With two weeks left in the Southeastern Conference softball season, the standings are shaping up for the SEC Tournament, which will be held May 8-11 in Plant City, Fla.
The top eight teams in the conference are eligible for the tournament, regardless of division, and six teams can still clinch the overall or division titles. Based on the current standings, these teams probably are a good shot to advance in postseason play.
Georgia (47-9, 18-5 SEC) —
The Bulldogs have a 2 1/2 game lead in the East division with five games to play. They must win at least three of those games to have a shot at the overall crown and will get that shot against West division-leading Alabama and East-division rival Tennessee.
Alabama (39-16, 21-6) —
After taking two of the three games from the Gamecocks, the Tide is in good shape to win the SEC West crown over LSU, which it leads by three games. The championship may come down to the home series against Georgia, which is the team’s final series. If Alabama wins two games, it can claim its first-ever title.
LSU (40-12, 16-7) —
The Tigers must win nearly all their remaining six games to have a shot at repeating as division and conference champions. LSU plays at Auburn and Florida, but if they cannot sweep both series, they will need help from Georgia to win the West Division.
Alabama must lose at least two games for LSU to win the West crown. If Georgia can take two of three against Alabama, then lose a doubleheader against UT, the Tigers would claim their fifth straight regular season conference title.
Florida (35-16, 16-8) —
The Gators have six games left and can still win both the division and conference crowns. The best possibility for Florida to win both titles is for the team to win out and have Georgia beat Alabama twice and lose at least one to UT.
South Carolina (32-14, 16-9) —
With three games left against Ole Miss, the Gamecocks cannot claim the overall conference crown, but they can win the East title if Georgia loses three of its final games, and USC finishes tied or better than Florida.
Auburn (25-5, 13-13) —
Though Auburn cannot win the division, the Tigers can improve their stock with at least two wins against LSU and a good showing in the conference tournament can only help them when regionals begin.
Tennessee (39-18, 12-11) —
The Volunteers are still mathematically in the East race, but one more loss would knock them out. UT has clinched a berth in the SEC Tournament, and a solid showing in its final games against Georgia and Ole Miss should get them into NCAA regional play.
Mississippi State (31-25, 11-15) —
The Bulldogs likely will wrap up the final spot in the conference tournament but have no shot at winning the division with their sub-par conference record. With one series left against Florida, MSU will need to play well against the Gators and with the NCAA Tournament expanding to 64 teams this year, they could sneak in a regional as well.