re: Today's Tiger Baseball Fans don't know the true greatness of Skip Bertman.

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Did Skip have to go up against teams like Vandy, Arky, MSU, UF, and Ole Miss on the reg? I'm honestly asking because I agree Skip is the GOAT but how easy was the SEC back then?

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FWIW, the SEC had 3 teams in Omaha in 1996, 4 teams in 1997, and 3 team in 1998. The biggest difference is the mid to lower tier teams are better now than they were then, but the upper crust of the SEC was still very strong when Skip was coaching. The week-to-week grind is more difficult now, and it's also true that nationw-wide there is more competition. Despite that, Skip still would have been much more sucessful than Mainieri has been in today's climate.

To the OP, we all appreciate Skip's greatness. I'm old enough to have experienced it, but it's also ignorant to compare accomplishments across generations. There isn't a coach in America that would be able to duplicate those numbers with how many more teams are competative now all over the country. Mainieri needs to go and is no longer living up to reasonable expectations for today's game in this program, but if we are to judge our future coaches against Skip's resume, we will forever be disappointed.