Overview
- Teams used the system heavily in the tournament opener, and on Tuesday, May 19 officials recorded 17 challenges across two games with 12 calls overturned and Missouri going 7-for-8 on reviews.
- Under the SEC protocol, each team gets three challenges per game, only the pitcher, catcher or batter may signal a review by tapping their head within 2–3 seconds, and reviews use a player-specific strike zone with results shown on the stadium videoboard and TV.
- Coaches are changing strategy to preserve challenges, typically empowering catchers as primary reviewers and training players on when batters should challenge to avoid emotional or wasted appeals.
- The trial has exposed technical risks as well as accuracy gains: leagues have praised quick, overturning reviews but MLB in-stadium displays have frozen during games, showing the system still needs reliability fixes before broad deployment.
- Wider college adoption is unlikely soon because Hawk‑Eye–style installations are costly, so the SEC will monitor this Hoover test to judge operational kinks, game impact and whether a phased, resource-driven rollout is feasible.