Thoughts on the SEC baseball slate? Schedule seems tougher. But the team is loaded. I believe if the pitching takes a step, they’ll be fine.
I always start by looking at what teams you miss in the league. LSU won’t play Auburn, Tennessee, Oklahoma, South Carolina or Alabama. I expect Auburn, Tennessee and Oklahoma to be very talented.
Playing a road series at Missouri is always a big plus. It’s hard to win road series in the SEC…unless it’s at Missouri. The season ticket holders get great SEC action this year as Texas, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Georgia and Mississippi State come to The Box.
Every SEC baseball schedule looks brutal on paper. We don’t know what these teams will be in the spring, so studying things too closely is wasted effort. Offensively, LSU should be elite. How the pitching progresses will have far more to do with what LSU’s league record looks like than the schedule.
If Sankey tries to suspend, fine or punish Kiffin in any way, what would that look like? How would the appeal process go?
I’ve said from the beginning that a conference should be able to enforce rules. Without rules, what are we doing here? The rules became cloudy when NIL and revenue sharing became part of the equation.
LSU pushed the rules with basketball bringing in RJ Luis and football holding roster spots open for Zxavien Harris and Dae’quan Wright. Sankey didn’t like it, and I get that. Do you have evidence that Lane Kiffin acted inappropriately in “recruiting” players from NFL camps? Want to fine him for a halftime comment? Sure.
Where Sankey lost me completely, and likely forever, is this vote on expulsion. My grandparents sat in that stadium and watched LSU play Ole Miss and Alabama. My grandkids will, too. To threaten to destroy a century of conference history because you don’t like the coach, had to take the stand in court for three hours and think the university president is acting irresponsibly is small, short-sighted, spiteful and, frankly, ridiculous.
Sankey doesn’t need my respect and won’t take half a second to consider it, but the fact that under his watch this was even a discussion has tarnished his reputation in my eyes. I expected more.
Back to the actual matter at hand. I do think Kiffin could be facing a fine. Suspension seems harsh considering the players, no LSU, filed the lawsuit and never showed up on the active roster. Suspending a coach for communicating with former players in NFL camps doesn’t sound reasonable.
Does LSU need the SEC?
Need is a strong word. Could the LSU athletic department function in the Big Ten? Sure. If USC and Oregon can, LSU could, too.
Is that what LSU fans really want? You don’t want Ole Miss, Alabama and Florida on the schedule? You’re good with Wisconsin, Iowa and Washington? No baseball series at Dudy Noble or Baum-Walker? Jay Johnson flies his team to Michigan to play in 51-degree temperatures in front of 150 people? A 9:00 p.m. Tuesday night basketball games in Oregon?
Let’s be reasonable and not as spiteful as Sankey is being. LSU belongs in the SEC. The money is great. The rivalries are iconic. The geography works. It’s all we’ve ever known.
If you take the attitude of, ‘screw this league. We’ll go independent,’ what are you proving? SEC teams aren’t going to be lining up to come play in Tiger Stadium. You’ll end up with games against Boise State, Tulane and TCU.
I’d be saying the same thing if Sankey absurdly called a vote to boot Auburn, Florida or Tennessee, too. This is about a way of life in this part of the country. It can’t be drastically altered because Sankey’s feelings are hurt. And if you’re an LSU fan clamoring to leave, you’re no better than the commissioner.
Is Landen Clark the backup quarterback?
I’ll be honest, it surprised me to see that he was the second man in on Saturday. It almost feels like Kiffin is leaning into the “star rankings don’t matter in our program”, a philosophy he champions. Harlem Berry and Husan Longstreet were five-star recruits who are both lower on the depth chart than we probably thought a week ago.
Longstreet got more reps in the media viewing windows of fall camp, so I don’t think this race is totally settled. Hopefully we never have to find out.
