SEC Tournament records 4th largest attendance, showcases new format [PHOTOS]

After back-to-back years of setting new attendance records at the Hoover Met, the 2025 SEC Tournament fell shy of setting yet another record but still saw historic crowds throughout the five-day event.

The SEC officially recorded an attendance of 159,984 across the eight sessions of baseball. That is the lowest total since 2022 but it is the fourth highest total attendance since 1999.

This season’s tournament also marked the first 16-team, single-elimination format for the conference + the city of Hoover debuted new renovations to the stadium.

Keep reading for more information from the Hoover Met + check out some of the sights from the first few days of the tournament.

2025 SEC Baseball Tournament

Weather impacted the first day of the tournament with a severe weather forecast pushing back the first two scheduled nightcaps to the following morning.

Some changes were made to the weekend schedule as well but for the most part, there were clear skies + perfect weather for some postseason baseball. Here are the complete results from the week:

• First Round        
• Game 1: [9] Alabama 4, [16] Missouri 1
• Game 2: [12] Oklahoma 5, [13] Kentucky 1
• Game 3: [10] Florida 11, [15] South Carolina 3
• Game 4: [14] Texas A&M 9, [11] Mississippi State 0
• Second Round
• Game 5: [8] Tennessee 15, [9] Alabama 10
• Game 6: [12] Oklahoma 3, [5] Georgia 2
• Game 7: [7] Ole Miss 3, [10] Florida 1
• Game 8: [14] Texas A&M 3, [6] Auburn 2

• Quarterfinals
• Game 9:  [8] Tennessee 7, [1] Texas 5 (12 innings)
• Game 10: [4] Vanderbilt 6, [12] Oklahoma 1
• Game 11:  [7] Ole Miss 5, [2] Arkansas 2
• Game 12: [3] LSU 4, [14] Texas A&M 3
• Saturday, May 24 – Semifinals
• Game 13: [4] Vanderbilt 10, [8] Tennessee 0 (7 innings)
• Game 14: [7] Ole Miss 2, [3] LSU 0
• Sunday, May 25 – Championship Game    
• Game 15: [4] Vanderbilt 3, [7] Ole Miss 2

“I think you’re facing good teams constantly every single day. It’s the SEC, it’s the best conference, especially when you have a place like the Hoover Met and you get fans from all different schools. It’s just great to compete in.”

Justin Lamkin, Texas A&M player

This was the first time the SEC has used a 16-team, single-elimination bracket. While it meant every conference team got to make the trip to Hoover, it also meant no team was guaranteed more than one game.

In previous years, only the top 12 teams would make the tournament and the middle of the tournament would feature double-elimination rounds.

“This is the one when I was sitting in Omaha, Nebraska, the Big Ten tournament, I would finish my game and rush back to the hotel so I could watch the SEC tournament. It was awesome. It was an awesome format. It was a bear to get through, but such a cool format. So like it or not, that’s just kind of the hand we were dealt and what we felt like we needed to do, and I think it’s going to be a good thing for the league.”

Rob Vaughn, Alabama coach

Upgrades at the Hoover Met

More than $14 million were spent at the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium since the 2024 SEC Tournament.

The renovations were debuted to SEC fans last week. Improvements included:

• New seating
• New outfield porch
• New indoor Omaha club

The upgrades were just the latest phase in a $23.5 million project to renovate the 37-year-old venue.

SEC makes college baseball history

After the conference tournament wrapped up Sunday, teams turned their attention to the NCAA selection committee. The complete field of 64 was revealed Monday and the SEC makes up more than 20 percent of the bracket.

Auburn earned the No. 4 national seed + will host a regional for the third time in the last four seasons. Meanwhile, Alabama just missed out on the top 16 and will have to travel to Hattiesburg for the regional round.

Did you attend a game during the 2025 tournament? Tag us @bhamnow to let us know!