Final look at Field of 64 tournament picks

1. ECU (No. 16 national seed)

2. South Carolina

3. Nicholls

4. Western Michigan

ECU coach Cliff Godwin vouched for his team to host a regional over the weekend following the Pirates’ loss to Wichita State in the AAC Tournament semifinals, but most projected those words to go unheard. Late Sunday, ECU learned it would be hosting once again after being voted over Duke and Indiana State, among others. ECU’s RPI dropped a few points despite a 6-2 finish over the final eight games of the season, which included another league title.

1. Arizona (No. 15)

2. Duke

3. UC Irvine

4. Tulane

Arizona was a “compelling” potential host after beating USC in Saturday night’s Pac-12 Tournament finale, and nudged Duke and Indiana State — as well as a few others — for one of the host bid. The Wildcats have the most notable history of these four teams on the diamond with four national champions, including their crown in 2012 after Arizona knocked off two-time defending champion South Carolina in the final series.

1. Oregon State (No. 14)

2. Indiana State

3. UConn

4. Evansville

Oregon State’s no stranger to Omaha, but getting back to the College World Series will be quite a task. Oregon State has three national titles in program history, the most recent coming in 2018. That was the last season the Beavers advanced past Super Regional play as well. The Commodores aren’t going to get a host seed after finishing in the mid-tier of the SEC this season, however, Vanderbilt should get a somewhat favorable regional draw as a No. 2 in one of the final top-16’s regional. At 12-17 in the SEC at one point recently, Tim Corbin’s squad was bordering on missing the postseason altogether. But that was before a season-ending win followed by three victories in the league tournament. And this is the healthiest the Commodores have been as a team since early March.

1. UC Santa Barbara (No. 13)

2. San Diego

3. California

4. San Jose State

After winning the ACC Tournament on Sunday against Florida State, there were some who projected Duke to get the final regional host, but it didn’t happen. UC Santa Barbara got one of the final nods.

1. NC State (No. 12)

2. Vanderbilt

3. James Madison

4. High Point

NC State is hosting its first regional since 2018 thanks to the Wolfpack’s national RPI remaining inside the top 15 following the ACC Tournament. Vanderbilt should get a somewhat favorable regional draw as a No. 2 in one of the final top-16’s regional. At 12-17 in the SEC at one point recently, Tim Corbin’s squad was bordering on missing the postseason altogether. But that was before a season-ending win followed by three victories in the league tournament. And this is the healthiest the Commodores have been as a team since early March.

1. Oklahoma State (No. 11)

2. Dallas Baptist

3. Alabama

4. Grand Canyon

The Cowboys locked in one of the projected regional-host bids after beating Oklahoma to win the Big 12 Tournament title. Oklahoma State will likely have to get through Dallas Baptist and a tough foe from the SEC to make it to Super Regional play of the NCAA Tournament depending on its draw. Oklahoma State’s Kollin Ritchie and Ian Daugherty both homered in the eighth inning of Saturday’s win over the Sooners to send the Cowboys to their first league tournament crown since 2019.

1. Virginia (No. 10)

2. West Virginia

3. VCU

4. Pennsylvania

The Cavaliers were in danger of missing out on a regional bid earlier this month prior to sweeping Virginia Tech over the final weekend of the regular-season before bowing out in the ACC Tournament. The selection committee will do everything they can to put regional-based programs in the Field of 64 alongside the Cavaliers. The latest projection from D1Baseball includes West Virginia, VCU and Pennsylvania. Virginia has played in the College World Series two of the last three seasons.

1. Georgia (No. 9)

2. Wake Forest

3. Kennesaw State

4. Samford

Georgia’s Charlie Condon surpassed SEC freshman home run record set by Vanderbilt’s Pedro Alvarez in 2006 by the season’s halfway point before his 34th dinger earlier this month against South Carolina became the most in a DI baseball season since the BBCOR (bat-ball coefficient restitution) took effect for the 2011 season, per NCAA.com. He enters the postseason as the nation’s most ferocious hitting, batting .443 with 35 homers, 75 RBIs and a slugging percentage of 1.043. 

