SEC baseball and CWS

[AU64 10,122]

SEC East showed that the season-long dominance of the conference was no fluke.  And as I watched USCe, UF, Vandy (not to forget Virginia and the others) send one pitcher after another to the mound and seeing them consistently throw mid 90mph-plus fastball I came to realize how much ground Auburn has to make up just to be competitive in our own league...much less make it to Omaha. 

The baseball scholarship situation in the SEC puts the western div schools at a huge disadvantage.  It's no coincidence that the Mississippi and Alabama teams have been left behind as teams from Georgia, Florida and South Carolina have learned how to get the most mileage from their state-sponsored academic scholarships (lottery funded) to get the in-state kids while they are able to reserve the allotted NCAA scholarships for out-of-state players needed to put together their powerhouses.

I'm still reserving judgement on Coach P and his ability to compete in the SEC but after giving more thought to the scholarship limits that virtually all of the SEC-West teams face, I think SEC -East is going to dominate for quite a while and the SEC-West teams will be fighting among themselves for the last two or three slots at Hoover each year.

For quite a while, baseball has been mostly an after-thought in the SEC but with new parks and more emphasis on the sport, the confence needs to look at the imbalance in strength in each division and review the scholarship situation.

[aubcali 433]

I agree with the scholly problem, but Auburn is recruiting very well and if the team didn't lose prospects to the draft... well Auburn would of been in the NCAA tournament.

I believe Coach Pawlowski has the team in the right direction.  Remember also, Florida was a pretty much horrible team a couple years ago.  USC has been traditionally strong and Vandy has probably the best coach in college baseball. (IMO.)

It's cyclical in nature and I do believe the SEC West will come back, but I do agree that the lottery funded states do have an advantage.  I don't think the SEC will be able to even the playing field though.  My advice -- Alabama get a lottery and help education. 

Good post, AU64.

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

"SEC East showed that the season-long dominance of the conference was no fluke.  And as I watched USCe, UF, Vandy (not to forget Virginia and the others) send one pitcher after another to the mound and seeing them consistently throw mid 90mph-plus fastball I came to realize how much ground Auburn has to make up just to be competitive in our own league...much less make it to Omaha."

I had the exact same thought while watching the CWS. The pitching at VA, Vandy, FL and USCe are on a whole different level than what Auburn had in it's bullpen in 2010. The teams were just so much better. That Price kid from USCe was really amazing as a closer.

Hopefully Coach P. likes a challenge and he can get Auburn back on track. I think it may take longer than we'd like though.