Georgia gets run over by Cinderella

After a remarkable Cinderella run through the SEC men's basketball tournament, the University of Georgia had the tables turned against it in Omaha. After knocking out superior foes earlier in the tournament, it appeared - on paper - that UGA should have little problem dispatching a Fresno State team that was working with a exhausted, makeshift pitching staff. But - as we all know - games aren't played on paper, they're played inside TV sets.

It took a great bottom of the 8th rally to win Game 1. Other than that 8th inning, this series wasn't really close. It caps off a roller coaster season for UGA that saw them win the regular season SEC championship, get swept at the SEC Tournament, lose a Regional game to Lipscomb before beating arch rival Georgia Tech twice to advance to a Super Regional. There, they took 2/3 from NC State before rolling to the Championship Series in Omaha.

Based on recent history, UGA will not be very good next year, but will be back in Omaha in 2010.

As an aside, hats off to Fresno State. They're a fun team to watch and played their hearts out. It's cliche, but it seemed they just wanted it more than UGA did. At least it wasn't an ACC team that won it. After listening to those pompous fans gloat all season about how great the ACC was, it was satisfying to watch their teams drop like flies in Omaha.

College Baseball Brackets

The baseball regionals were announced yesterday and 9/12 (75%) of the league will be playing postseason baseball. While the conference was not as strong this year as it has been in the past, LSU (#7) and Georgia (#8) both managed to secure National Seeds and seem to represent the best SEC chances to reach Omaha. The 9 teams in the tournament were far and away the most of any conference, but the 2 1-seeds was only half the ACC's 4. Get a copy of the bracket here.

Speaking of LSU, their current winning streak is absolutely ridiculous. For those not into college baseball, the Bayou Bengals have pieced together an unbelievable 20-game winning streak, and have not lost a game since April 19, when they dropped a game in Athens to fall to 6-11 in conference. After tying UGA 10-10 in 12 innings on April 20, they’ve won their midweek games and swept conference series from USC, Kentucky, Mississippi State, and Auburn. If they beat a 16-32 Texas Southern team, they’ll set a new conference record for consecutive wins.

Other SEC schools still playing:
Ole Miss: Headed to Coral Gables, FL as a #3 to be fed to the Miami Hurricanes
Kentucky: An 18-0 start turned into a #3 seed in Ann Arbor
South Carolina: I like the Gamecock’s chances in Raleigh
Arkansas: The Palo Alto Regional consists of #1 Stanford, #2 Pepperdine, #4UC-Davis, and the #3 Hogs. Losing that season-ending series to the last place MSU Bulldogs really put a damper on the season
Florida: Gators are visiting their good friends in Tallahassee in what should be a not-so-friendly atmosphere as the Noles’ p*nis envy tends to shine in matchups with the Gators
Alabama: The Tide head to an overlooked and underrated Coastal Carolina Regional that could get ugly
Vanderbilt: The ‘Dores have enough talent to play with anyone in the country. Tempe should be one of the most entertaining Regionals this year