1. Oklahoma (No. 8)

2. LSU

3. Oregon

4. Southeast Missouri State

The Sooners pairing up with LSU — one of the SEC’s hottest teams to end the season and the defending national champions — would result in immediate regional fireworks in the Midwest. The Tigers erased an 8-run deficit to beat South Carolina in Saturday’s tournament semifinals and overcame a 3-12 stretch to start SEC play this season to finish strong despite Sunday’s loss to Tennessee. Oklahoma lost to Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Tournament title game in Arlington, Texas to finish 37-19 entering Monday’s reveal.

1. Florida State (No. 7)

2. Louisiana

3. UCF

4. Army

One of several top-end ACC teams garnering national seed and regional host interests, Florida State advanced to Sunday’s ACC Tournament finale against Duke, becoming the league’s first fifth-seed to reach the championship game since North Carolina won the title in that spot in 2019. The Seminoles’ lineup enters the NCAA Tournament on fire after scoring 33 runs in Charlotte over three games prior to Sunday’s finale against the Blue Devils.

1. Clemson (No. 6)

2. Illinois

3. Florida

4. Bryant

Virtually a lock to secure one of the top 8 national seeds, Clemson is a regional host once again. And despite Florida’s early SEC Tournament exit against Vanderbilt, the Gators (28-27) are still expected to garner love from the selection committee.

“I thought our biggest hurdle was to get above .500,” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said in Hoover, Ala. “That was the first obstacle we needed to get over. Then obviously there’s five of us that have 13 wins in the league. Anybody can look at the metrics, strength of schedule, how many quad 1 wins. But I look at things a little bit differently.

1. Arkansas (No. 5)

2. Louisiana Tech

3. Kansas State

4. Oral Roberts

The Razorbacks’ bats have gone cold entering regional play, something Arkansas hopes to address during its first weekend of action as a host.

“We’ve got to get better,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said after the SEC Tournament. “We have got to get better. That’s what I just told them. We have got to get more production up and down the lineup. It’s spotty right now. Trying to do too much instead of just taking what they give you sometimes. What I’m talking about is maybe a couple of guys going out of the zone, putting themselves in a bad count. We have got to flip that, take the pitch, work for the next one.”

1. Texas A&M (No. 4)

2. Texas

3. St. John’s 

4. Niagara

If the Aggies and Longhorns are placed in the same regional, pandemonium will ensue next weekend in College Station. Aggies (44-13) dropped both of their games in the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala., but will undoubtedly host and should garner top-8 consideration. Texas A&M has never won the College World Series and last appeared in Omaha to end the 2022 season.

1. North Carolina (No. 3)

2. Mississippi State

3. UNC Wilmington

4. Sacred Heart

As the ACC’s regular-season champions, the Tar Heels have cemented a top-8 seed en route to what they hope is a favorable path to Omaha. They may have to get through Mississippi State, who just missed out on a regional host bid in favor of ECU on Sunday night. Most assumed the Bulldogs were safe to host after winning their first two games of the SEC Tournament before losing consecutive times, but it wasn’t enough to warrant the selection committee’s final regional site. The two-seed in the Chapel Hill Regional is a bit of a mystery at this point and could be South Carolina as well.

1. Kentucky (No. 2)

2. Nebraska

3. TCU

4. Northern Kentucky

Kentucky’s standing as a top-tier national seed shouldn’t be affected after bowing out in the SEC Tournament prior to Sunday’s finale, but Tennessee may jump over the Wildcats for No. 1 overall — not that it matters. Kentucky’s road to Omaha is clear — sweep through the competition at home over the next two weekends of action. Tennessee shared the SEC’s regular-season title with the Wildcats and took two of three games from Kentucky earlier this spring.

1. Tennessee (No. 1)

2. Southern Miss

3. Georgia Tech

4. Jackson State

Tennessee held off LSU on Sunday to wrap up the SEC Tournament title in addition to its regular-season crown shared with Kentucky, and deservedly so, the Vols should get the NCAA Tournament’s top seed for the second time in three seasons. Per GoVols247, Tennessee will be looking to advance to Omaha for the third time in the last four years when the postseason begins. The first day of the College World Series is June 14, while the three-game finals will be held June 22-24.