Dylan Crews and Paul Skenes aren’t simultaneously walking out that door any time soon.
In a stroke of serendipity, LSU rostered the best pitcher and position player in program history at one time. That paves the road to Omaha more smoothly. Credit to Jay Johnson and the Tigers. They got it done in 2023.
After two postseason weekends with a Monday finish to come, it certainly looks like the SEC is going to put five of the eight teams in Omaha in 2026, and all five have done it a little bit differently.
Georgia has been excellent all season. They’ve used high launch angle slugging and portal pitching to win 16 of 17 weekends including claiming the SEC Tournament. They’ve been the most consistent team in college baseball considering UCLA’s final month.
LSU has that proverbial club in the bag, but it’s a tough one to consistently play.
Texas has been almost as good. The Longhorns started 16-0 and won eight of 10 SEC series behind the second best ERA in the conference and a high team batting average and on base percentage. The Longhorns also boast the third best fielding percentage in the league. Top to bottom, they can play. This Texas group feels a little bit like 2025 LSU.
Then you get to the teams that have masked some flaws to get to Omaha.
Ole Miss has my favorite formula for a postseason run. The Rebels have three excellent starting pitchers in Hunter Elliott, Taylor Rabe and Cade Townsend. Their closer, Walker Hooks, is nails, and they can leave the ballpark at any time. No lineup in the SEC has more strikeouts, and they can’t really run. That’s why they dropped five SEC series and finished 15-15 in the league. But they’ve pitched it beautifully in June and have found the clutch hit to win five straight NCAA Tournament games by three runs or less.
If you’re going to have flaws, a lethal starting rotation and dependable closer can carry you.
Alabama was swept by Kentucky and Arkansas this year. They lost two more SEC series, too. Check these stats out. The Crimson Tide is 15th in the SEC in batting average, 14th in OPS and 12th in homers. On the mound, they’re 13th in strikeouts and the worst fielding team in the league. Worse than LSU. However, they’ve got two capable starting pitchers and caught two breaks in the draw. They played South Carolina Upstate in the Saturday regional game instead of Oklahoma State and have St. John’s in Tuscaloosa for the Super instead of Florida State.
I’m pretty sure Alabama isn’t very good, but as of publishing the Tide is six outs from Omaha headed to a Monday restart. Take a good starting rotation to the postseason, and it can work out.
Oklahoma is a mystery.
The Sooners rank 7th in the SEC in batting average, 9th in OPS, 11th in strikeouts, 10th in fielding and 11th in ERA. Their best arm, LJ Mercurius, has a 4.97 ERA. Cord Rager, next up, sits at 5.20. Cameron Johnson has walked 43 in 53 innings, a preposterous number. His SEC ERA was over 5.00.
This team went 14-16 in the SEC, lost its last four series and six of 10. There isn’t a discernable strength yet they outslugged Georgia Tech two times in a row in Atlanta and have controlled things for two days in Lawrence against Kansas.
This Oklahoma team is the poster child, post Ole Miss 2022, for: Just get in. And that Ole Miss team had a lethal one-two atop the rotation.
I’ve used this NCAA Tournament as an emotion-free study session on the selection process, the regional round and how teams have won games. Those last three teams, Ole Miss, Alabama and Oklahoma have had really poor stretches of baseball at times throughout the season. Ole Miss found a formula late. Alabama caught some bracket breaks, and Oklahoma just found a way to play better than it has since February to make all this happen.
There are different ways to chase a championship. Hell, Kentucky was three outs with a three-run lead away from playing a bad Cal Poly team to get to Omaha. The Wildcats won two SEC series.
For LSU, the model Georgia and Texas have laid out is the most desirable. When the Tigers are at their best, that’s what it’s going to look like. But not every team year-to-year is going to be elite. There is too much roster turnover. Sometimes you have to do it like the last three. Find your way through the SEC with your head above water. Hope your starting rotation clicks or the bats get white hot.
Omaha will feature plenty of SEC flavor this year. Plenty of avenues exist to make sure purple Jell-O shots are back in stock in 2027.
