defense standpoint. We've been making mistakes the entire year defensively and our talent has been able to overcome it, but Texas A&M hits better than any team that we have played so far so they made us pay even more. I noticed that they have all juniors and seniors starting- and that's what you strive for. And if we ever can get a team that is junior laden like that we'll have similar results. I think Florida is a better team than Texas A&M- but I think A&M is a better team offensively. I'm disappointed with how we managed the pitching staff again- especially Friday night. We should have brought in Rigby whether we were ahead of behind and we have to stop asking freshmen to flip the switch during high leverage SEC series situations. Our pitchers fielding was horrible- and that's as Christian as I can say that. It blows my mind that as much as we bunt that we field bunts that poorly ever. We better be taking a TON of PFP the next week because Manieri has no problem bunting and as much as Alabama has struggled offensively- you better believe they are going to test our pitchers by tapping it back to them. Every time we screwed up a bunt, it lead to a big inning. We can't have that. I see average Joe pitchers in beer softball leagues that field comebackers better than our guys did this weekend. You have to catch the ball, turn to your glove side, set your feet, and finally make an accurate throw.

Dakota is so good that when he gives up an earned run it's a bad outing for him. He gutted it out and gave us a chance to win until we decided to not bring in Rigby and let the game get away from us. That set the tone for the weekend. And actually- it set the tone for the weekend we played FAU and for the great midweek meltdown we had too. It's time to stop letting the freshmen "figure it out" during SEC play- and time for them to go to the Cape where they can figure it out in front of tens of people and Peter Gammons. We need to start pitching Rigby twice on the weekends- we've conserved him so much I'm not worried about him getting tired especially with Hudson almost being a lock to go seven every Friday. We only have five weeks to go- so it's GO time now. And yet again- I have NO idea why they keep bringing in Tatum with the bases loaded and the other teams top home run guy at the plate.

Sexton pulling his hamstring worries me in the short term. I would be surprised if he makes his start against LSU, and if he does, I'll be surprised if he is effective. Typical LSU luck- and it will probably cost us the series next weekend one way or the other. I thought Daniel Brown was a beast all weekend and a very pleasant surprise. Once Sexton gets back, having Brown and Rigby go multiple innings Sunday is going to be a HUGE help to this team. Houston didn't pitch as well obviously but I'm not too worried about him. We had a Paul Young sighting and he did well. If he emerges that would be a VERY pleasant surprise for us. We're going to need Rigby and Brown to pitch like they did to give us a chance to win the LSU series.

Pilkington's command got the best of him finally. He was still better than most of our pitchers though. I can't see him maintaining the third spot for the rest of the year. If Sexton can't start- Pilk will get the Saturday start. And then my guess is we will go with Keegan James Sunday for an inning and then go to the bullpen.

The other bad thing about Sexton's injury is we have two midweek games to contend with and the Alabama series is a Thurs, Fri, Sat series following the Governor's Cup on a Tuesday. So, this is one of the worst times to come down with a hamstring injury because our rotation could be thrown completely out of whack until the Mizzou series. My guess is we'll either start Breaux vs. ULM or go with Keegan James for an inning and "see how he looks". We're going to pitch a lot of guys in Biloxi anyway- sort of like Memphis. We need to get Houston and Humphreys back on track and I want to see more of Young.

Elih Marrero struggled for most of the series. If that continues we need to work Kruger in the lineup to give him a break. If I were Cohen I'd give him a break on Weds. anyway.

Lowe had a solid weekend going 4 for 12 and Collins had a huge home run today- and of course an error.

Stovall outperformed Holland again- and he should be starting. Although Holland did have a clutch hit. If we're going to play Holland, I'd actually advocate starting Gridley at second and Luke Alexander at SS to improve our defense and give us a little more pop with Holland's same average. I think Stovall and Gridley are the best offensive duo though. Gridley will snap out of his slump pretty soon.

Rooker is hitting the ball very well- and he should have had a home run. And to the LFL fans- if the ball is hit behind the wall, it's not fan interference if you keep the outfielder from catching it. We've had at least five home runs stolen from us which is ridiculous. Reid takes too many pitches down the middle. I LOVE Jake Mangum- I love his competitiveness. He's a winning baseball player and he HATES to lose. The next two weeks when we play LSU, Ole Miss and Alabama it's going to be on like Donkey Kong with him. We need to get Robson back soon- it will make us that much more dynamic.

