Has Alabama Baseball Done Enough to Be a Regional Host?

The last time the Alabama baseball program racked up 16 SEC wins in the regular season, an NCAA regional came to Tuscaloosa for the first time since 2006. That was in 2023. In 2025, the No. 18 Crimson Tide picked up its 16th conference win Friday by beating Florida 9-6.

Alabama had not won 40 games in a regular season since 2002. Friday's victory was No. 40 with one to spare. Rob Vaughn's squad entered game two of last weekend's home series against Georgia on the wrong side of NCAA Tournament host discussions after a blowout loss in game one.

Wins in games two and three (on the same day) in that series pushed the Crimson Tide's SEC mark to 15-12 and placed it back in the picture of potential hosts. The team's struggles in conference openers, however, continued on Thursday when it blew a five-run lead and lost by one to the Gators.

All of a sudden, things had changed drastically in a brief time period, much as they did when Alabama took two from Georgia. Had Florida, which started 1-11 in the SEC, swept the Crimson Tide, it would have installed itself as a viable candidate to host a regional with 16 league wins.

Not to be so quickly relegated from the ranks of those squads which control their own destinies, the Crimson Tide reaffirmed its spot among such teams on Friday. A win on Saturday afternoon (3 p.m. CT first pitch, SEC Network+) gives Alabama the inside track to being one of 16 national seeds.

Entering this weekend's series, the two teams were No. 8 (Alabama) and No. 13 (Florida) in RPI. That is an important metric when it comes to host selection. The gap between the two has shortened. The Crimson Tide is now ninth. Florida, ranked No. 23 in the latest D1Baseball Top 25, is 11th.

The two are separated by one spot in the league standings: Alabama ninth, Florida 10th. The 2023 Crimson Tide team was the No. 9 team in that year's SEC Tournament, not earning a first-round bye and wearing gray on day one. That team went 2-2 in Hoover, ultimately needing both wins to host.

This season's SEC Tournament, which starts May 20, does not provide teams the luxury of double elimination. Unlike in past years, every squad in the top eight gets a bye to the second round. The 2025 Crimson Tide is 40-14 overall, 16-13 against conference opponents.

Winning Saturday puts far less pressure on Alabama to string together another two-win stint at the Hoover Met. Triumphing in the regular season finale, in all feasible likelihood, would clinch a hosting spot for the Crimson Tide (which would have 17 SEC wins) in Vaughn's second season in charge.

The Gators' hosting chances are not all the way over (given the RPI and status as an SEC team), but at this juncture, it would take a deep run in the conference tournament to merit legitimate consideration. As Condron Ballpark's regional odds go, Friday was must-win for the home team.