2025 SEC Baseball Tournament: Bama gets early start, Tigers receive first-round bye
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The SEC will likely get at least 13 teams into the NCAA Tournament this summer but first, those teams will be chasing a possibly tougher challenge in Hoover.
For the first time ever, the SEC Baseball Tournament will feature a 16-team, single-elimination format which means there is very little room for error for some of the top college baseball teams in the country.
Both Alabama and Auburn have high expectations for the week, trying to secure their spots as regional hosts. Keep reading to see the full schedule for the week at the Hoover Met + find out what’s at stake for both in-state teams.
The bracket
Hoover has hosted every SEC Baseball Tournament since 1998 and it seems to only be growing in popularity. Each of the last two years have set new attendance records.
The last five national champions have come from the SEC so this week’s tournament will provide a glimpse at some of the best teams—and fanbases—in the country.
Here’s the full schedule for the week:
- Tuesday, May 20 – First Round
- Game 1: [9] Alabama vs. [16] Missouri | 9:30AM | SECN
- Game 2: [12] Oklahoma vs. [13] Kentucky | 30 minutes after Game 1 | SECN
- Game 3: [10] Florida vs. [15] South Carolina | 4:30PM | SECN
- Game 4: [11] Mississippi State vs. [14] Texas A&M | 30 minutes after Game 3 | SECN
- Wednesday, May 21 – Second Round
- Game 5: Winner Game 1 vs. [8] Tennessee | 9:30 AM | SECN
- Game 6: Winner Game 2 vs. [5] Georgia | 30 minutes after Game 5 | SECN
- Game 7: Winner Game 3 vs. [7] Ole Miss | 4:30PM | SECN
- Game 8: Winner Game 4 vs. [6] Auburn | 30 minutes after Game 7 | SECN
- Thursday, May 22 – Quarterfinals
- Game 9: Winner Game 5 vs. [1] Texas | 3PM | SECN
- Game 10: Winner Game 6 vs. [4] Vanderbilt | 30 minutes after Game 9 | SECN
- Friday, May 23 – Quarterfinals
- Game 11: Winner Game 7 vs. [2] Arkansas | 3PM | SECN
- Game 12: Winner Game 8 vs. [3] LSU | 30 minutes after Game 11 | SECN
- Saturday, May 24 – Semifinals
- Game 13: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10 | 12PM | SECN
- Game 14: Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 12 | 30 minutes after Game 13 | SECN
- Sunday, May 25 – Championship Game
- Game 15: Winner Game 13 vs. Winner Game 14 | 2PM | ESPN2
The schedule is subject to change and could be impacted by weather delays or extended games. The first four rounds will featuring two games per session with at least 30 minutes needed between games.
You can continue to check in on this page for time changes + updated results throughout the week.
Auburn baseball
While Auburn finished sixth in the conference in the regular season, the Tigers seem destined for a top 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament no matter what happens in Hoover.
Auburn is No. 2 in the latest RPI rankings and No. 8 in the latest D1Baseball poll, a site that also has the Tigers projected as the No. 7 overall seed.
The Tigers will get their SEC Tournament started with the late night game Wednesday against the winner of Mississippi State vs. Texas A&M. The program is chasing its first conference tournament title since winning in 1998—the year that start the Hoover Met’s streak of hosting the tourney.
Alabama baseball
With one win in three games against Florida of the final weekend of the regular season, the Crimson Tide reached the 40-win mark for the second time in the last three seasons. It’s the first time the program has accomplished that since 2006.
But it still may not be enough for Alabama to host a regional this year. The Tide sits at No. 23 in the most recent D1Baseball rankings but the team is 9th in RPI, putting them right on the edge of a top-16 seed.
D1Baseball’s projections currently have Alabama as the No. 14 national seed but the Tide may not be able to afford an early exit from Hoover this year, especially at the hands of SEC-bottom dwelling Missouri.
Alabama plays in the first game of the tournament Tuesday morning and if it wins, the Tide will play another early morning game Wednesday against Tennessee.
Who do you think wins the SEC Tournament this year? Let us know by tagging The Bama Buzz on Instagram, X, Facebook + LinkedIn.
