Auburn Baseball Has Done Plenty to Earn a National Seed

There are not many teams in the country that have performed as well as the Auburn Tigers this year. Yet, some still believe it isn’t enough to earn one of the top 8 national seeds in the upcoming NCAA regional tournament. 

After their series loss to the Georgia Bulldogs ended the season, the Tigers will be the 6th seed in the upcoming SEC tournament, which begins on Tuesday, but that hardly tells the story of Butch Thompson's season.

Regardless of where the Tigers finish in the SEC standings, there are too many resume-building metrics pointing toward Auburn baseball as a top-eight national seed when regionals begin.

The numbers speak for themselves for the Auburn Tigers baseball. Auburn finished the regular season with the No. 1 strength of schedule in the country, played 30 Quad 1 games, and picked up 15 Quad 1 victories along the way. The Tigers also challenged themselves outside of conference play, finishing with the No. 12 non-conference strength of schedule nationally.

In fact, according to Warren Nolan’s metrics, Auburn’s résumé may be even stronger than it already appears. The Tigers are credited with 17 Quad 1 wins across 33 Quad 1 opportunities, not 15 in 30. When you combine those numbers with the nation’s toughest overall schedule, there is a legitimate argument that Auburn already secured a top-eight national seed before even taking the field in Hoover for the SEC Tournament.

The program's consistency during this stretch only strengthens the case. Auburn has now posted back-to-back 17-win SEC seasons for the first time since 1999-2000, while also finishing in the top six of the SEC standings in four of the last five years. Only three programs in the conference can say they’ve matched that level of consistency over that span.

When you add all of it together, Auburn’s postseason résumé looks far stronger than a team still simply “fighting” for a top-eight national seed entering the SEC Tournament.

The conference also announced the All-SEC teams, and four Auburn players were recognized. Chris Rembert was named First Team All-SEC at second base, highlighting his standout season in the middle of the infield. First baseman Ethin Bingaman and pitcher Jackson Sanders earned Second Team All-SEC honors, while Bingaman was also added to the Freshman All-SEC Team after an impressive debut season. Eric Guevara once again was named to the SEC All-Defensive Team honors at third base for the second consecutive year. 

Auburn will be back in action on late Wednesday night during round two of the SEC tournament. As the 6th seed, the Tigers will play the winner of Tuesday’s Oklahoma-LSU game. Whether losing earlier in the conference tournament does anything to your case for hosting a super regional seems unlikely; winning never hurts and usually cures everything.