For the first time in the 2024 season the Florida Gators were left out of both D1 Baseball and Baseball America’s projected NCAA Tournament field of 64. This came after Florida dropped their 6th consecutive SEC series last weekend to Kentucky.
Florida is now on the outside looking in at 26-25 (11-16 SEC), but they still have a chance to climb back into the field with a series win over No.9 Georgia in Athens this weekend.
“We’ve got to finish .500,” head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said on what Florida needs to do to get in the postseason. “Probably the magic number is, you guys have probably figured it out too. We know what we need to do, and it’s still right there in front of us, it’s not like we can’t do it, we just made a difficult road just a little bit more difficult.”
I believe the magic number is 13 conference wins, which means the Gators have to take 2/3 against Georgia to even have a chance at making a Regional.
“A 13-win SEC team is on the bubble,” SEC writer Mark Etheridge of D1 Baseball wrote on Twitter. ” Some will get in. Maybe all will this season, but history doesn’t support that.”
While 2/3 against Georgia gives Florida a good chance with the No.1 strength of schedule and a likely top-25 RPI, it’s still not a guarantee. The Gators would still likely need to log a win or two in the SEC Tournament. If Florida can sweep Georgia this weekend, they are more than likely in the tournament regardless of what happens in Hoover.
If all else fails, Florida could win their conference tournament for an automatic bid into the postseason.
The Florida Gators close out the regular season with a three-game series at the No. 9 Georgia Bulldogs spanning from Thursday through Saturday. All three matchups in the series wil stream on SEC Network+, with games one and two scheduled for 6 p.m. ET on Thursday and Friday. The series finale is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Whats more fitting than a (decider) series against UGA?
Lets go Gators! Whip em!!