I thought the offense was a highlight for me this weekend. We hit the ball really well and got three off their ace, and then six and five plus we had a good comeback which says a lot about our guys not panicking and staying focused.


Now going forward. I understand why everyone is upset because no one likes to lose. Especially me. And I see a few people on social media like "Oh, we're not going to host now" and all of this. Look back at 2013 when we got swept by Vanderbilt and won 16 SEC games and hosted. Now, I'm not saying we only have to win 16. I think we have to win 18 IMO probably. But my point is one bad weekend doesn't make or break you. Just like Texas A&M getting swept by Florida a couple of weeks ago won't and didn't make or break them either. Now, that said we do have some business to take care of- and we've always had business to take care of even after winning our first four SEC series which is why I don't like seeing our fans say "Oh, well we're a lock to host now". That's like saying we're a lock to win the NC in football about six games in. You have to focus on it one series at a time and build a resume' and not look at the whole schedule.

Ironically, having said that- let's look ahead! I think we're playing ULM at a good time because we need to get back on track. They are similar to Memphis in that they have struggled midweek which is why their record is what it is. They won their series this weekend against Georgia State so they're playing pretty well. The only SEC team that they have played so far is Arkansas which was in Little Rock and they lost that 3-1. They're not the RPI killer that Memphis is- but they're still sub 100 so we need to win. It will be a historic game as well since it's our first time to play at MGM Ballpark in Biloxi and I'm very excited about that. I'm expecting to see a LOT of MSU fans there.

LSU is a rival for us and it's always difficult to play them. We'll see what Sexton can give us if he even plays. They have had some disappointing midweek losses- but don't pay attention to that because they have two legit frontline SEC starters. Dakota needs to really bring his A game if Sexton can't go because I suspect we're going to have to use Brown in long relief for at least one of the games and Rigby in long relief in the other. LSU has an OF that may be a first round pick named Jake Fraley and he is their best hitter and maybe player on the team. They don't have a ton of power compared to what they had in the 90's, but they are athletic and they will put pressure on you and they have some pretty good arms in the bullpen too.

[basedog]

Didn't know when the ball crosses the outfield wall it's no interference from fans. What about foul balls?

Our young hitters were a little off this past weekend, Collins is a mystery, Lowe is consistent, Hump is clutch, Rooker is hot and finally gaining confidence. I will be glad to see Robson get back in the lineup, with he and Jake batting 1-2.

Paul Young, had a good inning, hard to know how much he can help, Rigby is good, we need Houston to get going, not sure about Hump closing but maybe he is the best we have.

Defense is a concern.

[Hypnodawg]

Someone was talking about Florida's fielding percentage or something. Basically a stat saying how good your defense is. What is ours? The one thing that has caught my eye this season is how many errors we make vs years past.

[Tbonewannabe]

Didn't know when the ball crosses the outfield wall it's no interference from fans. What about foul balls?

Our young hitters were a little off this past weekend, Collins is a mystery, Lowe is consistent, Hump is clutch, Rooker is hot and finally gaining confidence. I will be glad to see Robson get back in the lineup, with he and Jake batting 1-2.

Paul Young, had a good inning, hard to know how much he can help, Rigby is good, we need Houston to get going, not sure about Hump closing but maybe he is the best we have.

Defense is a concern.

Basically if the ball is over the fence no matter where it is, the fans have a right to the ball just like the defensive player. A fan can't reach over the fence and interfer but if someone would have pulled the A&M defenders glove off when he reached over the fence it would have been a home run. Similar to the incident with the Cubs fan only he did it to his own team.

[Tbonewannabe]

We desperately need to get Robson back. I love Cody Brown but we don't need him starting every game. Right now our best outfield is Hump, Robson, and Mangum. Has anyone told Collins that you are allowed to hit the ball even if you don't swing at maximum power? Collins looks like he is trying to put it on the softball field every time he gets up there. I understand he has some power but ratchet it back just a little and raise that batting average. I hope Kruger catches a game this week because having a freshman catch every game is going to wear Marrero down.

Oddly enough this weekend, Daniel Brown had the best outing. We need Houston to figure out how to be consistent. We still don't have anyone we can consistently bring out of the bullpen and know what they are going to do. I didn't get to watch Sunday so maybe Rigby had a good outing but everyone else had an off weekend. I will say our pitchers are better than A&M made them look. I don't know how they were swept by UF because that is a hellacious hitting team.

