The SEC is on top, right? Well at least in football they think they are, if the debate around the College Football Playoff last year was any indication. But it appears that the supposed top conference in the country has that same delusion across all their sports, most recently claiming the throne in college baseball. There's just one tiny problem: In the College World Series, which starts on Friday, only two teams from the SEC will be battling it out for a national championship.
We noticed it in the College Football Playoff and now it’s bleeding into baseball: The pedestal the SEC has gotten comfortable on might not be as lofty as everyone had assumed. The rest of the conferences are starting to catch up.
Texas was eliminated by UTSA in its Regional, Vanderbilt was eliminated by Wright State and Arkansas took out the defending champions in Tennessee. Of the eight teams headed to Omaha, just two are from the SEC, a far cry from what the conference's supporters were predicting on Selection Sunday.
The College World Series is more proof of the SEC’s dominance in college athletics … or lack thereof
The SEC has long felt it was a level above everybody else. Yet, it’s now up to Arkansas and LSU to keep the conference’s dominance alive. It won’t be easy though; after all, Coastal Carolina might be the strongest team in the field, coming in on a 23-game win streak and having dispatched Auburn on the road in the Super Regional.
What makes the SEC only having two teams reach the CWS so remarkable is that the conference sent 13 teams to the NCAA Tournament. Sure, there was some friendly fire, with SEC teams taking each other out, but it was far from a dominant performance regardless.
This is similar to basketball, too, where the SEC had14 teams that reached the field of 68 only to watch most of them flame out on opening weekend. While Florida did win a national championship this year, it doesn’t absolve the conference from losing ground to the other conferences. The only thing that would keep them from yet another embarrassing postseason is to win the whole thing in Omaha.
It won’t be easy, either. The CWS field is loaded with talent, and the sport has seen a record amount of parity over the last few years, per a CBS Sports story.
The SEC isn’t as strong as it once was, and now it’s bleeding into baseball. The SEC can’t say it’s the best conference in the country. They went 2-for-13 in getting teams to the CWS, and the reigning champions won’t get a chance to defend their title. That tells you everything you need to know about SEC "dominance".