Happy opening day of SEC baseball, y’all!

My Missouri Tigers get the season started for the SEC on Friday at noon Eastern time in Arlington, Texas, against No. 9 Oklahoma State at the College Baseball Showdown. I don’t like the Tigers’ chances of pulling off an upset, as they were picked to finish last in the SEC preseason poll.

But the SEC is absolutely loaded this year, so tune in throughout the day as some of the conference’s better teams throw their first pitches of the season. At the same College Baseball Showdown event, No. 10 Vanderbilt plays No. 15 TCU at 4 p.m. ET and No. 8 Arkansas takes on Texas at 8 p.m. ET.

Oh, and No. 1 LSU hosts Western Michigan to get its season underway at 7:30 p.m. ET. No. 4 Ole Miss, the reigning College World Series champion, plays host to Delaware at 5 p.m. ET.

Enjoy opening day!

Now let’s dive into your questions for this week’s Mailbag:

David:

Tommy Rees is the new OC at Alabama. Mike Bobo is the new OC at Georgia. Which new coordinator will have the better offense in 2023?

Coincidentally, Georgia and Alabama actually tied for No. 4 in the FBS in points per game last year, each averaging 41.1 points per contest. That was under Todd Monken and Bill O’Brien, respectively.

Georgia had the edge in total yards per game, averaging 501.1 to Alabama’s 477.2.

Both schools bring in new quarterbacks, new coordinators and new players at other positions, but I’ll give the edge in 2023 to Georgia.

Why?

Well, the Bulldogs still have Brock Bowers, to start. He’s going to be a first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. They also still have key backfield contributors in Kendall Milton, Daijun Edwards and Branson Robinson. Oh, and Mizzou transfer Dominic Lovett will be in Athens to help bolster a receiving corps that will still feature Ladd McConkey.

Add in the fact that Mike Bobo was an analyst on Kirby Smart’s staff last year and thus has some continuity in running Monken’s offense, and you get a team that I believe will be poised to start the 2023 season at a faster pace than Alabama.

That’s not to say Alabama’s offense will be bad by any means, I just think Georgia will start the year faster on that side of the ball and ultimately put up slightly better numbers.

Robert:

Who would be your pick to win the SEC men’s hoops tournament now that Tennessee just beat Alabama?

First of all, I think the SEC basketball tournament is going to be incredible this year. There are only a couple of elite teams in Alabama and Tennessee, but I think we’re going to see an absolutely wild first 3 days of the tournament.

If I had to pick right now, I’m still going with Alabama. Yes, I know the Vols just beat the Tide by 9 points without Josiah-Jordan James and Julian Phillips, but that was a home game for Tennessee, so I’d expect things to be different in a neutral-site tournament.

Also, I’m not sure I’d have confidence in the Vols to make it to the final, as they have had a couple of rough showings lately, losing to Mizzou, Vanderbilt and Florida in recent weeks. They also have a loss to Kentucky in Knoxville on their résumé.

I’ll go with Alabama for now, but what a game it would be if we could see the Vols and Tide in action once again with both teams at full strength and an SEC Tournament title on the line.

Jack:

What’s your bucket list SEC tailgate?

The Grove at Ole Miss is definitely up there, as it looks like an incredible setting. I’d enjoy getting all dressed up to pregame, too.

But the answer to this question, for me, is LSU. Tiger fans are rowdy and I’d love to experience an all-day tailgate before a night game in Death Valley. Preferably a game against rival Alabama.

I don’t know that I’d be able to remember much of the game after tailgating all day, but what an experience that would be!

You can’t really go wrong tailgating in the SEC, though (except maybe at Vanderbilt). I know many SEC folks love to hate on Mizzou, but we Tigers know how to tailgate with the best of them, too.

@Dobbe8:

Which rule would you eliminate from college football if you were in charge?

Oh, I can think of a few things off the top of my head, but there’s one that really sticks out to me as unnecessary.

If I were in charge of college football, I’d immediately eliminate the rule that a player is down once a knee, elbow or backside touches the ground. In the NFL, you have to be touched down by a defender if you aren’t tackled. If you dive to catch a pass and no one touches you, you can get up and keep running.

I’d like to see that rule brought to college football. It’s just so anticlimactic to see a receiver go down to a knee to make a catch on a low throw and then be whistled down when there are no defenders within 5 yards of him.

That’s a pretty simple change, too, so it’d be interesting to see if it could build some actual momentum even though I’m not in charge of college football (yet).

What other rules should be eliminated? Let me know in the comments!

Have a question for next week’s Mailbag? Tweet at us using #SDSMailbag or email me at Adam.Spencer@XLMedia.com.