[HSVDawg]

Agree with most everything, but we will not host with only 18 SEC wins. Just like we didn't in 2014.

[Taog Redloh]

Alexander is hurt.

[CadaverDawg]

Someone should tell our guys that they are very successful when going oppo. Suddenly we're pulling EVERYTHING, while our opponents are hammering our pitching to the opposite field. Rooker Finally went oppo and got a triple, Lowe hits well because he uses the opposite side of the field frequently, Hump hit a bomb to right center earlier this year and has had multiple gappers to right center, but still tries to pull too many outside pitches. It is not uncommon to have more power to the opposite field, yet Cody, Rooker, Hump, Collins, and even Gridley are trying to pull every off speed pitch and outside pitch lately. Gotta get the oppo approach back IMO.

Collins had a lot of success to right center the last few years, and I don't think he's hit one right of the centerfield fence this season. (I missed his bomb yesterday, so hopefully it wasn't to right field, ha)

[maroonmania]

Didn't know when the ball crosses the outfield wall it's no interference from fans. What about foul balls?

Our young hitters were a little off this past weekend, Collins is a mystery, Lowe is consistent, Hump is clutch, Rooker is hot and finally gaining confidence. I will be glad to see Robson get back in the lineup, with he and Jake batting 1-2.

Paul Young, had a good inning, hard to know how much he can help, Rigby is good, we need Houston to get going, not sure about Hump closing but maybe he is the best we have.

Defense is a concern.

Yep, once a ball crosses the outfield wall or the edge of the stands its fair game for a fan to go after it. Apparently we need to invite Steve Bartman to come and attend our games in the outfield. Maybe he can help break up some of those HR saving catches that our opponents keep making.

[maroonmania]

The Sexton injury is very worrisome at least for the short term. I've been saying and posting for weeks now that our whole team's complexion could change with an injury to Hudson or Sexton. Well, now we've got one with Sexton. Even losing him this weekend would be big because now that would be 2 starts over the upcoming weekend with pitchers that you have no clue what you will get. Inconsistency on the mound is killing us right now. We have about 3 pitchers at the moment that you can probably say that even if they are not at their best they won't get shelled or get rattled with walks or hitting people. And those 3 are Hudson, Sexton and Rigby. Everyone else is like a box of chocolates so to speak, you never know what you are going to get. Well, now we could be just down to Hudson and Rigby. That's not good. I mean, for example, this weekend Daniel Brown looked like an SEC pitcher. But many prior weekends it was pretty unanimous that his SEC experience should be over and he should be relegated to only pitch during the midweek. Heck, all of our guys, Houston, Breaux, Small, Pilkington, Smith, Humphreys, etc., you just don't have any confidence in what they will do from one appearance to the next. The only consistent one is Tatum who you can apparently count on to give up a bomb in almost every appearance. Yes, A&M is the best hitting team in the SEC no doubt, but good pitching usually at least slows down good hitting and giving up 47 hits this weekend was bad, real bad for our staff. And we've got to stop giving away so many extra outs with poor play in the field. There was a stark difference in the quality of defense we played this weekend as compared to the sound defense A&M played. Some of A&M's big inning were greatly aided by our poor defensive play even when it didn't necessarily show up as an actual error. Our pitching is not good enough to overcome repeated defensive lapses in the field against good teams. If Sexton can't go we better all say a little prayer that Hudson is back to old form on Friday night and we can get that game. If not, may be another VERY long weekend in Baton Rouge.

[basedog]

Yep, once a ball crosses the outfield wall or the edge of the stands its fair game for a fan to go after it. Apparently we need to invite Steve Bartman to come and attend our games in the outfield. Maybe he can help break up some of those HR saving catches that our opponents keep making.

Damn, we need Ragnar and the Vikings to set up all around the fences and when the ball is not in our favor be aggressive!

[bulldogcountry1]

Agree with most everything, but we will not host with only 18 SEC wins. Just like we didn't in 2014.

The 2014 schedule is not comparable to 2016. In 2014, out RPI ended at 27, and we didn't play Florida or South Carolina. We already have a better resume this season. If we go 18-12 in the league this season, we will easily be top 12 in RPI.

[bulldogcountry1]

Collins needs to be hitting over .350 to justify him playing 3rd. That's all I have to say about that.

