LITTLE ROCK — The SEC has won three of the past four NCAA baseball championships, so the league didn’t need to get any tougher.
It might have anyway.
The SEC adds Missouri and Texas A&M this season, two solid baseball programs that increase the depth of a league that has no shortage of candidates to go to the College World Series. The season opens today for all 14 teams, with conference play beginning in March.
For Vanderbilt Coach Tim Corbin, the four weeks of nonconference play provide a short window to make sure his team is ready for such a competitive conference.
“This is the premier league in the country, and the truth is someone’s got to lose,” Corbin said. “It’s a war of attrition. You’ve got to keep yourself from falling over, keep your gloves up. Everyone’s good. Everyone’s recruiting good players. There’s very little difference between the 14th team and the first team.”
The SEC’s coaches picked Arkansas to win the league title. The Razorbacks have one of the league’s top pitchers - and a potential No. 1 draft pick - in right-hander Ryne Stanek. Their lineup will be anchored by Dominic Ficociello, who hit .290 with 6 home runs and 41 RBI last season.
Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn knows that during the 56-game regular season, there are bound to be some ups and downs.
“We’re trying to calm ourselves down a little bit,” Van Horn said. “We’re ranked so high that expectations, you’re supposed to stay there all year. It’s going to be tough.”
Vanderbilt was picked to win the Eastern Division. The Commodores struggled early last season but rallied late to make the NCAA Tournament. Most of the team returns, including mainstays Mike Yastrzemski, Conrad Gregor and Tony Kemp.
But as usual, most of the league’s teams have a realistic shot of making it to Omaha. Mississippi State, South Carolina, LSU, Kentucky, Mississippi and Florida join the Razorbacks and Commodores in Baseball America’s preseason top 25.
The Gamecocks won back-to-back national titles in 2010 and 2011 and lost in the national championship series to Arizona last season. Coach Chad Holbrook takes over for Ray Tanner, who left to become the school’s athletic director.
There are some new twists to the league this season. The addition of Texas A&M and Missouri is widely viewed as a positive, but there is now a greater possibility that scheduling quirks could affect the outcome of the conference race. The 30-game schedule features three games against 10 opponents, meaning each team will miss three others.
Sports, Pages 26 on 02/15/2013