2012 SEC BaSEB all M Edia Guid E - Southeastern Conference

SEC highlights
The SEC posted another tremendous season in 2011
as the conference had seven teams earn selection
to NCAA postseason play with South Carolina,
Vanderbilt and Florida advancing to the College World
Series. A SEC squad has now appeared in the College
World Series 26 of the last 27 years. South Carolina and
Florida both advanced to the National Championship
Series, marking the seventh time since 2000 a SEC team
played for the national championship in Omaha and fourth
in a row. South Carolina won their second consecutive
national championship, the third straight for the SEC.
Florida won the SEC tournament title over Vanderbilt.
Florida, South Carolina and Vanderbilt all won the SEC
regular-season title with a 22-8 conference record, while
Arkansas won the Western Division with a 15-15 record.
The Southeastern Conference boasts 11 former
National Players of the Year (Vanderbilt’s David Price
won in 2007), 11 Baseball America Coach of the Year and
10 Collegiate Baseball Coach of the Year honors. Also,
149 student-athletes have been named first-team All-
American, six of which came in 2011.
Six SEC players were taken in the first round of the
2011 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft, held Tuesday
in New York City. Vanderbilt’s Sonny Gray was picked 18th
by the Oakland Athletics. Alex Meyer of Kentucky was
selected 23rd by the Washington Nationals, while LSU’s
Mikie Mahtook was 31st by the Tampa Bay Rays. Zach
Cone (UGA), Jackie Bradley, Jr. (SC) and Grayson Garvin
(VU) were taken in the supplemental first round. With
those six selections this year, the SEC has now had a first
round selection in each year since 1991 and 89 total in the
first round during that time. The SEC drew a record of
over two million fans to its oncamp us ballparks in 2011,
the sixth year in a row to draw over 1.6 million. Seven
SEC teams drew in excess of 100,000 fans to their parks
in 2011. The SEC averaged a record 4,990 fans per game
in 2011, the fifth straight year to exceed the 4,000 mark.
The SEC Baseball Tournament drew nearly 100,000 fans
and 7,000 per game in 2011. The SEC Championship
Game was broadcast nationally on ESPN2 for the second
straight year.
Notes
• The SEC has sent 46 teams to the College World Series
since 1990. That was accomplished despite no SEC
teams making the field in 1992. LSU has been to Omaha
12 times, Flordia six times, Georgia and South Carolina
five times, Mississippi State four times, while Alabama
and Tennessee have been three times each. Auburn has
been twice, while Arkansas advanced in 2004 and 2009.
• SEC teams have won nine of the last 22 national championships,
with LSU winning six (1991, 1993, 1996,
1997, 2000, 2009), South Carolina winning two (2010,
2011) and Georgia claiming the 1990 title. The SEC has
finished runner up four times in that time, 1997, 2002,
2005, 2008 and 2011.
• SEC teams are 89-73 since 1990 in Omaha, a 54.9 winning
percentage. Not counting games against each other,
the SEC has posted a 68-53 record in the College
World Series since 1990, a 56.2 winning percentage.
• The SEC has played 39 games in the “Final Four” of
the College World Series since 1990, an average of over
1.5 per year. Only five times, 1992,1994, 2003, 2006 and
2007 has the SEC failed to get a team to the “Final
Four” of the CWS.
• The SEC has averaged nearly eight games played per
year in the College World Series since 1990. In 2004, 12
of the 15 games played in Omaha involved a SEC team.
In 1997, the SEC had a team in 13 of the 14 games
played in the CWS. Since 1990, an SEC team has played
in 141 of the 315 games in the College World Series, an
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