[MarketingBully]

JB Moss reached his whole arm over the wall without even having to climb a wall. Our outfield fence is too short out there. What is it, barely six feet? Even adding an extra foot and making it a 7 foot wall would put a stop to these outfielders robbing us of homeruns. And for those saying that the ball would hit the top of the wall are incorrect. These balls these outfielders are catching are over the wall by a foot. At sometime, we have to say it's more then a coincidence that we are being robbed out there. If these outfielders had to climb a wall, they wouldn't be robbing our players of a home run and I don't think they would even attempt it.

[RocketDawg]

JB Moss reached his whole arm over the wall without even having to climb a wall. Our outfield fence is too short out there. What is it, barely six feet? Even adding an extra foot and making it a 7 foot wall would put a stop to these outfielders robbing us of homeruns. And for those saying that the ball would hit the top of the wall are incorrect. These balls these outfielders are catching are over the wall by a foot. At sometime, we have to say it's more then a coincidence that we are being robbed out there. If these outfielders had to climb a wall, they wouldn't be robbing our players of a home run and I don't think they would even attempt it.

Never have measured obviously, but it looks like the fences in MLB parks are more like 8, maybe more, feet high. It takes quite a leap to snag one that would have gone over the fence there. And yes, our fences look very low.

[maroonmania]

JB Moss reached his whole arm over the wall without even having to climb a wall. Our outfield fence is too short out there. What is it, barely six feet? Even adding an extra foot and making it a 7 foot wall would put a stop to these outfielders robbing us of homeruns. And for those saying that the ball would hit the top of the wall are incorrect. These balls these outfielders are catching are over the wall by a foot. At sometime, we have to say it's more then a coincidence that we are being robbed out there. If these outfielders had to climb a wall, they wouldn't be robbing our players of a home run and I don't think they would even attempt it.

Our outfield fence is the height it is to accommodate the outfield crowd on foot actually being able to see the game. If you raised the fence another foot people would go ballistic because you wouldn't be able to see much of anything from the outfield without actually being up on top of a rig. When you have a shorter outfield fence you just have to take that into consideration with your dimensions. I would rather bring the fences in another 3 or 4 feet than raise the wall height where it impeded fans seeing the game.

[Taog Redloh]

JB Moss reached his whole arm over the wall without even having to climb a wall. Our outfield fence is too short out there. What is it, barely six feet? Even adding an extra foot and making it a 7 foot wall would put a stop to these outfielders robbing us of homeruns. And for those saying that the ball would hit the top of the wall are incorrect. These balls these outfielders are catching are over the wall by a foot. At sometime, we have to say it's more then a coincidence that we are being robbed out there. If these outfielders had to climb a wall, they wouldn't be robbing our players of a home run and I don't think they would even attempt it.

Or, we could try hitting it further? Last time I checked, two teams play inside a park....it isn't just a disadvantage for us. Do you realize that if we raised the fence, then the ball would not have gone out of the park.

Are you stupid or something?

[MarketingBully]

Or, we could try hitting it further? Last time I checked, two teams play inside a park....it isn't just a disadvantage for us. Do you realize that if we raised the fence, then the ball would not have gone out of the park.

Are you stupid or something?

If a ball clears the fence by a foot, it would still clear a fence that is one foot taller. You are the idiot here. You just stated something I already said in my post.

[MarketingBully]

Our outfield fence is the height it is to accommodate the outfield crowd on foot actually being able to see the game. If you raised the fence another foot people would go ballistic because you wouldn't be able to see much of anything from the outfield without actually being up on top of a rig. When you have a shorter outfield fence you just have to take that into consideration with your dimensions. I would rather bring the fences in another 3 or 4 feet than raise the wall height where it impeded fans seeing the game.

There you go, bring the fences in three feet more. I like that idea as well. Didn't even have to call me an idiot either.

[MarketingBully]

Or, we could try hitting it further? Last time I checked, two teams play inside a park....it isn't just a disadvantage for us. Do you realize that if we raised the fence, then the ball would not have gone out of the park.

Are you stupid or something?

If you reach your whole arm over the fence and don't even climb a wall to catch a ball that cleared the fence by at least a foot, that ball would clear the fence of a wall one foot taller and the outfielder wouldn't have been able to reach out with his whole arm to catch the ball. Is that hard to grasp?

[HSVDawg]

***Deleted due to double post.

[HSVDawg]

The 2014 schedule is not comparable to 2016. In 2014, out RPI ended at 27, and we didn't play Florida or South Carolina. We already have a better resume this season. If we go 18-12 in the league this season, we will easily be top 12 in RPI.

