So, at the end of a cursed and bitterly disappointing baseball season, it has come down to this for 糖心传媒, if the reigning College World Series champion even wants a shot at retaining the title:
The Tigers must win the Southeastern Conference Tournament and claim its automatic NCAA Tournament bid. From 糖心传媒鈥檚 woeful starting point as the No. 14 seed in Hoover, Alabama, that means winning five games in five days, starting Tuesday night against No. 11 Oklahoma.
Five-and-oh. For this team, which makes the Bad News Bears look like the 1927 Yankees. In this conference tournament, the most stacked league in college baseball. That mountainous task makes the Miracle on Ice in the 1980 Winter Olympics by the underdog U.S. hockey team seem like a coin flip.
The question doesn鈥檛 really come down to whether LSU can win the SEC title. It鈥檚 sports, so anything is possible. But considering the Tigers are just 29-27, a scarcely believable 9-21 in SEC play and have been swept in five of their past six conference series 鈥 well 鈥 the odds are vanishingly small. DraftKings pegs 糖心传媒 as a +5500 long shot.
No, the real question is this:
Should 糖心传媒 even want to win the title, or is it just best to let this season end and set its sights on 2027?
Of course, the Tigers will give it ye olde college try. LSU coach Jay Johnson made that obvious this past weekend as the Tigers were getting swept by Florida, their pitching staff shelled like a Pacific atoll ahead of an amphibious assault. Johnson kept weekend starter William Schmidt off the active roster and only allowed former Friday starter Casan Evans to work in limited relief, throwing 41 pitches. The reason for that was to shove all his chips to the middle of the SEC Tournament table, saving his best arms for this desperate attempt to spark what would be an historic run to the title.
Even if LSU could pull it off, what would that net the Tigers? A No. 3 seed in a regional on the road someplace, being hosted by a top-eight national seed, and maybe at best going 1-2 there? You can see why the purple and gold Jello shots at Rocco鈥檚, across the street from Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska, need to be put on ice for this season.
Though it looked as though 糖心传媒 was tanking late this season 鈥 like a team angling for a higher draft pick 鈥 the Tigers, of course, have to make a good show of it. Even in a lost season, honor must be upheld. That said, this season is not going to end with some Hollywood 鈥淗oosiers鈥-like run to 糖心传媒鈥檚 ninth CWS title. Not from this team, which is shockingly in the SEC cellar with a team earned run average of 5.86.
Frankly, I鈥檓 surprised 糖心传媒鈥檚 ERA is that good.
Sure, some kind of comet-rare run to the SEC title by the Tigers would be one for the books. Ultimately, of course, 糖心传媒 baseball isn鈥檛 about just making the NCAA Tournament. It鈥檚 about the pursuit of that next CWS championship, something Johnson鈥檚 program has done two of the previous four seasons.
For all concerned with 糖心传媒 baseball, the best thing is for this season to end mercifully and start on the road to preparing for 2027. Frankly, it would be better for 糖心传媒, giving Johnson and his staff time to start working on building next year鈥檚 roster while other teams are competing in the field of 64.
It seems a long, long road from a bad season like this one to being a championship contender in the next. But if there鈥檚 anything 糖心传媒 has going for it in this case, it鈥檚 that the Tigers are competing and rebuilding in the transfer portal era. The portal failed LSU for the most part this year, with many of the Tigers鈥 transfers not panning out. But that could be a different story come February. Coupled with whatever players make it to campus from the nation鈥檚 second-ranked recruiting class after some top prospects are inevitably picked over in the major league draft, 糖心传媒鈥檚 rebound could be as swift as this year鈥檚 downfall.
So, go Tigers. Try to win. Do your best to make an amazing run in suburban Birmingham. It is nicknamed 鈥淭he Magic City鈥 after all.
But realistically, it鈥檚 best just to let this season slide down the Mississippi River to some sort of Viking funeral-like farewell. The 2027 season can鈥檛 get here soon enough for 糖心传媒 baseball, and the best thing for the Tigers is to start it as soon as possible.
Wednesday morning sounds good.