It’s pretty unusual as postseason scenarios go: Georgia is the 4th best baseball team in the SEC. They boast a winning SEC record, a top-25 RPI, and have knocked off some of the best teams in the nation. Yet they go into this evening needing another upset of South Carolina just to raise their overall record over .500 and keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alives.

Georgia is in this situation thanks to a 12-14 nonconference mark. We’re quick to acknowledge that Georgia faced the nation’s toughest schedule. That’s something sure to be looked at over the offseason. It’s one thing to play an ambitious and competitive slate; it’s unavoidable in the SEC and against local rivals like Tech and Clemson. There’s nothing wrong with a little more balance though.

It’s not only the difficulty of the schedule that will be scrutinized. The Diamond Dawgs split their nonconference games evenly between home games (13) and road/neutral games (13). Just as one example, South Carolina played 35 of its 56 games in Columbia. Georgia only had 28 home games. There’s another reason to increase the number of home games: if there’s going to be any kind of investment in the program and its facilities, you want the revenue that will come from those additional home games.

Would more home games have helped this team? Tough to say – they were just 6-7 in nonconference home games. Foley Field was more of an advantage in league play where the Dawgs posted a 9-6 record.

The nonconference schedule was pretty much .500 any way you look at it. The Dawgs were 7-7 in the key midweek games between weekend series. They were 3-4 against opponents from the state of Georgia. With such a tight margin for error at this time of year, you can’t help but look back at missed opportunities. Hopefully Georgia won’t have to.