nope - not in most years and certainly not this year. resting the weekend/main arms for NCAAs is imperative if Kingston's serious about trying to win a regional to roll the dice in a Super for Omaha.

speaking of regionals - I was thinking of dropping this truth on the SECr to piss a few folks off but will just leave it here.

quote:
Gamecocks more deserving of Regional host than Florida. the body of work doesn't lie.

start with Carolina's regular season sweep over the Gators.

RPI - favors USC 14/19
SOS - favors USC 2/21
Q1 Wins - favors USC 11/9
Q4 losses - favors USC 1/2
Road Wins - favors USC 10/7
Neutral Site - favors USC 1/0

Gators drew Auburn (10-20) & Texas AM (9-21) from the West while Carolina played better teams LSU (13-17) & State (20-10). Gators were 5-1 while USC was 1-5 in those games. both played Ole Miss & Arkansas and each won 1 of the 6.

Gamecocks had a better record vs the East than Florida.
UF finished with 17 SEC wins - USC 16.
Carolina's West draw was the reason why.

Non-Conference SOS & RPI also favors the Gamecocks 33/64 & 115/151.

the 'popularity contest' media polls are the only place that Florida ranks higher than Carolina. #9 to #21 heading into final weekend and UF finished the regular season with 2 more wins & 1 less loss than the Gamecocks overall.

make no mistake - the SEC will get 6 of 16 regional sites. Arkansas, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Vanderbilt will each host. 6th spot comes down to Florida & Carolina and the power brokers involved in choosing will cater to Florida - even though the numbers favor Carolina.

...so congratulations Florida on being awarded a Regional host by the NCAA. fully expect the NCAA & Birmingham to make sure your recent big investment in a new stadium gets a payoff.