Going into the final day of the 2011 regular season, the Florida Gators no longer control their own destiny in the Southeastern Conference, thanks to that dreadful 14-1 performance last night. There's a horse race in the SEC West, too, but the leader there is still worse than the top four teams in the East. (Maybe baseball needs to eliminate divisions, too.)
It all comes down to the performance of the South Carolina Gamecocks, who now control their own destiny. Win, and the SEC regular-season crown is theirs: they defeated both our Gators and the Vanderbilt Commodores in the season's series. Right now, the 'Cocks are up 2-0 in the bottom of the seventh, but the Tide have the bases loaded (even though two men have made out). The PA announcer in Tuscaloosa is playing "Living on a Prayer"; the Tide may get under the Gators' skin, but at least they have a good sense of rapture humor.
If SC wins, it gets the No. 1 seed, with the winner of the SEC West receiving the No. 2 seed in Hoover. No. 3 goes to Florida if they win, and Vanderbilt takes it in the event of a Gator loss and Commodore win.
If SC loses, however, the Gators just need to win to take the regular season crown. In the event both South Carolina and Florida lose and Vanderbilt wins, Vanderbilt is your regular season champion.
In the unlikely event all three teams lose, South Carolina remains the SEC East tiebreaker winner and the regular season champion. I never thought I'd be rooting for Alabama in anything, but if it earns the Gators their second consecutive SEC regular season championship, I guess it can't hurt.