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2019 SEC baseball season preview: Top teams, players, predictions

By Justin Strawn

Omaha, NE - JUNE 27: A general view of a baseball on the field prior to game two of the College World Series Championship Series between the Oregon State Beavers and the Arkansas Razorbacks on June 27, 2018 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)
Omaha, NE - JUNE 27: A general view of a baseball on the field prior to game two of the College World Series Championship Series between the Oregon State Beavers and the Arkansas Razorbacks on June 27, 2018 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) /
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STARKVILLE, MS – SEPTEMBER 10: Dudy Noble Field at Polk-Dement Stadium on the campus of the Mississippi State Bulldogs before a game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Davis Wade Stadium on September 10, 2016 in Starkville, Mississippi. The Bulldogs defeated the Gamecocks 27-14. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
STARKVILLE, MS – SEPTEMBER 10: Dudy Noble Field at Polk-Dement Stadium on the campus of the Mississippi State Bulldogs before a game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Davis Wade Stadium on September 10, 2016 in Starkville, Mississippi. The Bulldogs defeated the Gamecocks 27-14. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /

The Wild Card

So which of these teams could have the biggest range of possibilities in the 2019 SEC baseball season? That distinction easily belongs to the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

The 2018 Bulldogs had one of the most intriguing seasons of any team in all of college baseball. The year started with their head coach being fired for an extramarital affair with an athletic staff member. The Bulldogs scuffled in the early part of the season and on March 31st, the team was 14-15 overall and just 2-7 in SEC play.

But the team found confidence in their series win over the Ole Miss Rebels the following weekend. The Bulldogs rebounded to win 17 of their last 26 games, and 13 of their last 21 SEC games and found themselves as the No. 2 seed in the Tallahassee Regional.

After losing the opening game and being down 2-0 in the bottom of the ninth, an Elijah MacNamee three-run home run with two strikes catapulted the Bulldogs to a Hollywood-esque run in the postseason. The Bulldogs won their regional, beat Vanderbilt in the Super Regional, and advanced to the College World Series Semifinal against the eventual National Champion Oregon State Beavers.

Which team will show up for the Bulldogs in 2019? Is the 2019 team, which returns most of their lineup and pitching from a season ago, going to more closely resemble the team which was at one time one game under .500 or the team that found themselves as one of the last four teams standing?

dark. Next. 2019 National Signing Day Winners and Losers

Time will only tell, but the smart betting money would be on the latter. The Bulldogs relied heavily on freshmen who grew significantly as the season wore on, and they have Jake Mangum. He alone will keep this team right in the thick of things when the 2019 SEC Baseball season is over.