The SEC was roughed up in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
Less than a week after a record-setting 10 SEC teams were invited to the 64-team bracket, eight of them are gone. Only Vanderbilt and Mississippi remain heading into the Super Regional round this weekend.
Florida's quick exit was the most shocking. The Gators were the nation's No. 2 overall seed but lost two consecutive to College of Charleston and North Carolina.
Perennial powers like LSU and South Carolina are also out of the running much earlier than usual.
The Tigers appeared in control of the Baton Rouge Regional before losing two consecutive to Houston. The Gamecocks, who won back-to-back College World Series titles in 2010 and 2011, lost twice to upstart Maryland.
"To be honest with you, I didn't see it coming," Florida Coach Kevin O'Sullivan said after his team was eliminated.
The same could be said for the entire league.
The SEC is usually a mainstay deep into college baseball's postseason. It's produced nine national champions and seven runners-up since 1990. There has been at least one SEC team in every CWS since 1992.
Now that streak is in jeopardy. Vanderbilt and Ole Miss have been solid programs over the past 10 to 15 years but have combined for only one CWS appearance in the past 42 years.
Vanderbilt (44-18) hosts Stanford (34-24) in the Super Regionals this weekend while Ole Miss (44-18) must travel to Louisiana-Lafayette (57-8), which is the No. 6 overall seed in the tournament. All Super Regional matchups are a best-of-3 series with the winner advancing to the CWS.
Coach Tim Corbin has built a powerhouse at Vanderbilt over the past decade, taking the Commodores to the CWS for the first time in 2011. They've advanced to the NCAA postseason nine consecutive seasons.
Vanderbilt faced Stanford earlier this season, sweeping a three-game series at home during nonconference play. The Commodores also have ace right-hander Tyler Beede, one of the top players in the major-league draft who is expected to start today.
The Rebels haven't been to the CWS since 1972, although they have been close many times over the past decade. Coach Mike Bianco has taken Ole Miss to the Super Regional round four times over 14 years, but lost to Texas in 2005, Miami in 2006, Arizona State in 2007 and Virginia in 2009.
Ole Miss pitcher Chris Ellis said those previous close calls don't add any anxiety.
"I don't think any of the guys are feeling pressure or anything like that," Ellis said. "We're going to go down there, be us and let the chips fall where they may."
The overall lack of success in the SEC so far this postseason isn't a complete surprise.
Though there were several good teams, but few were great. Even Florida, which won the SEC with a 21-9 league record, had a pedestrian 6-6 stretch during nonconference play.
South Carolina, in particular, struggled with injuries and was never quite able to match preseason expectations.
"That was a good season, but good is not good enough around here," South Carolina Coach Chad Holbrook said. "I understand that. We have to do better than good, and that's going to be the attitude as long as I'm the coach."
Sports on 06/06/2014