Last Eight In: UCF, Washington, Georgia, Indiana, Cal State Fullerton, Florida Atlantic, Oklahoma, Tennessee
First Eight Out: Arizona, Baylor, Dallas Baptist, Duke, Florida International, NC State, Nevada, Tulane
Two new teams enter the field in week two. Georgia, coming off a series win over Florida State, and Florida Atlantic, with a midweek win over Miami and series win over Ohio State, showed why they are regional caliber teams with big wins to start the season. They will face plenty of competition from those last spots though. If NC State can sort out their pitching staff, they are a great candidate to be a regional team, but as of now they look to be on the outside looking in. The other seven teams listed above, as well as Notre Dame who did not make the list, are off to great starts and could make their case for a regional berth if their stellar play continues.
The second weekend delivered some big time series, as three different series saw projected hosts squaring off against each other. UCLA and North Carolina played a series that UCLA won 2-1, Florida toot two of three from Miami, and TCU did the same to Arizona State. All three series were tightly contested and each team showed way they have drawn such high praise to start the year.
No particular conference stood out in week two, but the Big West powers continued to struggle. Cal Poly and UC Irvine both fell to 1-6 on the year and Cal State Fullerton lost another series. Fullerton looks to be in much better shape as they played Stanford tight in their weekend series, but it is far from the start that the Titans were looking for this season. With the powers struggling, some other teams have a chance to capitalize. Cal State Northridge is off to an 8-1 start and Long Beach State, in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year, is off to a 5-2 start. If both teams continue to play well, they could be in the mix for a regional berth out of a conference that received four bids last year.
See the Projected Baseball NCAA Tournament Bracket
ACC: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, Virginia
American: Houston, UCF
Big East: St. John’s
Big 12: Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech
Big Ten: Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Nebraska
Pac-12: Arizona State, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington
SEC: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
A-10: St. Joseph’s
America East: Stony Brook
A-Sun: Kennesaw State
Big South: Liberty
Big West: Cal State Fullerton, UC Santa Barbara
CAA: Charleston
C-USA: Rice, Florida Atlantic
Horizon: Wright State
Ivy: Columbia
MAAC: Canisius
MAC: Central Michigan
MEAC: Bethune-Cookman
MVC: Missouri State
MWC: New Mexico
NEC: Bryant
OVC: Southeast Missouri
Patriot: Army
Southern: Western Carolina
Southland: Sam Houston State
Summit: South Dakota State
Sun Belt: Louisiana
SWAC: Jackson State
WAC: Sacramento State
WCC: Loyola Marymount
See the Projected Baseball NCAA Tournament Bracket
