Anchors vs. Hooks: Why Vanderbilt Should Be No. 1 Overall Seed with SEC Title

The internet is full of NCAA Tournament predictions, projections and lists of bubble teams. But that was before top-ranked LSU lost to No. 17 Ole Miss on Saturday, setting up a SEC championship showdown between the Commodores and Rebels.

Now, another interesting question presents itself:

If Vanderbilt beats the Rebels in the SEC championship game, should the Commodores be the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament? (Note: Hopefully this is obvious, but should Vanderbilt lose, they won’t be the No. 1 overall seed.)

Let’s examine Vanderbilt’s resume, assuming it beats Ole Miss (and weather doesn’t force a repeat of the SEC Softball tournament), would the Commodores be worthy of the No. 1 overall seed? Here are the basic stats (courtesy of D1Baseball.com) of the Commodores’ resume:

• RPI: 1
• Overall Record: 41-16
• Strength of Schedule: 2
• Conference Record: 19-11 (SEC)
• Non-Conference Record: 20-5
• Non-Conference SOS: 87
• Quad 1: 17-14
• Quad 2: 11-1
• Quad 3: 3-0
• Quad 4: 10-1

The Commodores would also be the SEC Champions, which carries a ton of weight considering the conference has a chance to send 14 teams (more likely 13, sorry Texas A&M) to the NCAA Tournament.

Who are the other No. 1 overall seed contenders? Well, there aren’t many. Frankly, there’s really only one other contender at this point: Texas. (Both D1Baseball.com and Baseball America have Texas as the No. 1 overall seed in their Saturday morning NCAA Tournament projections.)

Arkansas, Georgia, LSU, Tennessee, Texas and Texas A&M are the only other teams to hold the No. 1 ranking. Arkansas, Georgia, and Tennessee didn’t come close to doing enough to warrant consideration. LSU could still be a contender, but only if Vanderbilt loses. The Aggies…well, they’re more concerned about making the field of 64.

So, with all that said, here’s the Longhorns’ resume:

• RPI: 4
• Overall Record: 42-12
• Strength of Schedule: 25
• Conference Record: 22-8 (SEC)
• Non-Conference Record: 19-3
• Non-Conference SOS: 224
• Quad 1: 17-11
• Quad 2: 7-0
• Quad 3: 7-0
• Quad 4: 11-1

In the opinion of this writer, based on that information, if Vanderbilt beats Ole Miss in the SEC Baseball Tournament final, how could the Commodores not be the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament?

The biggest strength of Vanderbilt’s resume is that No. 1 RPI ranking. A win shouldn’t lower that. The Commodores would also have the same number of wins with a schedule that ranks higher in SOS than Texas. They also have the same number of Quad 1 wins and the same number of Quad 4 losses.

Based on that, and considering Vanderbilt would have the SEC Championship, how could they not be the No. 1 overall seed? Sure, the Commodores were swept at home by Arkansas, but they swept Georgia on the same field. Those should offset one another.

Really, the only reason Texas could be the No. 1 overall seed is based on the committee’s belief Texas would beat Vanderbilt head-to-head. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the opportunity to see that matchup.

And whose fault is that? Well, let’s just say, anchors are a lot stronger than hooks.

Vanderbilt Commodores On SI: