SEC Baseball Tournament 2024: Thursday Schedule and Bracket Predictions
The overall depth of SEC baseball has been on display in Hoover, Alabama.
All of the top four seeds lost in the first day of double-elimination play on Wednesday.
Those results set up what should be a fantastic Thursday of baseball at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium that starts with a matchup between the Kentucky Wildcats and Arkansas Razorbacks.
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They were two of the three best teams in the SEC during the regular season, but one of them will not make it past Thursday in the tournament.
The top-seeded Tennessee Volunteers need a win as well to stay alive. They face the fourth-seeded Texas A&M Aggies.
The best team in Hoover so far has been the 11th-seeded LSU Tigers, who have started to get hot just a week before their national title defense begins.
SEC Tournament Thursday Schedule
No. 3 Kentucky vs. No. 2 Arkansas (10:30 a.m. ET)
No. 4 Texas A&M vs. No. 1 Tennessee (2 p.m. ET)
No. 11 LSU vs. No. 10 South Carolina (5:30 p.m. ET)
No. 8 Vanderbilt vs. No. 5 Mississippi State (9 p.m. ET)
Preview
Thursday's first two games could produce some of the best baseball we have seen in the SEC all season.
The top four teams in the conference will square off to stay alive in the competition. The Kentucky-Arkansas and Texas A&M-Tennessee winners face the LSU-South Carolina and Vanderbilt-Mississippi State losers on Friday.
Kentucky had the most concerning performance of the top four seeds on Wednesday, as it lost 11-0 to LSU.
The Wildcats generated little offense and their pitching was exposed by the Tigers' bats.
Arkansas, Tennessee and Texas A&M combined to score 12 runs between them, so they can all at least make a case that some positives occurred on Wednesday.
Kentucky allowed a double-digit run total in each of its last three losses. That is a troubling trend with the postseason on the horizon.
Arkansas has some concerns of its own, as it dropped six of its last nine games, a run that started on May 4 with a loss to Kentucky. The Wildcats won the regular-season series over the Razorbacks.
If Arkansas' bats have a strong day, it should get the team back on track not just in Hoover, but also for regional weekend of the NCAA baseball tournament.
Tennessee and Texas A&M did not meet in the regular season. The Vols are expected to come out of that game after a tough loss in a rivalry game to Vanderbilt.
The Vols have not lost consecutive games since March 16 and 17 against Alabama, while the Aggies have dropped four of their last seven.
LSU should be considered the team to beat in the winners' bracket if it plays the same brand of baseball it did in the first two days in Hoover.
The Tigers stormed past Georgia and Kentucky thanks to 20 runs from their offense. A similar fate could await South Carolina on Thursday.
The Gamecocks turned things around in Hoover after a six-game losing streak to end the regular season. They were swept by Georgia and Tennessee and conceded eight or more runs in five of those games. LSU's offense can take advantage of a pitching staff that is now a little worn down after two days of tournament baseball.
Vanderbilt and Mississippi State each reached the winners' bracket by holding two opponents to four runs or fewer.
The nightcap should be another low-scoring affair that could be decided by one or two key hits.
Mississippi State showed a flair for the dramatic in both of its wins, and if the game with Vandy is close late in the game, the Bulldogs could make it three late wins in a row.
Predictions
Arkansas over Kentucky
Tennessee over Texas A&M
LSU over South Carolina
Mississippi State over Vanderbilt
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