Lord have mercy on the anti-SEC crowd if Arkansas or LSU is the last team standing in Omaha.
It’s been a rough decade for that group. In the 2020s, the anti-SEC folks has had to watch a different SEC team win the College World Series every year. Including 2019 Vanderbilt, 5 different SEC programs won the last titles in Omaha.
You know, in case you haven’t heard.
But yes, with just 2 SEC teams in Omaha, it’s the lightest representation for the conference since 2016 when Florida was the lone representative. And yet, who are the 2 clear favorites to win it all? Arkansas (+190) and LSU (+230) over at bet365 Sportsbook. Arkansas would be the real tough pill for the anti-SEC crowd to swallow because it would be the 6th different SEC team in as many years who won it all. The Hogs trail Florida State among most CWS appearances without a title, which will be a massive storyline for Dave Van Horn in Omaha.
Of course, it would be a full-circle moment for the Hogs and the SEC as a whole if they finally got over the hump. The last time the conference didn’t boast the College World Series champ was when a certain pop-up in foul territory … nah. That’s too soon for the people in the great state of Arkansas.
A miracle stood in the way of that streak already being at 6. Maybe the same will prove true in 2025.
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The haters pointed out that with just 4 SEC teams in Super Regionals, it was a letdown for the conference that had 6 of the top 7 national seeds entering the NCAA Tournament. Regional upsets like top-seed Vanderbilt going down to Wright State and Texas falling to UTSA provided that ammo, and it was amplified in the Super Regional when Coastal Carolina knocked off Auburn.
This tournament has been a rare opportunity for haters to laugh at the dominant SEC
You know, sort of like SEC football. As in, the conference that won 13 national titles from 2006-22. And yes, even if you take Nick Saban-coached Alabama out of that and pretend that the Tide operated as an independent during that 17-year stretch, the SEC still won 7 national titles during that time, which was more than the ACC (3), Big Ten (1) and Big 12 (0) combined.
But hey, the SEC haters have been vocal about the conference missing consecutive national title games for the first time since 2004-05. Are the tides changing in this new world of college athletics? Or did the SEC just lack a truly elite team the last 2 seasons? I’d argue it’s been more of the latter, though the anti-SEC folks would like to tell you that big-revenue college athletics aren’t going to favor the South like they did throughout the last 2 decades.
This is the part where the anti-SEC crowd conveniently ignores that the conference had arguably the best men’s college basketball season ever, which concluded with multiple SEC teams in the Final Four and an SEC national champion. Flukey? Or a sign that investing more into basketball with increased TV revenue checks creates a better product? I’d argue that it’s been more of the latter, though the anti-SEC crowd would need a bigger sample size.
A school year in which the SEC takes home national titles in 3 of the top 5 revenue sports (that includes a Texas softball national championship) is still very much in play. Again, the oddsmakers believe that’s the most likely scenario. If the SEC falters in Omaha for the first time in 7 years, it’ll be noted by the SEC haters that the conference had down years in the 2 sports that it puffed its chest out the most in during this run of dominance.
So it begs the question — what will yield the loudest version of the anti-SEC crowd?
Is it simply title-or-bust? Let’s take it a step further. We know what yielded the loudest version of the anti-SEC crowd in football. It was failing to put a team in the title game. That would give them multiple days to bask in the conference’s streak coming to an end with all sorts of think pieces on how “it’s for the good of the sport.”
Maybe that’s true. Or maybe that’s just what someone would say if they don’t like the result. Perhaps both are fair takes.
What’s working in that crowd’s favor is the likely scenario that by virtue of playing one another in the opening game, at least 1 SEC team will have a long climb ahead to get out of the Loser’s Bracket. It’s exactly the way the SEC haters would draw it up. If that’s still not enough to keep an SEC team from a title, do yourself a favor.
Pour one out for the anti-SEC crowd.
It will be a tough look for the anti-SEC crowd if the College World Series still ends in familiar fashion Saturday Down South.
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