The Gators' 1-2 record in the SEC Tournament was enough to clinch a top-8 seed in the NCAA Baseball Tournament. But as the National 8th seed, the selection committee did the Gators no favors. In the Gainesville regional are Bethune-Cookman (32-26) and Jacksonville (36-20); teams Florida (39-20) defeated once each in 2009. Also coming to Stadium Road is Miami (36-20), who swept the Gators in Gainesville over the last weekend of February. By RPI, Miami is the best 2nd seed of the regional sites. Their seeding seems to be a result of their 1-2 record in the ACC Tournament.
Looking at the rest of the bracket, Florida gets the winner of the Atlanta regional (Georgia Tech, Elon, Southern Miss, Georgia St.). Something that has been happening lately in College Baseball lately is parity, which means the top seeds (plus No. 2s like Miami and last year's runner up UGA) are stacked. Any of the 16 top lines could win in Omaha. Those teams also give you a clue as to how much credit was given to Florida's record. UF played four No. 1 seeds (Louisville, FSU, Ole Miss, LSU) with an 8-5 record. The Gators played five No. 2 seeds (Miami, Bama, South Carolina, Arkansas, UGA), going 9-8, with five of those losses to Arky.
For Florida to get past Miami (who historically has been a barrier between UF and Omaha) and anybody else, they need to pitch. Their 4.17 ERA is third in the SEC, which puts them in the top-20 in the Nation. Miami isn't half bad with a 4.55 ERA, considering they gave up 10 in their last game vs. Boston College.
Play begins May 29 with Bethune Cookman-Florida and Jacksonville-Miami.