For a long time, I’ve said that college baseball begins and ends with the SEC.

Auburn University is proving my point. The Tigers punched their ticket to the College World Series with impressive victories at the Atlanta Regional and Chapel Hill Super Regional over the last two weeks. The Tigers closed out No. 14 North Carolina 14-7 on Monday.

Auburn will play Mississippi State in the CWS opener.

The Tigers were considered an after-thought heading into the SEC Tournament in Hoover last month. Auburn was seeded eighth in the ultra-competitive SEC postseason party.

Auburn nipped Tennessee 5-3 in a first-round elimination game, which guaranteed the Tigers earned an NCAA Regional berth. The Tigers stumbled against second-ranked Vanderbilt and dropped a 4-3 heartbreaker to LSU.

What did Auburn Coach Butch Thompson do? Took the Tigers back to Auburn on the Plains during Memorial Day weekend, regrouped and prepared for the 64-team NCAA Baseball Tournament.

The NCAA Selection Committee did Auburn a favor by placing the Tigers into the Atlanta Regional hosted by No. 3 Georgia Tech.  Atlanta is an hour, 45-minute drive from Auburn’s campus.

The ACC is a good baseball conference, but I didn’t see the usual dominant teams this season. For that reason alone, I liked Auburn’s chances against the Yellow Jackets.

I’ll give Florida State credit for beating an injury-riddled LSU squad. FSU upset No. 13 LSU at Alex Box Stadium to reach the CWS in what will be Mike Martin’s final season with the Seminoles. FSU will be the only ACC team in the CWS.

I wouldn’t count out Auburn in the CWS, which begins Saturday afternoon. Auburn has proved that seedings and rankings are meaningless at this point in the season. A red-hot team can win on any given day.

Regardless of what Auburn does in the CWS, the future looks bright for the Tigers. A highly-regarded signing class led by the Morgan Academy All-state trio of David Ducote, Brayton Brown and Gunnar Henderson (should Henderson choose the Tigers over playing for the Baltimore Orioles).

Auburn could find itself ranked in the preseason  Top 10 poll next year and ready to battle Arkansas, Mississippi State and Ole Miss for supremacy in the rugged Western Division.