Where do Alabama baseball NCAA regional chances stand after loss to Texas A&M?
HOOVER — Alabama baseball could have made its postseason outlook real clear.
Beat Texas A&M, and a spot in an NCAA regional would have all but been locked up.
Instead, No. 11 seed Alabama lost 12-8 to second-seeded Texas A&M on Friday in the SEC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament future of the Crimson Tide is to be determined.
Alabama (31-26) had a 6-1 lead at one point in the game but the Aggies scored 10 unanswered.
"We've been playing with our backs against the wall for three weeks now, and there's no time to pout," Alabama coach Brad Bohannon said. "There's no time to feel sorry for ourselves."
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The Crimson Tide will face No. 7 seed Florida on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. The loser is eliminated, while the winner will play at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in the semifinals.
Depending on how Selection Monday plays out, a loss to Florida might not only end the SEC Tournament for Alabama but also the season.
Heading into Friday, Alabama was one of the last four in in D1Baseball's projections, at No. 61. Baseball America also had the Crimson Tide at No. 61 in its rankings updated after Thursday's games.
A loss to Texas A&M doesn't help, but how much it hurts is to be determined. Another loss to Florida could be just enough to knock the Crimson Tide to the first-four out category.
Just a week ago, the NCAA Tournament seemed out of the realm of possibility. But the Crimson Tide beat Arkansas twice in the regular season before winning two in the first two rounds of the SEC Tournament.
As of Friday night, Alabama sits at No. 44 in RPI, per WarrenNolan.com, with the No. 2 strength of schedule.
In 2021, the Crimson Tide had an identical 12-17 conference record heading into the SEC Tournament before winning two games in Hoover, one of which was a colossal upset over No. 2 seed Tennessee. That Crimson Tide team reached the NCAA Tournament.
This year, Alabama beat sixth-seeded Georgia and third-seeded Arkansas.
Time will tell whether a similar result this year is enough to get the Crimson Tide into the tournament.
"I know I'll feel better if we win another one," Bohannon said. "We're going to approach tomorrow like our season is over if we don't win, I can tell you that."
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: Where NCAA regional chances stand after loss to A&M
