The Win Column: Atlanta, Athens and quite possibly Omaha

The last time Georgia baseball made it to the College World Series was 2008.

I was The Red & Black’s baseball beat writer at the time and, with a co-worker and my brother in tow, drove 20 delirious hours to Omaha in time for the championship series. (Would not recommend.)

The Bulldogs lost — but the next few weeks might present their best chance at a title since.

If the Yellow Jacket juggernaut doesn’t beat ‘em to it.

LET’S GO DEEP

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

Georgia and Georgia Tech baseball both won regular-season conference titles. They both won their conference tournaments.

They both earned top national seeds — and will host separate NCAA Regionals this weekend as they begin respective quests for Omaha.

“We know how great we are, and that’s something we set out to do at the beginning of the year,” Tech slugger Drew Burress told the AJC over the weekend. “But at the end of the day, I think we’d all rather go to Omaha and win a national championship than win the regular season or the ACC Tournament.”

As columnist Ken Sugiura writes, things do feel a bit different this time around for both local squads.

So let’s discuss how it might happen, eh?

Incredible power: The Yellow Jacket and Bulldog lineups are, frankly, terrifying.

In terms of tournament teams …

Credit: Rahul Deshpande

Credit: Rahul Deshpande

Translation: Far and away the best offenses in the field.

Who to keep an eye on: I asked mi AJC amiga Sarah Spencer — who’s covered both squads — to highlight a few difference makers.

“If you look at Georgia and Georgia Tech baseball, you may have the headliners of Drew Burress and Vahn Lackey for Tech (two guys who could go in the top 10 of the MLB draft) and Daniel Jackson and Tre Phelps for Georgia (two guys who are Nos. 1 and 2 in the SEC in batting average and Nos. 1 and 4 in OPS). But these teams have stars galore.

“Tech gets a boost from the steadiness of second baseman Jarren Advincula, who joins Burress, Lackey and Jackson as a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist. Advincula has a .983 fielding percentage in 57 starts and leads Division I in hits (103).

“Georgia center fielder Rylan Lujo has come on strong and is third in the SEC in batting average (.369), right behind Phelps. His timely single after an hourlong rain delay helped the Bulldogs keep climbing back from a six-run deficit to beat Florida in the SEC Tournament semifinals."

The competition: Oklahoma (14-16 in SEC play), The Citadel (Southern Conference tourney champs) and Illinois Chicago (Missouri Valley) will join Tech in Atlanta — where tickets sold out in 30 seconds and athletic director Ryan Alpert says they tried to add outfield seats but couldn’t pull it off in time.

In Athens, the Bulldogs welcome in Long Island (the Northeast Conference champs), Liberty (an at-large pick that finished 41-19) and Boston College (which finished fourth in the regular-season ACC standings).

From there: Regionals are double-elimination affairs with all games played this weekend. The winners advance to Super Regionals, which are best-of-three series against other regional champs.

Tech would play the winner of the Kansas regional, Georgia would get whoever emerges from the Mississippi State regional … and all eight Super Regional champions move on to Omaha.

“There’s marginal separation between the two, but I’d favor Tech as the likelier CWS winner for two primary reasons,” another esteemed colleague, Gabe Burns, told me. “One, I think the Jackets are a tad more multidimensional offensively. Both teams mash, but I’d give Tech the edge in producing runs without the long ball. That’s going to be necessary at points during this run. And two, I just think their pitching is better, as the numbers lay out.

“But again, we are nitpicking when comparing the teams. Both are behemoths. Both deserve all the praise they’re receiving, and both are deserved favorites to win it all. I expect both to go to Omaha.”

Giddyap.

TRIVIA TIME

With an RPI (rating percentage index) of 28, one 2026 squad became the highest-rated at-large team not to receive an invite to the NCAA baseball tournament.

Who was it?

Scroll alllll the way to the bottom for the answer (but there’s a pretty big hint above).

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

🏈 The Falcons continue organized team activities this week, with coaches and players slated to speak to reporters today. Bookmark ajc.com/falcons and follow beat writer @ByDanielFlick for all the latest.

⚾ The Bravos finally dropped their first home series over the weekend, but followed it with a nail-biter of a series opening victory last night in Boston. Fenway Park festivities continue at 6:45 tonight and 4:10 p.m. Thursday, then it’s on to Cincinnati.

🏀 The 4-1 Atlanta Dream sit atop the WNBA standings despite a slightly concerning penchant for slow starts. They visit Minnesota tonight (9 p.m. on USA and Atlanta News First) then the feisty Portland Fire on Friday (10 p.m. on Ion).

⚽ You’ve got a few weeks until Atlanta’s first match … but why not go ahead and plan out your World Cup watching experience with the AJC’s new and very convenient guide to the festivities?

Don’t forget Kick It, our World Cup newsletter, either.

SHOULD, UH … SHOULD THE SEC SECEDE?

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Georgia football coach Kirby Smart said a lot of things Tuesday at the SEC’s spring meetings.

His endorsement of the SEC pulling out of the NCAA and running its own ship, should it come to that? That was a bit more of a barn burner than the others.

“I’ve been a huge advocate that (if) we can’t find rules that everybody played by, then we should play by our own. I’m not afraid of that,” Smart said. “I’m not afraid to break away and say that our conference is strong enough to go out and play — I mean, like, if we could actually function and it financially would make our programs more stable, and we could support things financially.”

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey and UGA President Jere Morehead have refloated the idea recently too. In the current moment, it feels like a lot of bluster … but it’s also hard to see a future where premier college football consists of anything but a bigger Big 10 and a more sizable SEC.

In some fashion, anyway.

🤔 So what do fans like us want?

Today’s two-question poll is very simple: What do you think the SEC will do when the College Football Playoff contract expires in 2032? And what do you think the SEC should do?

Vote via fancy form or shoot me an email, then check back next week for results.

RECENTLY, ON THE INTERNET …

A few random things I (mostly) enjoyed online this week:

🎬 Cutting an SEC football hype video from U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s recent speech on political redistricting is crazy work. As 11Alive’s Reggie Chatman Jr. posted: “It means so much more brother.”

⭐ Yahoo’s Kendall Baker pointed out that nearly one-third of All-NBA honorees are named Jalen or Jaylen (including the Hawks’ Jalen Johnson). Which is funny. And also a good excuse to roll out this classic TikTok.

😟 Longtime Braves nemesis and well-documented weirdo, Bryce Harper, apparently squirts the toothpaste directly into his mouth before brushing his teeth. Hope he doesn’t share a tube with his wife.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Credit: Louie Favorite

Credit: Louie Favorite

Rest in peace to Braves great Bob Horner, who died Tuesday at age 68. He’s still the only Atlanta-era Brave to hit four home runs in a game, a 1984 brawl champion and a facial hair legend.

Thanks for reading to the very bottom of the Win Column. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at tyler.estep@ajc.com.

Oh, and the trivia answer: Your Mercer Bears. Baseball America dubbed their snub a “mockery of mid-major success.” A spokesperson told me Tuesday that longtime coach Craig Gibson was “not available to the media at this time.”