re: Softball Next Year

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Beth took over a top conference program that consistently finished in the top 2-3 in league play, she has not finished in the top 5 in over five years

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They finished tied for 4th in 2022 and tied for 5th in 2021. I’m not saying that should be the goal, but if you are going to make a claim you should make sure it’s accurate. The idea that LSU should dominate the conference like they did when only Alabama cared about the sport is just unrealistic.

As to other programs improving, Arkansas did shine in 2021 and 2022, but they have failed to make the WCWS. They fell back to 14-10 in each of the last 2 seasons. Miss St tied with LSU at 12-12 this season and had losing records in the 3 seasons before. A&M had their first season above .500 in the last 4 this year. Missouri finished at 13-11 one game ahead of LSU after finishing behind them the prior 2 seasons. Georgia was ahead of LSU in 2023, but fell back to 12-12 like LSU this year after being behind them in 2021 and 2022. Auburn was ahead of LSU once in 4 years. Kentucky, Ole Miss and SC have never finished ahead of LSU in the past 4 seasons. So, of the up-and-comers, only Arkansas has finished ahead of LSU more than once in the last 4 years.

That leaves Florida, Alabama, and Tennessee. All 3 programs were stronger than LSU when Torina took over. Florida bounced back this year after going 11-13 last year and 13-11 in 2022. Alabama fell to 10-14 this year after a drop to 14-10 in 2022. This was their only year behind LSU, but they obviously aren’t trending well. Tennessee has clearly taken over the league the last 2 years, but that was after 7 year WCWS drought. If anything, they are a model for what is possible without making a coaching change. Those 3 programs have been stronger than LSU over the last 4 seasons, but none have been consistently strong and both Florida and Alabama are at their lowest point in a very long time.

There’s no question LSU has stagnated and the long drought is reason to re-evaluate. This idea that LSU has been overtaken by a large portion of the conference is not supported by facts. Arkansas is the only up-and-comer to have surpassed LSU and even they have come back down to earth with no WCWS to show for it so far. Tennessee fell behind LSU and has risen back up over the last couple of years, but there is no long-term stability there and at least some hope for rising from the ashes. Florida and Alabama have hit at least a couple of year lull of their own. There’s not a single SEC program fulfilling the expectations many of you seem to have for LSU.