Jay Johnson believes ’15 of 16’ SEC teams have case for NCAA Tournament

The SEC is currently projected to have 13 teams selected for the upcoming NCAA Tournament, according to On3’s latest Field of 64 Projections. LSU head coach Jay Johnson however believes that as many as 15 should have a case to be selected on Monday, including Texas A&M (No. 50 RPI) and South Carolina (No. 74 RPI).

Following LSU‘s SEC Tournament Semifinal loss to Ole Miss on Saturday, Johnson claimed that the selection committee should open their field up to nearly the entirety of the conference, excluding just 16-39 (3-27) Missouri.

“When you look at what is ahead of us from this point forward, we won’t see anything we haven’t seen from a talent perspective,” Johnson said postgame. “I thought 15 of the 16 teams could probably compete to go to Omaha this year and that’s because the talent on the field makes it a very competitive environment. I think how our team handled the schedule, the consistency in which they did should play with great confidence going forward and that’s what I expect them to do.”

Texas A&M, South Carolina and Missouri likely OUT

The Southeastern Conference would likely be getting in 14 of its 16 teams, if only Texas A&M had not been swept at home by Missouri on May 9-11. Those three wins would end up being the Tigers’ lone in the conference this season. The Aggies made a bit of a run in the SEC Tournament by downing Tournament teams Mississippi State and Auburn, but fell to LSU in the Quarterfinals on Friday.

As for South Carolina, the Gamecocks were extremely disappointing in the first season of the Paul Mainieri era. Under the guidance of one of the greatest of all time, Carolina finished its season with a 28-29 record (most losses in program history). Sitting at No. 74 in the RPI Rankings, this may have been a courtesy toss in by Johnson.

Kentucky’s Nick Mingione agrees

Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione however shared a similar sentiment as Johnson following the Wildcats’ First Round loss to Oklahoma on Tuesday.

“I love our slogan… ‘It Just Means More,” Mingione joked postgame. “I absolutely love how softball gets every single team in the NCAA Tournament. I don’t know if we’ll ever get the full 16, but boy I can see it. Maybe one day. Our league just keeps getting better. The beauty with our conference is that the rest of the country has realized just how powerful this league is and that on any given day, any given team can beat anybody in this league. If you can beat anybody in this league, you can beat anybody in the country.”

Seven of the projected 16 Regional hosts are SEC teams, with six more projected to be heading elsewhere for Regional play. The conference has more than distanced itself as the nation’s premier baseball league, as the last four Men’s College World Series finals have featured nothing but SEC teams (Florida, LSU, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Texas A&M and Vanderbilt).

A non-SEC team has not won the Men’s College World Series since 2018 (Oregon State).