So, about that LSU-Florida rematch in Omaha …

The 2024 SEC baseball season already has produced numerous surprising storylines, but none more so than the rapid free fall from last year’s national champion Tigers and runners-up Gators.

Their 1-year teardown is every bit as humbling as 2021/22 Mississippi State or 2022/23 Ole Miss — both defending CWS champions finished below .500 the following season. Probably more stunning, too, considering LSU and Florida are led by projected top-10 draft picks in Tommy White and Jac Caglianone, who has surged into the race to go No. 1.

With 5 SEC series remaining until the SEC Tournament, there’s no guarantee LSU even qualifies for Hoover. If the tournament started this weekend, LSU (3-12 SEC) and Auburn (2-12 SEC) would be the 2 teams eliminated from the 12-team field.

LSU’s saving grace might be a favorable finishing schedule; the Tigers still play Mizzou (5-10 SEC), Auburn and Ole Miss (5-10).

What else has caught our attention this season? Let’s take a look at 4 more surprising storylines.

Georgia’s Charlie Condon is the best hitter in America

Condon’s rise is remarkable.

In a sport where true freshmen often make an immediate impact, Condon redshirted.

He used that 2022 season wisely though, adding much-needed strength to his 6-6 frame.

Last season, he led Georgia in all 3 Triple Crown categories — .386/25/67. His 25 home runs ranked 2nd in program history — behind only Gordon Beckham’s 28 in 2008.

Condon, draft-eligible as a redshirt sophomore, entered this season in the top 5 of just about every major mock draft list — and somehow has exceeded those ridiculous expectations.

He is a taller combination of Dylan Crews/Tommy White.

How good has he been?

Condon is flirting with .500 (.482) while leading the country with 24 home runs. He already is the first Dawg in program history to hit 20+ homers in a season twice, and with 49 career HRs, he’s quickly closing in on Beckham’s all-time record of 53.

Not surprisingly, Condon is firmly in the discussion to be the No. 1 overall pick in this summers MLB Draft.

Jac Caglianone really is that guy

Is it surprising that Caglianone followed up his breakthrough sophomore season with an even more impressive junior campaign?

Yes … and no.

No in the sense that he was a projected top-5 pick in this summer’s draft, so results are expected.

Yes in the sense that, the more Florida plays, the more you realize how much worse things would be if the Gators didn’t have their 2-way star. The gap between Cags and his teammates makes many wonder why in the world anybody would challenge him with a game on the line.

Two weekends ago, Mississippi State did just that — and Cags walked it off with a 2-run homer.

He has 20 this season — 2nd in the country behind Condon — and is closing in on Florida records as well.

Cags has homered in 6 consecutive games and 8 of the past 9.

More impressive, he has hit a home run in each of his past 4 starts on the mound — where he has been the Gators’ lone bright spot, going 4-0 with a 3.89 ERA.

He is a lock to win the John Olerud Award, given to the best 2-way player in America.

The race to go No. 1 overall could come down to the final regular-season series: Florida at Georgia. Cags vs. Condon.

Texas A&M vaults to No. 1 in America

Jim Schlossnagle is a proven winner who took the Aggies to Omaha in Year 1 before bowing out in the Regionals last season in Year 2.

Nobody slept on the Aggies in the preseason. They were top-10 in most major outlets, but because the SEC is so stacked, they still were behind 5 other teams.

Similarly, SEC coaches picked the Aggies to finish 3rd in the West — but they were not 1 of the 5 teams that received votes to win the SEC Tournament.

Further, only 2 Aggies were selected to the preseason All-SEC first or second team.

Now, those 2 — Braden Montgomery and Jace LaViolette — are the biggest offensive reasons the Aggies have vaulted to No. 1 in the country.

Montgomery is 3rd in the SEC with 19 homers and leads the league with 58 RBIs. Little surprise that LaViolette is 2nd in the SEC with 52 runs scored.

The real secret? A&M’s pitching. The Aggies rank 2nd in the SEC in team ERA (3.14), 3rd in batting average against (.217) and strikeouts (414).

Ryan Prager (7-0) has recovered from Tommy John surgery and blossomed into an ace. The Aggies’ Friday night starter shares the SEC lead with 7 wins and is 3rd in ERA (1.98) and strikeouts (73).

Kentucky is leading the SEC

Kentucky hasn’t won the SEC East since 2006. They’ve never won the modern-era SEC Tournament.

SEC coaches certainly didn’t expect that to change in 2024, either. They picked the Cats to finish 5th in the East — a fairly typical landing over the past decade or so.

Instead, Kentucky has raced to a 14-1 start in league play — the best record in the league.

They’re 30-5 overall, but it took awhile for the polls to acknowledge their hot start. The Cats didn’t crack the top 20 in the major polls until April 1. Now, they enter the week at No. 7 in Baseball America’s Top 25 and are in the top 5 in 3 other polls.

Was it the schedule? The history? Admittedly, the front end has been soft, but we’ll find out soon enough.

The Cats’ next 3 SEC series are vs. No. 3 Tennessee, at No. 19 South Carolina and vs. No. 2 Arkansas.

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