Did Texas A&M Actually Fall Victim To 'SEC Curfew Rule' Against Kentucky? No, Cut-Off Time Is Agreed Upon
There have been a lot of reactions on social media over the ending of the Texas A&M versus Kentucky college baseball game that concluded in the 8th inning on Sunday, due to a cutoff time. But, the question is whether this is actually an SEC problem that led to this game not making the ninth inning.
The Aggies and Wildcats were set to finish their series in College Station on Sunday afternoon, with a first-pitch at 1pm CT. Now, it should be noted that visiting teams need to get back home at a reasonable hour so that the players can make class on Monday morning.
OK, that seems logical. But there was a massive uproar over the final inning of Sunday's game, which I don't think folks truly understand. Before we go down that road, let's take you back to the final outing between both teams.
Texas A&M trailed Kentucky 10-5 entering the bottom 8th inning on Sunday afternoon, with only six outs to makeup the deficit. After two hits from Terrence Kiel II and Wyatt Henseler, the Aggies only found themselves down 10-5. But this is when the theatrics began from Kentucky, with head coach Nick Mingione realizing that the clock was inching closer to 4:30 pm, which was an agreed-upon time for the game to end, so that the Wildcats could catch their flight home.
At that point, all hell broke loose in the Aggies dugout, as Kentucky was wasting time so that the clock would run out on the game, which would conclude the outing in the eighth inning due to the ‘curfew’. This infuriated Aggies coach Michael Earley.
According to an SEC spokesperson, there is not a rule that says Sunday games must end by 4:30 pm. If a travel curfew is in place, it is determined by the opposing team's travel schedule for that day, and agreed upon by both teams before the series begins.
Here are the full details.
Travel Considerations/Departure Times
A. A visiting team traveling via commercial flight shall make arrangements to travel on the last scheduled flight on the last day of a series. Prior to the start of each series, the visiting team shall notify the home team of any anticipated departure time issues.
B. In all instances, departure time takes priority. A team may not stay over until Sunday to begin or complete a game or series.
C. If a contest is called due to travel arrangements, the following procedures shall apply
i. No inning shall start with less than 60-minutes remaining until the designated departure time. [Revised: 4/18/23]
ii. If the contest is called and is a regulation game according to NCAA Rules, including if the game is a regulation tie, the contest and all statistics shall count in the final record.
iii. If the contest is called prior to reaching regulation status under NCAA Rules, the game shall be considered "No Game".
You can watch the full sequence below, as Kentucky was clearly running out the clock so that Texas A&M would not get an opportunity in the ninth inning. Under the agreement, you can not start another inning after the cutoff time. So, the Wildcats went to work, making sure that the Aggies would not get another chance at the plate.
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There Is No SEC ‘Curfew Rule’. It's Based On Schools Agreeing To Time
OK, so now that you've seen how Kentucky manipulated the clock, which they were allowed to do, it's important to understand that this is not something that transpires every weekend in the SEC.
There are a number of games scheduled on Sunday afternoon that could easily go past the ‘4:30’ curfew time that was being discussed in College Station.
This weekend, there are at least three games that will run through this ‘curfew ’time, if there is one, with a College World Series rematch leading the day, as Tennessee and Texas A&M are scheduled to play their final game of the series at 3:00 pm ET on Sunday afternoon on ESPN2.
So, where are the folks talking about a curfew? I mean, do you think these games are going to end in just 90 minutes of action?
Kentucky and Texas A&M ended in an uproar on Sunday, but it's not the SEC's fault Via: Kentucky Baseball
Schools that are hosting will talk with the operations director during the season, and let them know about their travel plans to get home. If schools are not chartering their own flights, you have to be out at a certain time to make it to the airport.
For Kentucky, they did not have a chartered plane, as they were heading home on a commercial flight.
If Texas A&M fans want to cause an uproar about this, maybe they should contact the SEC office, because there are no current rules in place regarding this matter, besides the agreed-upon time to finish a game, which is decided by both teams.