SEC title on the line: The Southeastern Conference schedule couldn’t have worked out any better for the final weekend of the season. With No. 5
Florida hosting No. 8
Kentucky and No. 11
Mississippi State taking on No. 10 Louisiana State, both divisions will have de facto championship series this weekend. Florida (38-14, 19-10) holds the overall lead in the SEC, with Kentucky (37-16, 18-9) and
LSU (35-17, 18-9) a game off the pace and Mississippi State (34-19, 17-10) two games back. In addition to chasing a conference title, all four teams are also looking to shore up their resumes to be regional hosts and national seeds.
Florida simply needs to win the series to win its first conference title since 2014, as it holds the head-to-head tiebreaker against LSU. Kentucky also holds the head-to-head tie breaker against LSU, leaving the Tigers in need of a sweep to win their second conference championship in three years. Mississippi State needs a sweep and a Kentucky series win (but not sweep) to claim back-to-back SEC titles. Kentucky would win its first SEC title since 2006 with a sweep, or a series win and an LSU series win.
Both series have plenty of intrigue beyond the championship at stake. This will be the first meeting between LSU coach Paul Mainieri and Mississippi State coach Andy Cannizaro, who was an assistant coach under Mainieri for two seasons before leaving in November to take over the Bulldogs. Florida and Kentucky, meanwhile, have split the series almost as evenly as possible over the last 10 years. The teams are 16-16 against each other, both have won five series and the average score of those 32 games is Florida 6.4, Kentucky 6.2.
— Teddy Cahill
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