SEC Baseball Tournament 2017: Bracket, Schedule, Format, Team Rosters, Standings
College baseball's premier conference will vie for the NCAA's ultimate bragging rights when Hoover, Alabama, hosts the 2017 SEC tournament.
After Texas A&M snagged its first SEC title last year, old stalwarts Florida and LSU will look to regain conference supremacy when the postseason action kicks off on May 23. Both powerhouses nurse slight division leads heading into the regular season's final week.
The tournament, as usual, will flaunt a potent field of national-title contenders. As of Sunday, seven schools, led by the No. 5 Gators, rank inside the USA Today's Top 25 coaches poll. Eleven of the tournament's dozen participants have already banked at least 30 victories.
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Before conference chaos begins, let's run through all the pertinent details for the upcoming SEC showcase.
Bracket
The official tournament bracket is available on SECSports.com.
Standings
| Team | Overall Record | SEC Record |
| Florida | 38-14 | 19-8 |
| Kentucky | 36-16 | 18-9 |
| Vanderbilt | 30-21 | 13-13 |
| South Carolina | 30-21 | 12-15 |
| Missouri | 31-21 | 11-16 |
| Georgia | 22-30 | 9-8 |
| Tennessee | 26-22 | 7-18 |
| Team | Overall Record | SEC Record |
| LSU | 35-17 | 18-9 |
| Mississippi State | 33-19 | 17-10 |
| Arkansas | 37-14 | 16-10 |
| Texas A&M | 35-17 | 15-12 |
| Auburn | 32-21 | 14-13 |
| Ole Miss | 31-21 | 13-14 |
| Alabama | 19-32 | 5-22 |
There's no runaway favorite this year, but Florida wields the No. 4 RPI with a 7-1 record against top-10 ranked opponents. Without much offensive firepower, the Gators will rely on aces Alex Faedo and Brady Singer to pitch their way to the crown.
Thursday night's matchup between LSU and Mississippi State could determine who seizes the tightly contested SEC West. The Bulldogs must overcome a pitching staff that has relinquished the conference's second-most runs.
Schedule
| May 23 | 1 | No. 6 vs. No. 11 | 9:30 a.m | SEC Network |
| May 23 | 2 | No. 7 vs. No. 10 | TBD | SEC Network |
| May 23 | 3 | No. 8 vs. No. 9 | 4:30 p.m. | SEC Network |
| May 23 | 4 | No. 5 vs. No. 12 | TBD | SEC Network |
| May 24 | 5 | No. 3 vs. Game 1 Winner | 9:30 a.m. | SEC Network |
| May 24 | 6 | No. 2 vs. Game 2 Winner | TBD | SEC Network |
| May 24 | 7 | No. 1 vs. Game 3 Winner | 4:30 p.m. | SEC Network |
| May 24 | 8 | No. 4 vs. Game 4 Winner | TBD | SEC Network |
| May 25 | 9 | Game 5 Loser vs. Game 6 Loser | 9:30 a.m. | SEC Network |
| May 25 | 10 | Game 7 Loser vs. Game 8 Loser | TBD | SEC Network |
| May 25 | 11 | Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner | 4:30 p.m. | SEC Network |
| May 25 | 12 | Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner | TBD | SEC Network |
| May 26 | 13 | Game 9 Winner vs. Game 11 Loser | 3 p.m. | SEC Network |
| May 26 | 14 | Game 10 Winner vs. Game 12 Loser | TBD | SEC Network |
| May 27 | 15 | Game 13 Winner vs. Game 11 Winner | Noon | SEC Network |
| May 27 | 16 | Game 14 Winner vs. Game 12 Winner | TBD | SEC Network |
| May 28 | 17 (Championship) | Game 15 Winner vs. Game 16 Winner | 2 p.m. | ESPN2 |
With the standings still tight, seeding remains up in the air. Before locking in any participants to a slot, here's a rundown of the tournament's packed six-day slate.
Rosters
The SEC tournament always provides baseball fans a golden opportunity to scout future stars shortly before getting drafted. This year, probable first-round picks Faedo, Kyle Wright and Jeren Kendall highlight a talented batch of young talent.
Each team's roster can be found on SECSports' baseball page under the "Teams" tab.
Format
The SEC opens with a round of single-elimination games, which will slice the bracket down to eight teams.
It then shifts to double elimination until four schools remain. This rewards in-season success by letting the top four seeds forgo "win or go home" action with a first-round bye.
The semifinals and championship game jump back to a single-elimination style. After all that, those who qualify will advance to national play.
That should be a long list this year. In their latest projections, Baseball America's Michael Lananna and Teddy Cahill include nine SEC schools in their 64-team national bracket. South Carolina stands on thin ice due to its 12-15 conference record, and Mississippi's SEC struggles leave the Rebels on the bubble.
Even if they don't supplant Florida in the SEC East standings, the Kentucky Wildcats are a serious threat to secure their first conference championship. They're collectively producing a Mike Trout-like slash line with a .322/.424/.507, and their pitching staff also possesses the SEC's third-best ERA (3.38) with over a strikeout per inning.
Seven Wildcats with at least 100 at-bats wield an on-base percentage above .400. That does not include Riley Mahan, who boosted his line to .345/.399/.665 with a pair of home runs on Saturday and a single, double and triple on Sunday.
The junior has belted five long balls in as many games, but he told Tim Letcher of the University of Kentucky athletics site that he never envisioned himself as a slugger.
"(I've) never really been much of a home run hitter," Mahan said. "But it feels pretty good."
Now he ranks second in slugging percentage, but Brent Rooker comfortably holds the top spot. The Mississippi State outfielder is hitting an unfathomable .400/.508/.879 with 20 home runs and 17 stolen bases.
As one Twitter user noted, the redshirt junior has cleared the fence more times than the nation's top-ranked program:
He'll need to keep raking to mask the team's pitching woes, an especially tall order with big-name arms permeating the field. Florida's ace, Faedo, will look to fortify his case as a top-10 MLB draft selection by enhancing his SEC-best 101 strikeouts. Texas A&M can repeat behind its 3.13 staff ERA, led by fireman reliever Kaylor Chafin's 1.79 ERA over 55.1 frames.
There's no lone team to beat, and some viable contenders must survive the unforgiving single-elimination slate. This is one of the most unpredictable tournaments Hoover has hosted in quite some time.
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