Our RPI is currently projected to end in the low to mid 20's and nonconference SOS is pretty similar. That is with a projected final record of 19-12 on Warren Nolan as well.

[Todd4State]

JB Moss reached his whole arm over the wall without even having to climb a wall. Our outfield fence is too short out there. What is it, barely six feet? Even adding an extra foot and making it a 7 foot wall would put a stop to these outfielders robbing us of homeruns. And for those saying that the ball would hit the top of the wall are incorrect. These balls these outfielders are catching are over the wall by a foot. At sometime, we have to say it's more then a coincidence that we are being robbed out there. If these outfielders had to climb a wall, they wouldn't be robbing our players of a home run and I don't think they would even attempt it.

This is a good point that I haven't thought about.

[Todd4State]

Our RPI is currently projected to end in the low to mid 20's and nonconference SOS is pretty similar. That is with a projected final record of 19-12 on Warren Nolan as well.

As long as we take care of business the last three weeks our RPI should be fine. RPI is only one thing that the committee looks at. I think they are going to be impressed with our wins over USM, South Alabama, sweeping Oregon (now RPI in the 70's), maybe USC on the road if they straighten up, Vandy on the road, Florida on the road, Ole Miss at home, and Georgia at home. Obviously we need to do as well as possible against LSU, Alabama both on the road and Ole Miss in Jackson. Troy could possibly help us out some as well. We need to take care of ULM in Biloxi.

It seems to me that the committee tends to value what you do in conference more than anything if you are a SEC team. The exception being Arkansas in 2015 when they had horrible RPI and a significantly easier OOC schedule to go along with almost zero quality OOC wins.

[HSVDawg]

As long as we take care of business the last three weeks our RPI should be fine. RPI is only one thing that the committee looks at. I think they are going to be impressed with our wins over USM, South Alabama, sweeping Oregon (now RPI in the 70's), maybe USC on the road if they straighten up, Vandy on the road, Florida on the road, Ole Miss at home, and Georgia at home. Obviously we need to do as well as possible against LSU, Alabama both on the road and Ole Miss in Jackson. Troy could possibly help us out some as well. We need to take care of ULM in Biloxi.

It seems to me that the committee tends to value what you do in conference more than anything if you are a SEC team. The exception being Arkansas in 2015 when they had horrible RPI and a significantly easier OOC schedule to go along with almost zero quality OOC wins.

RPI isn't the only thing they look at, but you have to ask yourself if they take an MSU team with 18 regular season SEC wins and an RPI in the 20's after already taking Florida / USC with 21+ SEC wins and Vandy / A&M who will each likely finish with 19-20 SEC wins and top 15 RPI's at worst. If they take 5 teams from the SEC, that 5th team is going to have to have an extremely compelling resume. 38 or 39 wins, RPI in the 20's, not winning division, and 18 regular season wins is not a very compelling resume. If a Big Ten or other northern team had that resume, the committee MIGHT try to backdoor them into a host site just based on their past favoritism to those types of teams. But there's no way they would let a 5th SEC team with that resume host a regional. We would need a lot of help and Vandy and/or A&M would need to start losing a lot of games they should win for it to happen.

[maroonmania]

This is a good point that I haven't thought about.

Well, as stated, we are NOT going to change our wall height unless we redo everything about our outfield spectators (which maybe we will with the new construction). Primarily its just been bad luck for us that we have had a number of balls that were barely going over that stayed up in the air long enough for opposing outfielders to make plays on. If the situation were reversed I doubt we would be complaining. Best solution is to just hit HRs that clear the fence by more than a few feet where the outfielder can't reach it.

[Taog Redloh]

If you reach your whole arm over the fence and don't even climb a wall to catch a ball that cleared the fence by at least a foot, that ball would clear the fence of a wall one foot taller and the outfielder wouldn't have been able to reach out with his whole arm to catch the ball. Is that hard to grasp?

That isn't the point. THIS is the point:


Primarily its just been bad luck for us that we have had a number of balls that were barely going over that stayed up in the air long enough for opposing outfielders to make plays on. If the situation were reversed I doubt we would be complaining. Best solution is to just hit HRs that clear the fence by more than a few feet where the outfielder can't reach it.
You are bitching about something that doesn't matter. You were wrong yesterday about our program, about the 2013 CWS, and you are wrong about this.

