HOOVER, Ala. -- The University of Arkansas and Florida baseball teams each were presented trophies Wednesday by SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium before their opening games in the SEC Tournament.
The Razorbacks and Gators shared the conference's regular-season championship with each finishing 20-10.
But neither Arkansas nor Florida got to bring home the SEC Tournament trophy after they were eliminated in Saturday's semifinals with Texas A&M beating the Razorbacks 5-4 and Vanderbilt beating the Gators 11-6.
Those losses don't figure to adversely affect Arkansas and Florida in terms of seeding for the NCAA Tournament, which begins this Friday.
Arkansas (41-16) and Florida (44-14) both were among 16 regional host sites announced by the NCAA on Sunday night and they're projected to be top-eight seeds when the full 64-team bracket is revealed at 11 a.m. Central time during the selection show on ESPN2.
The top-eight seeds also will host super regionals if they win their regionals.
DIBaseball.com and Baseball America both project Florida to be the No. 2 overall seed and Arkansas at No. 3 behind No. 1 Wake Forest.
The Demon Deacons, Gators and Razorbacks are 1-2-3 in the NCAA's latest Ratings Percentage Index with Wake Forest No. 1, Florida No. 2 and Arkansas No. 4 -- behind No. 3 LSU -- in the USA Today Baseball Coaches Poll that was released Monday.
After his team was eliminated from the SEC Tournament, Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said he's not focused on how high the Razorbacks will be seeded among the top eight.
"I have no idea," Van Horn said. "I don't get caught up in all that. You want to be in the top eight, but I don't care where."
The Razorbacks, who were on the road for 11 days after closing the regular season at Vanderbilt and going to Hoover, are 30-4 at home.
"We've been gone for a while, but we definitely wanted to stick around for one more day," Arkansas third baseman Caleb Cali said. "But stuff happens, and we'll go home and we'll regroup and we'll be ready [for a regional]."
The Razorbacks beat Texas A&M 6-5 in 11 innings and beat LSU 5-4 at the SEC Tournament before losing to the Aggies.
"We played three tight games," Van Horn said. "Feel very fortunate to win two of them."
Van Horn said he feels good about some things coming out of the SEC Tournament, particularly the defense after the Razorbacks didn't commit an error.
Second baseman Peyton Holt stayed hot at the plate, going 5 for 12 in the SEC Tournament and extending his hitting streak to nine games. During his hitting streak, Holt is 18 for 33 (.545) to raise his season average to .394.
Cali went 6 for 11 in the SEC Tournament and is now batting .323.
Shortstop John Bolton returned to the lineup Saturday after missing three games because of an ankle injury and was 2 for 3, including a two-run double, and threw out a runner at home trying to score from third base on a groundout.
Pitchers Hagen Smith and Hunter Hollan combined for 17 strikeouts to help the Razorbacks beat LSU.
Will McEntire had two solid relief appearances and Zach Morris held Texas A&M to one run in five innings in relief Wednesday.
Brady Tygart made a fifth consecutive start since missing two months recovering from an elbow injury and pitched 3 1/3 innings in Saturday's game. He had some control issues, but he got in more work with 64 pitches and looks to be ready for a regional without any restrctions.
Freshman reliever Christian Foutch, who failed to retire any of the nine batters he faced in his three most recent outings, pitched for the first time since May 2 and got out of bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning. He didn't allow a run after getting two outs when he inherited two base runners.
"He was all around the zone, threw a nice slider to get that last out, zipping the ball in there about 95, 96, 97 [miles per hour], and looks like he's taking a step back forward," Van Horn said. "He wants to help us out."
Among the issues troubling for Arkansas are a third consecutive ineffective appearance for freshman closer Gage Wood -- who walked the only two batters he faced -- on Saturday, and the top five hitters continuing to struggle at the plate as they combined for 10 of the Razorbacks' 14 strikeouts.
Leadoff man Tavian Josenberger is 4 for 30 in the last nine games since returning from a hamstring injury.
Jared Wegner hit a grand slam against Texas A&M on Wednesday, but he's 2 for 22 in six games since returning from a broken thumb that kept him out for five weeks.
Jace Bohrofen is 3 for 38 in his last nine games and Kendall Diggs -- who hit a game-winning home run against the Aggies in the bottom of the 11th winning of Wednesday's game -- is in a 6 for 32 stretch.
"I feel like our starting pitchers, for the most part, are in good shape," Van Horn said. "They've got some rest. We didn't over-pitch them, and a couple of bullpen guys had pretty good outings.
"We've got to get our offense going. It's the older guys. They've got to do it.
"If we don't get the offense going, it'll be a quick weekend for us."