What would be wrong with the SEC champion hosting the tournament? In the event of a tie, it would be played on a netural site already pre-determined such as some of your suggestions. As for Latide..Lets see...LSU is 3-1 vs bama this year. Bama won the tournament I believe in 97" and we disposed of them in the championship game in Omaha. I also think the LSU FB team wins at Bama too! Does almost 600/yards passing and Reed ring a bell? LSU will return the favor this FB season. You won last year and that is a fact. It does not matter what starter was missing, you won. Enjoy that memory, it will be a long time in coming again. You Bama Jamma's dont believe the NCCA penalty's is going to hurt you. It's not the same Bama any longer. They are not going to come in groves to Bama. Because Don was probably the best coach in the NFL does not make Mike a success. I hope Mike does succeed and because of my favorite all time NFL coach. This just looks like it's got Hallman written all over it to me.
That would be like implying that whomever wins the National Tournament isn't the real winner in basketball or baseball, it's whoever is #1 in the polls at the end of the season. That's just not the case. All but one of the major college and pro sports are tournament sports. Whoever wins those is the champion. No one said the Yankees were automatically the champions just because they had a better record than anyone else a couple of years ago. How many times would the Braves be the champions then? Would you abolish the SEC Basketball Tournament as well? The main reason the tournament is held in Birmingham, well reasons, are these: Birmingham is a pretty central location, between Florida to the South, Georgia to the East, Tennessee and Kentucky to the North, and Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas to the West. Are you going to contend that Auburn has an unfair advantage at the Hoover Met? They play just as many games there during the year as Alabama (0). The other reason is the facilities. The Met is one of the nicest ballparks in the Southeast. No one can really argue with that, it's not even 20 years old and constantly upgraded. Now, does this mean I think it should always be held at the Met? No... but no one seems to complain that the SEC CG is in Atlanta every year except for the first. Did anyone complain that Georgia had an unfair advantage?
I don't think playing in B'ham is any distinct advantage to Bama or Auburn. LSU has had no problems (especially with Bama) beating them regularly on their home fields. I do think it would be nice to rotate the tournament so that fans who can't travel have a chance to see the tournament every once in a while. There are plenty of nice AAA parks scattered throughout the southeast so facilities should not be a problem. As for the real champion, the SEC champion for baseball will be listed as LSU by virtue of having the best record at the end of the regular season. Bama will be listed as the tourney champ. It works the same way for basketball folks!
Time to chime in Just my humble opinion here. 1) LSU is the SEC champ in baseball. The tourney outcome can not change that, though the win was nice. 2) It doesn't matter where the tourney is held for the teams, though it would be nice to move it around for the FANS. 3) We have a baseball team??? 4) Let's not start talking about offensive prowess in coaches here, lest you be reminded of your offensive production last year against us. 5) I thinks one should be carefull talking about CMS's record, or lack there of, in Tiger stadium. There have been a number of Bama coaches(that is the truly sad part) who were undefeated there. Besides, we got our property tax check into foster's office on time.(just messing with ya, don't get all in a tizzy) 6) ROLL TIDE DT
Its not the same, not even a little bit. There is a glaring difference between NCAA Tourneys, Conference Tourneys, and professional tourneys. When you play in the conference tournament, you dont play any teams that you havent already played throughout the course of the year. Regular season standings are much more telling to a teams relative position in their conference than a tournament is. If you are competing for the same "title" as another team and have not played them during the regular season, the tournament becomes the means. Last years Superbowl featured the Bucs and Raiders, they had no prior meetings. Last years World Series featured the Giants and the Angels, no prior meetings. Last years NCAA basketball tourny featured Kansas and Syracuse, again two teams with no prior meetings. LSU and Alabama met on the diamond 4 times this season, LSU holding the edge 3-1. Alabama won the tournament, and as such deserves the title of SEC Tourny Champion. However, no one can convince me that the regular season title is of less significance than the tourny title.
No one has mentioned the fact that Bama won a shortened version of the tourney. I don't know why a tournament that starts out as double elimination doesn't end that way. If they play it out like the should, I have faith that LSU could have pulled two out of three. If they play it out, then I would give more credibility to the "Tournament Title". Instead, its more of just a way for sub-par teams to make one last gasp to get into the regionals, which play out as real tournaments.
The Giants and the Angels played each other 6 times during the regular season during interleague play
