Site: Hoover Metropolitan Stadium (Hoover, AL)
Dates: May 24 (Wednesday) – 28 (Sunday)

The Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament returns for a an ninth straight year to Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Birmingham suburb of Hoover, Ala., May 24-28.

The SEC Tournament will follow an eight-team double elimination tournament that is modeled after the College World Series. The tournament field includes the top two teams from the SEC?s Eastern and Western Divisions plus four at-large bids based on conference winning percentage.

The eight teams are seeded 1-8 with the two divisional champions guaranteed of the top two seeds. Last season, Mississippi State defeated Ole Miss 4-1 in front of a crowd of 12,290, to claim their second SEC Tournament in the last five years. The Hoover Met serves as home of the Double-A Birmingham Barons (Chicago White Sox) of the Southern League. The stadium also serves as a home field to the nationally renowned Hoover Buccaneer high school football program.

Located eight miles south of Birmingham, the stadium is regarded by many sports experts as one of the best of its kind in the nation. It seats 10,800 for baseball, but can accommodate up to 16,000 when the patio, banquet and side grassy areas are used. The stadium also houses 12 suites and state-of-the-art dressing and training rooms. Wireless internet access was added in 2004, and plans for second-level pressbox expansion and new outfield scoreboard are in the works for 2007.

The 2005 SEC Baseball Tournament, held in Hoover, Ala. drew 119,580 fans. That total was the third highest total attendance in the event?s history. Over 12,000 fans were in attendance to the see championship game, the sixth largest single game crowd in tournament history and the third largest for a championship game. The 2003 SEC Baseball Tournament total attendance of 122,393 was the second largest total in tourney history, barely behind the 2002 event. New session and per game average records were set in 2003. The championship game pulled in 11,705 and was the third largest title game crowd in tournament history. It was also the sixth largest single game attendance in tourney history.

The 2002 SEC Baseball Tournament total attendance of 124,440 was the largest total in tourney history. The championship game pulled in 13,023 and was the second largest title game crowd in tournament history. It was also the third largest single game attendance in tourney history at the time.

The 2006 event will be held May 24-28 at the Hoover Met. Tickets for the 2006 tournament are $100 for reserved box seats, $17 for a single-game reserved seat, $60 for a Dr Pepper Six-Pack general admission book, and $12 for a single-game general admission.

The SEC athletic directors recently decided to extend, for five years, the SEC’s contract to hold the baseball tournament at the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. The Southeastern Conference will keep its baseball tournament in suburban Birmingham through 2006 with the current contract, and through 2011with the newly proposed deal.

2006 Tournament Bracket

Game Time (CT) Matchup [TV]

Wednesday, May 24

Game 1 10:00 a.m. #7 Seed vs. #2 Seed [CSS]
Game 2 1:00 p.m. #6 Seed vs. #3 Seed [CSS]
Game 3 5:00 p.m. #8 Seed vs. #1 Seed [CSS]
Game 4 8:00 p.m. #5 Seed vs. #4 Seed [CSS]

Thursday, May 25

Game 5 10:00 a.m. Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 [CSS]
Game 6 1:00 p.m. Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 [CSS]
Game 7 5:00 p.m. Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 [CSS]
Game 8 8:00 p.m. Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 [CSS]

Friday, May 26

Game 9 3:00 p.m. Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 7 [FSN]
Game 10 6:30 p.m. Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 8 [FSN]

Saturday, May 27

Game 11 10:00 a.m. Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9 [FSN]
Game 12 1:30 p.m. Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 10 [FSN]
Game 13* 5:00 p.m. Winner Game 11 vs. Loser Game 11 [CSS]
Game 14* 8:30 p.m. Winner Game 12 vs. Loser Game 12 [CSS]

Sunday, May 28

Game 15* 3:00 p.m. Winner Game 13 vs. Winner Game 14 [FSN]

*Game 13 will be necessary if the winner of Game 9 also wins game 11.
*Game 14 will be necessary if the winner of Game 10 also wins Game 12. If Game 13 is not necessary, Game 14 would start at 5 p.m.
*If both bracket winners are undefeated, there will be no 5 or 8:30 p.m. games on Saturday and the championship game will be the 13th game, which will be played on Sunday.

[FoxSN] – FOX Sports Net South, FOX Sports Net Southwest, Sunshine Network
[CSS] – Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast

The second, third and fourth games each day will begin 30 minutes following the previous game, but no earlier than the designated start time.

Hoover Metropolitan Stadium (Capacity: 10,800)
Birmingham, Ala.

Field Dimensions
Foul Lines: 340
Power Alleys: 385
Center: 405
Playing Surface: Natural Grass
Year Built: 1988