SEC tournament struggles have little effect on NCAA tournament success
Ray Tanner will go down as the greatest coach in the history of South Carolina baseball. Any attempts to argue otherwise are laughable. The gap between him and second place is as wide as the Grand Canyon. He has a .700 winning percentage at Carolina, 12 straight NCAA tournament berths, five College World Series appearances and two consecutive national championships. He is currently, by all accounts, the most successful college baseball coach in the country.
Just don't send his team to Hoover, Ala.
Maybe it's the weather, maybe it's the travel, maybe they just have an aversion to Yellowhammers (Alabama's state bird), but Ray Tanner's teams are not fond of extended stays at the SEC tournament.
After a 1-2 stint in Hoover last week, the Gamecocks now have an 18-29 record in the conference tournament in Ray Tanner's 16 years as head coach. South Carolina won 18 conference games this season. In fact, Tanner has led Carolina to 17 or more regular season conference victories 11 times since his arrival in Columbia.
The Gamecocks have lost to every team in the conference in Hoover at least once under Tanner. With the exception of 2004, when South Carolina went to Birmingham and won four straight to win the SEC tournament championship, the trip to Alabama has served as a type of necessary evil for the Gamecocks. You get the feeling that South Carolina views the SEC tournament the way most people view an dental checkup; it may be good for them, but that doesn't mean they have to enjoy it.
Despite Carolina's struggles in the conference tourney, most Gamecock fans rarely get their feathers ruffled when USC makes an early exit from Hoover. That simple fact may be the biggest testament to how spectacular Ray Tanner's tenure at South Carolina has been. His teams have been so good everywhere else that fans have grown indifferent to their performances in the SEC tournament. The mantra of Carolina fans may as well be "What happened in Hoover ... seriously, what happened? We weren't paying attention."
Ray Tanner's teams have a record of 70-27 in NCAA tournament play, a winning percentage of .722. South Carolina has been to the NCAA tournament 12 straight years and will extend that streak to 13 this weekend. Out of those 12 NCAA tourneys, Tanner's squad has failed to advance past the regional round just four times. Simply put, when the lights shine the brightest, Tanner has his team ready to play.
There's no good explanation for why South Carolina has struggled so mightily in the conference tournament. It could be that USC has used the tournament as an opportunity to jiggle their lineup and solidify their pitching rotation. Maybe the Gamecocks spend their time in Hoover brainstorming new ideas for spirit sticks and lucky fish. Perhaps Carolina simply isn't as focused as other teams in the conference, although that seems highly unlikely with Tanner at the helm. Whatever the reason, the SEC tournament has not been kind to South Carolina.
Just don't bother asking their fans if poor play in Hoover concerns them.
They're busy buying tickets for the regionals.