re: Preview: Tennessee vs LSU – Fri 7 (No TV) | Sat 6:30 (CST) | Sun 12 (No TV)

Its pretty bunched up as far as regional hosts go as well:

We project five hosts out of the SEC, because no conference has ever earned more than that—but the SEC is deep enough this year that it has a real shot to produce six hosts.

There are seven strong SEC hosting contenders currently, with Mississippi State lurking as a potential eighth thanks to a manageable remaining schedule.

Alabama has a very tough road, but we’ll give the Tide the benefit of the doubt thanks to their strong performance thus far in conference play.

RPI juggernauts Florida and South Carolina also look like strong bets to host, but Vanderbilt has fallen out of hosting position by losing four of its last five series.

We’ll replace Vandy with LSU, which has helped its cause greatly over the last three weeks by winning home series against Mississippi State and Arkansas plus a road set at Ole Miss.

If the Rebels take two of three at Kentucky this weekend, they’ll pass the Wildcats in the pecking order, but overall UK has the friendliest remaining schedule of this group (vs. Mississippi, at Tennessee, vs. Auburn, at Georgia), so we’ll stick with Kentucky as a host for now.

Ole Miss, Kentucky, LSU, Vandy and Alabama are all bunched together between 9-17 in the RPI, and with the exception of 12-win Alabama they are similarly bunched together in the SEC standings (between 8-10 wins), so this tangled mess is a long way from being sorted out.