How tough is the SEC in softball?
- Thread starter 615dawg
- Start date
So we are guaranteed not to finish last like they picked us? The SEC has been murderer's row this year. All the teams upped their games and gone are the days of Alabama just blowing the league away. I expect us to take at least one from UGA maybe 2.
Alabama and Auburn are down, SC isn't great, & OM sucks. The rest are pretty damn good and
TN is great. There's little difference in us and the teams ahead of us in the standings. We haven't been swept all season, have 10 comeback wins with 5 in our last AB. We've got 12 top 25 wins and we're middle of the pack in the standings. We should've taken at least two from FL and A&M but blew a couple of those.
TN is great. There's little difference in us and the teams ahead of us in the standings. We haven't been swept all season, have 10 comeback wins with 5 in our last AB. We've got 12 top 25 wins and we're middle of the pack in the standings. We should've taken at least two from FL and A&M but blew a couple of those.
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If we go 2-1 against Georgia this weekend, we can't finish worse than 6th and could finish 5th.
If we somehow swept Georgia, we are no worse than 5th and could technically finish 4th (although unlikely)
If we go 1-2, we most likely finish 9th, but could finish 8th-11th.
If we go 0-3, we most likely finish 10th, but could finish 9th-12th.
If we somehow swept Georgia, we are no worse than 5th and could technically finish 4th (although unlikely)
If we go 1-2, we most likely finish 9th, but could finish 8th-11th.
If we go 0-3, we most likely finish 10th, but could finish 9th-12th.
I don't think we can finish 12th since Auburn and Alabama play each other this weekend. Basically, Auburn would have to win out and we would have to lose out for them to catch us. That means that Alabama also lost out, which would put them 1 game behind us since we're 10-11 and they're 9-12. So, no matter what happens, we're not in the play-in game against Ole Miss on Tuesday.
(Note: I had this realization after I put in all of this work to research tie-breaking scenarios and the records of the pool of possible 12th place teams. Instead of letting that go to waste, I'll go ahead and include it here, but understand it's all moot because unless the laws of physics and mathematics change, or more likely, there's a weird rainout or cancellation, we cannot finish 12th.)
Ok, on with the imaginary scenario where we end up in a tiebreaker with Auburn and/or South Carolina and/or Kentucky:
If it's a 2 way tie with Auburn, we have the tiebreaker because we have a better head to head record against Arkansas and Texas A&M, one of whom would be the top seeded differentiator since we both have a win against Tennessee and at least one of us hasn't played any other teams in the top 5-6.
If Auburn wins out, and we lose out, then Kentucky and/or South Carolina loses 2, then we're in a 3 (or 4) way tie and I don't have the patience to run those scenarios right now. Basically, we have a series win over South Carolina, South Carolina has a series win over Kentucky, Kentucky has a series win over Auburn and we haven't played Kentucky or Auburn.
(Note: It was around this time, that I realized that Alabama couldn't be included in the pool because if they lose all 3 to Auburn, they would drop to 12th and be at least 1 game behind us. Anyway, enjoy the SEC's softball tie-breaking scenarios):
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From the SEC Manual of the SEC Softball Championship:
Two-Team Tie. The following procedure will be used in the following order until the tie is broken:
A. Won-lost results of head-to-head competition between the two teams.
B. Won-lost record of the two teams versus the No. 1 seed (and proceeding through the No. 13 seed, if necessary).
C. Fewest runs allowed in head-to-head competition. If head-to-head competition between two tied teams did not occur, then fewest runs allowed against all common opponents.
D. Fewest runs allowed versus all opponents.
E. Coin flip by the Commissioner.
Three-Team Tie (or more). If three or more tied teams have three different records against each other, they shall be seeded in best percentage order. Otherwise, once the tie has been reduced to two teams, the two team tie breaker procedure shall be utilized. The following procedure will be used in the following order until the tie is broken:
A. Total won-loss percentage of games played among the tied teams.
B. Won-lost record of the two teams versus the No. 1 seed (and proceeding through the No. 13 seed, if necessary).
C. Fewest runs allowed in head-to-head competition. If head-to-head competition between the tied teams did not occur, then fewest runs allowed against all common opponents.
D. Fewest runs allowed versus all opponents.
E. If three or more teams are still tied, the Commissioner will conduct a draw.
