Has Alabama baseball done enough to reach NCAA regionals? Making the case for Crimson Tide
HOOVER — Now, the wait begins for Alabama baseball.
After a surprising week, the Crimson Tide gave itself a legitimate chance to make an NCAA regional by winning two games during the 2022 SEC Tournament at Hoover Met. But back-to-back losses on Friday and Saturday have put Alabama firmly on the bubble entering Selection Monday (11 a.m. CT, ESPN2).
"I would tell you that I'm going to go fishing tomorrow and not check my phone every two minutes and hit refresh for every score," Crimson Tide coach Brad Bohannon said, "but that's exactly what I'm going to be doing."
Before the Crimson Tide lost 11-6 to Florida in the SEC Tournament on Saturday, Alabama was firmly on the edge of the NCAA Tournament. D1 Baseball had the Crimson Tide as team No. 64 in the 64-team field. Baseball America had Alabama as the first team out.
It's a far cry from where Alabama sat 10 days ago, when the Crimson Tide wasn't included in either outlet's first four out or next four out. Then, Alabama won the last series of the regular season against Arkansas before wins over Georgia and the Razorbacks in the SEC Tournament. Alabama was right back in contention to reach the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year.
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Back-to-back losses to Texas A&M and Florida in Hoover, however, have perhaps hurt Alabama's tournament chances. It depends whether the selection committee wants to penalize the Crimson Tide for those losses that were only made possible because Alabama won two games.
Last year, Alabama also finished 12-17 in SEC play before winning two games in the conference tournament. Then the Crimson Tide made a regional for the first time since 2014.
Alabama hopes it can repeat that outcome this year.
"We showed what fight we've got," first baseman Drew Williamson said. "We showed what character the team has. I feel like we've got some big wins that show that we belong in a regional."
The wins that Alabama has in the ultra-competitive SEC are some of the best reasons for the Crimson Tide being included in the field.
Alabama won the regular season series against No. 9 Texas A&M, No. 10 Arkansas and managed to win a game over No. 1 Tennessee.
As of Saturday afternoon, the Crimson Tide held the No. 46 spot in RPI and No. 2 strength of schedule, per WarrenNolan.com's live RPI tracker.
"I think we have a really good team," Bohannon said. "I don't know, 12 losses by one run, I don't know if that means anything, but we're in a ton of games. If you just win one or two more of those, your RPI is in the 30s."
Bohannon said he thinks Alabama, Ole Miss and Kentucky should all be in. That might not happen, though, especially considering the three teams could be vying for one or two of the same spots.
"I think we'll be very dangerous in a regional if we're able to get in," Bohannon said. "I really believe in this team. We're way better than last year, and we deserved to be in last year, but we have a better pitching staff, we're better offensively, we're better defensively. We'll hope for the best."
Nick Kelly covers Alabama football and men's basketball for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at nkelly@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter: @_NickKelly
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama baseball case for the NCAA regionals after SEC Tournament
