Ole Miss Baseball in Homestretch Battle Seeking Postseason Action

OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss baseball had hoped to leave Auburn with a series sweep this past weekend in order to better the Rebels’ SEC Tournament and postseason outlook. They won the first two games against the Tigers; however, they came up just short in a heartbreaking game-three loss Sunday. (Click here to read about that.)

Ole Miss (25-22, 9-15 SEC) has two SEC series remaining, at home this coming weekend against former No. 1-ranked Texas A&M and a road series at Alex Box vs. a surging LSU team. The Aggies, who are No. 3 in the nation this week, fell to LSU in Baton Rouge this past weekend, two games to one. 

Sitting with nine conference wins right now, Ole Miss needs some magic to happen to reach the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team. 

Most experts agree that 13 SEC wins is the minimum the Rebels need to have a chance, so head coach Mike Bianco’s squad needs to find a way to win four of its six final games against the above-mentioned A&M and LSU teams. 

Even if they reach the 13-win mark in SEC action, it’s not guaranteed the Rebels will make the NCAA tourney. The SEC Network announcers reported yesterday that over the years, 38 percent of SEC teams with 13 conference wins make the tournament. 

As for the SEC Tournament, only the top 12 make it in, a fact Ole Miss is well aware of as the Rebels missed out on making it last season. This year they’re in a better position than last year to head to Hoover, but they still have two tough teams to face in the final two series. 

Half the teams in the league have winning records and have secured spots in the SEC Tournament. The seven others that have losing records enter the final two weeks to fight it out for the final five spots, with two teams staying home.

It will be interesting to see what shakes out as so many of them play each other as we wind down the regular season. Let’s take a look at the bottom seven in the league standings and where each stands in the race to Hoover. 

Seven teams fighting for the five remaining spots in Hoover

Half the teams in the SEC have winning records and have secured a spot in the SEC Tournament.

The seven others that have losing records go into the final two weeks to fight it out for the final five spots.

Two teams will stay home. Gonna be interesting with so many of these… pic.twitter.com/nMa7pN7JOG

— David Walker (@DavidWalkerQB) May 6, 2024

Vanderbilt (11-13): The Commodores host No. 1 Tennessee and then travel to No. 4 Kentucky. 

Florida (10-14): The Gators host Kentucky this coming weekend and then travel to Athens to play Georgia.

Alabama (10-14): The Tide hosts LSU this weekend and then finishes up the season at Auburn.

LSU (9-15): The Tigers are at Alabama and finish the season with Ole Miss in Baton Rouge.

Ole Miss (9-15): The Rebels host A&M this weekend and then finish the regular season at LSU.

Missouri (7-17): The Tigers host Auburn this weekend and then travel to Starkville to play State the following weekend.

Auburn: 4-20: The Tigers travel to Missouri and then finish up at home against Alabama. 

If the cutoff were today, Missouri and Auburn would not make the SEC Tournament. 

Yes, had the Rebels won game three vs. Auburn, it definitely would have made their postseason chances a little bit more likely. It’s certainly not an impossible task at this point, but they’ll have to play their best ball of the season against a strong A&M team and a rising LSU sqaud. 

They’ll also need to take care of business against the two remaining midweek foes, Murray State (RPI 74) and at Southern Miss (RPI 42).

Next Up

As they say, the most important game is the next game. Ole Miss hosts Murray State this Wednesday. First pitch is set for 5:00 p.m. 

Evelyn Van Pelt

Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn’s love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.