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ESPN College Baseball Regional Projections

May 8, 2008

posted: Tuesday, May 6, 2008 | Feedback | Print Entry
filed under: NCAA Other SportsAnother week in the books, and while there wasn’t much movement among the top seeds, there was a lot of jockeying among the middle seeds and bubble teams:National seeds: Miami (#1), Arizona State (#2), North Carolina (#3), Florida State (#4), Georgia (#5), Rice (#6), Nebraska (#7), Texas A&M (#8)

Multi-bid conferences: SEC (8), Pac-10 (7), ACC (6), Big 12 (5), C-USA (5), Big West (4), Big East (2), Southern (2), Sun Belt (2), WCC (2)

Last five in: College of Charleston, Kentucky, Houston, Notre Dame, Washington State

Also under consideration: Baylor, Clemson, Louisville, Santa Clara, UC Santa Barbara

Quick thoughts: Most of the national seeds seem pretty solid at this point. The winner of this weekend’s series between Texas A&M and Nebraska should be secure, with the loser of that set competing with Stanford for the final protected spot. … The further into SEC play we get, the more it seems like there will be just one top eight seed for the conference. As the conference leader, Georgia is the favorite for now, but a big series looms this weekend at streaking Vanderbilt. … This week the Sun Belt gets an extra bid as New Orleans is off the bubble after sweeping Florida Atlantic. Louisiana-Monroe is still atop the conference, but if the Privateers capture the tournament title this could be a one-bid league. … It’s hard to decide what to do with the Pac-10; Washington is in third in the conference, but has a miserable RPI, while Washington State sits in last place with a tournament-worthy RPI. For now, the Cougars’ series win over Oregon State gets them in over the Huskies, but this will be decided on the field in Seattle next weekend. … Depending on how things play out over the next three weeks, there could be one more bid out west. If Santa Clara qualifies for the championship series in the WCC, it would be hard to exclude from the field, while UC Santa Barbara needs to keep winning and hope that the favorites win their conference tournaments.

And now, the bracket:

Coral Gables Regional: Miami (#1 national seed), Florida, Washington State, Bethune-Cookman

Arbor Regional: San Diego, Michigan, Notre Dame, Wright State

Tempe Regional: Arizona State (#2 national seed), UC Irvine, Houston, Canisius
Fullerton Regional: Cal State Fullerton, Pepperdine, UCLA, Army

Cary Regional: North Carolina (#3 national seed), UNC Wilmington, Missouri, College of Charleston
Columbia Regional: South Carolina, Virginia, Elon, Charlotte

Tallahassee Regional: Florida State (#4 national seed), Southern Miss, Oregon State, Monmouth
Baton Rouge Regional: Coastal Carolina, LSU, New Orleans, Southern

Athens Regional: Georgia (#5 national seed), Georgia Tech, Tulane, Jacksonville State
Greenville Regional: NC State, East Carolina, Kentucky, Stony Brook

Houston Regional: Rice (#6 national seed), Mississippi, Texas, Dartmouth
Stillwater Regional: Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Oral Roberts, Louisiana-Monroe

Lincoln Regional: Nebraska (#7 national seed), Wichita State, TCU, Kent State
Palo Alto Regional: Stanford, Long Beach State, UC Davis, Fresno State

College Station Regional: Texas A&M (#8 national seed), Arizona, Dallas Baptist, UTSA
Nashville Regional: Vanderbilt, California, St. John’s, Lipscomb

Quick thoughts: Coastal Carolina is in the most precarious position among the No. 1 seeds. The Chanticleers missed an opportunity to capture a series at Georgia Tech, and their remaining schedule doesn’t provide any more chances to impress the committee. … Last week, it felt strange to have Oregon State as a No. 3 seed while others were projecting the school to host a regional. One week later, the Beavers have lost four of their last five games and have fallen dangerously close to .500. The closing schedule is favorable to improve their standing, but the pitching will need to improve after surrendering 30 runs at Washington State this weekend. … LSU is playing its final season in the current incarnation of Alex Box Stadium, so it seems fitting that it should host a regional. It doesn’t hurt that the Tigers won nine straight games and leapt into the lead in the SEC West. They should be able to stay on a roll against Mississippi State and Auburn, and will be in contention to grab a one seed or host as a two. … With the success of the western conferences this season, it seems that there should be more than three regionals west of the Rockies. The best bets revolve around San Diego; the Toreros could host at Tony Gwynn Stadium again, or they could travel to either UC Irvine or Long Beach State as a No. 1 seed

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