Last Eight In: Arizona, California, Indiana, Missouri, Notre Dame, Tulane, San Diego State, UNC-Wilmington
First Eight Out: Auburn, Cal State Fullerton, Clemson, Duke, Long Beach State, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Washington
There is a significant shakeup in this week’s field. Four at-large bids change hands and a number of smaller conference teams make their first appearances as conference play gets underway. Auburn’s 1-5 start in SEC play has them on the outside looking in and Missouri’s 5-1 start has them on the right side of the bubble. Out west, Cal State Fullerton’s rocky start finally has them out of the field after a series loss to Long Beach State. Replacing them is California, who is currently in first place in the Pac-12. Fellow Pac-12 school Arizona and San Diego State also make their first appearances in the field as they have built off their promising starts. The biggest changes come in the one bid leagues where a number of new schools enter the field. Last year, Kennesaw State and College of Charleston won regionals and this year, there are a number of schools that could follow in their foot steps. Two teams that were featured last week, Coastal Carolina and North Florida, are great candidates. Coastal Carolina has won eight in a row, including wins over Clemson and North Carolina, while North Florida won 11 straight games before dropping their series finale to Bradley on Sunday. Both teams have the opportunity to pile up wins during conference play and could be dangerous draws in the tournament. Another team to watch is Wright State. The Raiders have won nine straight and have wins at Ole Miss and Miami (FL) on their resume. If they can avoid an upset in their conference tournament, which happened last year, this could be a legit contender to win a regional, regardless of seed.
See the Projected Baseball NCAA Tournament Bracket
ACC: Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Virginia
American: Houston, UCF, Tulane
Big East: St. John’s
Big 12: Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech
Big Ten: Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Nebraska
Pac-12: Arizona State, Arizona, California Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA, USC
SEC: Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
A-10: Davidson
America East: Stony Brook
A-Sun: North Florida
Big South: Coastal Carolina
Big West: UC Santa Barbara
CAA: Charleston, UNC-Wilmington
C-USA: Rice, Florida Atlantic
Horizon: Wright State
Ivy: Columbia
MAAC: Canisius
MAC: Ball State
MEAC: Deleware State
MVC: Dallas Baptist
MWC: Nevada, San Diego State
NEC: Bryant
OVC: Southeast Missouri
Patriot: Army
Southern: Wofford
Southland: Southeastern Louisiana
Summit: Oral Roberts
Sun Belt: Louisiana
SWAC: Alabama State
WAC: Sacramento State
WCC: San Diego
See the Projected Baseball NCAA Tournament Bracket
