In just two years, Wes Johnson has established himself as one of the top baseball coaches in the SEC.

After earning a national seed in his first year and coming one game away from a trip to Omaha, the 53-year-old coach has Georgia primed for another deep tournament run.

With only two regular-season series against Alabama and Texas A&M remaining, the Bulldogs (36-11, 15-9) can earn their second straight national seed.

While Johnson’s entire focus has been on doing whatever he can to get the program back to Omaha for the first time since 2008, folks outside the program are focusing on Johnson.

When Chris Lemonis was jettisoned as the head coach of perennial baseball power Mississippi State, pundits immediately thrust Johnson’s name to the forefront as a candidate for the job.

It’s easy to see why Johnson was one of the first names suggested.

But let’s dive into this entire situation. Recent national speculation regarding Johnson by outside media led to local writers quizzing Johnson on the job.

Call it due diligence. Of course, his answer would be predictable, although his line of “I’m not venturing to Starkville” was worth a chuckle.

Let’s start by acknowledging the obvious. Mississippi State boasts one of the premier college baseball programs in the country.

The only other facilities in the same ballpark (no pun intended) are those at Arkansas, and perhaps a few others.

Their fans are passionate and loyal. The program is a money-maker for the school, and the coach is given everything possible to be successful.

Those capture most of the reasons so many folks assume Johnson would certainly jump at the chance to sit on the Dudy Nobe throne.

Let's look at the names currently being thrown around as candidates for the job at MSU.

Every single time there’s an opening at an SEC school, the first names you see are Chris Pollard at Duke, Brian O’Conner at Virginia, and Cliff Godwin at East Carolina.

Each, along with Johnson, is a name we’ve seen linked to the job at MSU.

Never mind that all three are in great situations. They have been there for years, have built great programs, have nice facilities, and get paid handsomely.

Still, folks say, “Oh, certainly they’d drop everything to come to OUR school - we’re in the SEC (insert any SEC program here)." And yet it rarely happens. In Johnson’s case, several assumptions about his current situation at Georgia have also been head-scratchers.

Let’s start with the notion that Mississippi State is a better baseball job.

From a bells and whistles standpoint, I get it. It doesn’t get much better than what the folks in Starkville have.

The commitment made by that athletic department to baseball is unbelievable. It’s always been that way.

But Georgia has finally taken similar steps.

For years, Georgia’s baseball program was the red-headed stepchild of Bulldog sports. Between the coach’s pay and facilities that lagged behind virtually every school in the conference, the baseball program was an overlooked commodity of the school’s athletic teams.

Oh, you could still win. The late Steve Webber led Georgia to the 1990 CWS championship. Ron Polk took the Bulldogs to Omaha (2001); and David Perno did so on three separate occasions (2004, 2006, and 2008).

But even with all that success, as the game moved into more of an analytic era, Georgia was losing the arms race regarding facilities and player amenities.

That’s no longer the case.

The commitment needed has been made.

Georgia’s recently completed $45 million renovation includes new player recreation areas, a new hitting area and pitching lab, and new coaches' offices. The Bulldogs take a back seat to no one in that area.

There’s even more to come, so the notion that after all this commitment made by Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks would not also include his head coach is preposterous.

For the record, Johnson’s buyout, according to a copy of his contract obtained by UGASports via open records, would be $2 million after this year.

Johnson received a $300,000 raise last June, bringing his deal to $1 million. His contract was extended to 2030.

Included are increment raises that, starting on July 1, 2029, would boost his yearly total to $1.25 million.

Lemonis, meanwhile, was making $1.34 million at Mississippi State.

Pundits point to the salary as being the main reason for a potential jump. But if you think Georgia wouldn’t or couldn’t make Johnson’s stay in Athens financially worthwhile, then you probably think they’re moving the Sears Tower in Chicago to downtown Starkville.

As far as the idea that you can win bigger and more quickly in Starkville than you can in Athens, well, I’m not too sure about that.

The state of Georgia is a hotbed for high school talent, and Johnson is right in the middle of it all.

Combine that with the financial support and facilities now in place at UGA, along with growing fan interest, he’s got every single opportunity to win a national championship just as fast at Georgia as he would at Mississippi State, if not quicker.

That’s enough for any coach to want to stick around.