Kentucky will be the No. 3 overall seed in the 2024 SEC Baseball Tournament, which begins Tuesday, May 21 in Hoover, Alabama.
The Cats could have wrapped up the No. 1 overall seed with a win over Vanderbilt on Saturday, but the ‘Dores avoided the sweep with a 12-4 victory. Kentucky ended up tying with Tennessee atop the SEC with a 22-8 record, meaning the Vols got the No. 1 seed in the tournament due to their tiebreaker.
2024 marks the last season of divisions in the SEC with the impending arrival of Oklahoma and Texas in 2025. Due to the dumbfounding rule (which will be abolished next season) where Division winners get the top two seeds, Arkansas ended up grabbing the No. 2 seed due to finishing on top of the SEC West with a 20-10 conference record.
With a Tennessee loss, Kentucky would have claimed the No. 1 seed and would have played the winner of Tuesday’s 8/9 game on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. EST. With Tennessee’s win however, Kentucky falls to the No. 3 seed and will play the winner of the 6/11 game on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. EST. Big difference there.
“They’re going to hydrate and they’re going to go get a great meal today,” Nick Mingione said postgame Saturday. “They’re going to sleep in tomorrow, we’re going to have a team dinner tomorrow night, we’re going to practice Monday, the best practice of the year, and then we’re gonna head down to Hoover and practice Tuesday, and then we’re gonna play Wednesday. There it is.”
As of Saturday at 7:30 p.m. EST, 11 of the 12 SEC teams that have clinched a tournament berth have completed play. Four teams are currently tied at 13-17, and that number could swell to five if 12-17 Alabama can defeat Auburn in its series finale Saturday night.
Alabama (12-17) has yet to finish play*
This post will be updated with the complete 2024 SEC Baseball Tournament bracket upon the conclusion of Saturday’s slate, when the tiebreakers are able to sort themselves out.
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