By Hunt Palmer
LSU will be the last of 16 teams to take the field in Hoover this week.
Action begins Tuesday morning at 9:30am when Missouri and Alabama meet up. Ten more games will take place before LSU plays at approximately 8:00pm on Friday.
Who will LSU play?
The Tigers earned the No. 3 seed by virtue of their 19-11 SEC record and tiebreaker with Vanderbilt. No. 14 seed Texas A&M will play No. 11 seed Mississippi State on Tuesday night. The winner will play No. 6 seed Auburn on Wednesday.
LSU takes on the winner of that game. Texas A&M and Auburn represent two of the three teams to take series from LSU this season.
NCAA Tournament implications
Texas A&M will need to win the SEC Tournament to reach NCAA Tournament play. Mississippi State swept Missouri to get to 15-15 in SEC play and is safely into the field of 64.
Auburn and LSU have sights on a top eight national seed. Auburn finished SEC play 17-13, two games behind LSU, but Butch Thompson’s squad currently sports a No. 2 RPI and the toughest schedule in college baseball. Additionally, Auburn swept LSU.
Mississippi State and Auburn will assuredly be Quadrant 1 opportunities for LSU. Texas A&M’s RPI sits at 55 which is 15 spots below the Quadrant 1 threshold. It’s unlikely that the Aggies would reach Quadrant 1 status with wins over the Bulldogs and Auburn.
LSU’s pitching options
LSU stands in solid position entering the tournament and will have Kade Anderson on full rest if Jay Johnson decided to start him Friday.
In 2023, with a national seed sewn up, Johnson started Paul Skenes on full rest in a Thursday SEC Tournament game but lifted him after 88 pitches in a loss to Arkansas.
Johnson will have the luxury of watching nearly all of the country play some baseball to see how LSU’s metrics stack up with other top eight seed competition. He can then deploy Anderson any way he likes armed with that information.
This season’s format is single elimination from Tuesday through Sunday.
