SEC coaches expect wild tourney

By By Will Bardwell / staff writer
May 25, 2004
Don't ask Southeastern Conference coaches for a favorite in this week's SEC baseball tournament.
After three months on the field and two months of conference play, the SEC's top eight teams will descend on Hoover Metropolitan Stadium just outside Birmingham, Ala., for the SEC tournament, which begins Wednesday.
The top two teams from both the East and West divisions, as well as the top four remaining teams, earned berths in the double-elimination tournament. LSU and Florida will open play at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, with Georgia and Vanderbilt following at 1 p.m. Ole Miss will face South Carolina at 5 p.m., and Arkansas meets Tennessee at 8 p.m.
For the first time in 18 years, Mississippi State will not appear in the tournament. Local favorites Alabama and Auburn also failed to earn bids, which spurred the league's coaches to renew a familiar call on Monday allow everyone in the tournament.
SEC coaches voted unanimously a year ago to recommend that the tournament include all 12 of the league's teams, and several coaches renewed that call Monday on an SEC teleconference with reporters.
Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco, Florida coach Pat McMahon, LSU coach Smoke Laval and others each expressed support for a conference-wide tournament and said a proposal would be submitted to the league following the season.
A few coaches named pitchers for Wednesday's tournament openers Bianco confirmed that Rebels ace Mark Holliman will start for Ole Miss but some said the mid-week date may be too quick a turnaround for their normal Friday starters.