Take a step back and re-group.

[HSVDawg]

JB Moss reached his whole arm over the wall without even having to climb a wall. Our outfield fence is too short out there. What is it, barely six feet? Even adding an extra foot and making it a 7 foot wall would put a stop to these outfielders robbing us of homeruns. And for those saying that the ball would hit the top of the wall are incorrect. These balls these outfielders are catching are over the wall by a foot. At sometime, we have to say it's more then a coincidence that we are being robbed out there. If these outfielders had to climb a wall, they wouldn't be robbing our players of a home run and I don't think they would even attempt it.

Yeah, and I'm sure if we raise the wall height all of the balls our opponents hit will continue to clear the wall by 20 feet and therefore it won't be an issue for us not being able to rob home runs*** That sword cuts both ways. We either need to hit the ball farther or get some help from the fans to keep balls out of the yard (which, by the way, is not even a remotely reliable tactic for either being effective or not having some drunk ass not commit fan interference).

Height of the wall is literally a non issue.

[MarketingBully]

That isn't the point. THIS is the point:

You are bitching about something that doesn't matter. You were wrong yesterday about our program, about the 2013 CWS, and you are wrong about this.

Take a step back and re-group.

I'm not wrong about our program. Not wrong about the 2013 CWS. And not wrong about the wall. I do think the more practical approach is to move the wall in three more feet then raise the wall by a foot that Maroonmania suggested in a much better matter then you have stated anything. Being robbed of six homeruns this year is more then just bad luck. But I digress. Please don't respond to anymore of my posts because I am putting you on ignore. You by far are the most annoying and insulting poster on this site.

[Jarius]

We have the opportunity to rob home runs as well. Just because we got a few balls robbed this year doesn't justify adjusting our fence. What if we rob a bunch of home runs from other teams next year? Does that mean we need to keep the fences where they are? I mean this is a bit ridiculous.

[maroonmania]

I'm not wrong about our program. Not wrong about the 2013 CWS. And not wrong about the wall. I do think the more practical approach is to move the wall in three more feet then raise the wall by a foot that Maroonmania suggested in a much better matter then you have stated anything. Being robbed of six homeruns this year is more then just bad luck. But I digress. Please don't respond to anymore of my posts because I am putting you on ignore. You by far are the most annoying and insulting poster on this site.

Well I said I would be for moving the fences in more before raising the wall BUT even if you do that you are not going to stop the issue of HRs being robbed. I believe we have now already moved in both the left center and right center field walls while Cohen has been here. I believe it would be accurate to say that several of those "robbed HRs" would have still been in the park in the old Dudy Noble.

[MarketingBully]

Well I said I would be for moving the fences in more before raising the wall BUT even if you do that you are not going to stop the issue of HRs being robbed. I believe we have now already moved in both the left center and right center field walls while Cohen has been here. I believe it would be accurate to say that several of those "robbed HRs" would have still been in the park in the old Dudy Noble.

We have already had six or so robbed this year which is abnormally high. Reid Humphreys alone has had three of those robbed. You could also state that we could have had one or two more wins as a result of those robbed homeruns. The A&M game could possibly have turned out differently on Friday. If Rooker would have gotten that home run, the game at that point is 3-1 and maybe allows Hudson a little more room to work and maybe he doesn't throw a hanging curve to Melton. Of course this is all speculation but you never know. I do like your idea better then mine of moving the wall in three feet. I think it would make a difference since we want to keep the wall short for reasons you mention.

[Todd4State]

RPI isn't the only thing they look at, but you have to ask yourself if they take an MSU team with 18 regular season SEC wins and an RPI in the 20's after already taking Florida / USC with 21+ SEC wins and Vandy / A&M who will each likely finish with 19-20 SEC wins and top 15 RPI's at worst. If they take 5 teams from the SEC, that 5th team is going to have to have an extremely compelling resume. 38 or 39 wins, RPI in the 20's, not winning division, and 18 regular season wins is not a very compelling resume. If a Big Ten or other northern team had that resume, the committee MIGHT try to backdoor them into a host site just based on their past favoritism to those types of teams. But there's no way they would let a 5th SEC team with that resume host a regional. We would need a lot of help and Vandy and/or A&M would need to start losing a lot of games they should win for it to happen.

I think if it came down to it, I think the committee would choose us over Vanderbilt. If it plays out like I think it will.