SEC Tournament Baseball Seeding Scenarios 2024: Exploring team standings, potential matchups and tournament predictions 

With one game to go in the SEC baseball season, the situation for the 2024 SEC Tournament is still very much up in the air. A few things are clear – like the top four seeds who will get byes to the second round of the Tournament on Wednesday. It's also clear that Auburn and Missouri are out of the field. The 12 teams that will play are certain, but who and when aren't as certain just yet.

SEC Tournament baseball seeding scenarios 2024

Kentucky is shooting for the No. 1 overall seed with a win on Sunday (or a Tennessee loss).

Teams getting SEC Tournament byes

The SEC's two division champions get the top two seeds. While Arkansas is guaranteed to finish behind the Eastern division champion in overall record, the Hogs are the guaranteed Western division champs and are set with a No. 2 seed.

Meanwhile, Texas A&M is also set as the No. 4 seed and will also get a bye. At 18-11, the Aggies are a game ahead of Georgia and Mississippi State. But A&M won the season series matchups with both teams, so even a tie would result in the Aggies still claiming the No. 4 seed.

Likewise, Kentucky and Tennessee will be the No. 1 and No. 3 seeds in some order. Kentucky, at 22-7, has a one-game lead over Tennessee. If the Wildcats win over Vanderbilt or the Vols lose to South Carolina, Kentucky is the top seed and sole regular season champion.

Teams that are out of the SEC Tournament

At 8-21 in the league, both Auburn and Missouri are eliminated from postseason play. No other SEC team has less than 11 victories, so the two sets of Tigers are missing out on Hoover and the SEC Tournament.

The rest of the picture

The league's 5-12 seeds face each other in single-elimination play on Tuesday. Mississippi State and Georgia are tied at 17-12 for the fifth and sixth spots. But Mississippi State won the season series with Georgia, so unless State loses and Georgia wins, State will get the No. 5 seed and Georgia will get the No. 6.

Things get more complicated lower in the league. South Carolina is 13-16 and a game ahead of four other teams. If the Gamecocks can beat Tennessee on Saturday, they'd clinch the No. 7 seed. If not, they get dropped into chaos.

Tied at 12-17 are Alabama, Florida, LSU and Vanderbilt. In a tie-breaker with more than two teams, the record against the other teams is the first criteria. But as many as five teams could end up 13-17. Alabama, facing Auburn, probably has the best chance of the four 12-17 teams to pick up a final-day win. Florida is facing Georgia, while LSU plays Ole Miss and Vanderbilt plays Kentucky.

Finally, Ole Miss, at 11-18 is sitting in the No. 12 spot. If the Rebels lose, they are locked in at that place. If they win, they'll join whichever of the 12-17 teams lose tomorrow instead.

Potential SEC Tournament matchups

As things stand, Tuesday's games are likely to include Mississippi State against Ole Miss in the 5/12 game. Georgia will get one of the 12-17 teams that takes a loss on Saturday – Vandy might be the most likely. The remaining 12-17 teams will face off in some combination.

The winner of the East – Kentucky – would align in the bracket with Texas A&M and probably Mississippi State. Florida and Alabama are probably the most potentially dangerous matchups from the group of 12-17 teams.

The other side of the bracket will feature Arkansas and the other East team, again, most likely Tennessee. Georgia is likely to slide into that bracket as well, which is a dangerous issue considering how red-hot the Bulldogs have been.

A potential Thursday afternoon matchup between Arkansas and Tennessee would be intriguing. The Vols have the best bats in the conference, while Arkansas has the best pitching.

Kentucky could get a challenge even from the 8/9 game, particularly if Florida is involved. The Gators just gave UK a tough road series last weekend. But the East winner – particularly if Georgia ends up aligned with the West winner – has a substantially easier path.

SEC Tournament predictions

Hagen Smith will likely best Tennessee on Thursday and send the Vols into the losers' bracket. Tennessee will rally from there to earn a spot in Sunday's championship game. As long as Kentucky can outlast A&M, with Smith out of the way, they can sneak past Arkansas.

As for the top two teams in the conference in the Finals, not very exciting, but another Kentucky/Tennessee game could certainly be one to see.

Which teams do you like in the SEC Tournament next week? Weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section below.