Alabama Baseball SEC Tournament Seeding, First Round Matchup

With another regular season in the books, the Alabama baseball team now knows its SEC Tournament fate.

The Alabama baseball team during the national anthem prior to a game against Auburn. / Alabama Athletics

Another SEC baseball regular season has come and gone, and in spite of a tumultuous weekend in Auburn that ended with a lengthy weather delay, the Alabama baseball team now knows what's next. To open SEC Tournament play in Hoover, Ala., next Tuesday, the Crimson Tide will take on No. 10 seed South Carolina. Alabama (33-21, 13-17 SEC) is the No. 7 seed.

The No. 24 Gamecocks have an identical overall record, as well as the same 13-17 mark in league play, to the Crimson Tide. The two teams faced off in a three-game set at Sewell-Thomas Stadium in Tuscaloosa from March 28-30. Alabama won the first two, and nearly completed a major comeback in the ninth inning of game three, but fell 9-8 after a baserunning miscue.

Tuesday's contest will be single elimination. Alabama won the 8-seed vs. 9-seed game last season against Kentucky during this portion of the 2023 bracket. The Crimson Tide had an opportunity to finish as high as 15-15 in SEC play entering its final series, but dropped two out of three to Auburn, winning the final game of the regular season 12-5. The Tigers failed to qualify for the conference tournament, a fate sealed before Alabama entered Plainsman Park.

The 2024 SEC Baseball Tournament bracket. / SECsports.com

Elsewhere in the bracket, when it comes to the four teams who do not play for the first time until Wednesday, May 22, Alabama has a series win over two and at least one win over three. Top-seeded Tennessee and No. 2 seed Arkansas each lost road series in Tuscaloosa. No. 4 seed Texas A&M dropped its series finale against the Crimson Tide. Only third-seeded Kentucky swept Rob Vaughn's first SEC squad. Two Tiger teams, Auburn and Missouri, failed to make the field of 12 qualifiers.

As with any SEC team, Alabama's strength of schedule is near tops in the nation, and it entered the Auburn series with an RPI of 11. After the Tigers sprung upsets on Thursday and Friday, that number dropped to 17. The Crimson Tide's chances of earning an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament were seemingly placed into some peril, but Saturday's win goes a long way in that regard. Now, Alabama gets the clean slate that so many teams look forward to with the start of the postseason.

The team starts off its journey up the road at the Hoover Met with a team it has claimed a series victory over, and would face another with a win. Alabama and South Carolina's contest will be the second game of the tournament. The winner plays Arkansas on Wednesday after the conclusion of a scheduled 9:30 a.m. CT start between Kentucky and the winner of No. 6 Georgia vs. No. 11 LSU.

In order to maximize its prospects in a hypothetical NCAA regional, Alabama has a vested interest in winning at least the opening act in Hoover. The Crimson Tide won two games at the event in each of the last three seasons. Doing so again in 2024 would mean firm placement in the bracket when it comes selection time. In addition, especially with Auburn not participating, Alabama will also continue to enjoy a sense of home-field advantage at the Met, which goes a long way during the postseason.