NCAA Regional Hosts Announced
The NCAA Division I Baseball Committee on Sunday announced the 16 host sites for regionals, which begin Friday.
The Southeastern Conference was awarded a record seven host sites, while the Atlantic Coast Conference got six. Of the remaining three, two went to the Big 12 Conference, and Sun Belt Conference member Louisiana-Lafayette landed the final spot.
The committee appears to have relied heavily on RPI, as the hosts all rank in the top 16 of that metric with the exception of Virginia, which is No. 17. Coastal Carolina, No. 12 in the RPI, was the lone exclusion.
In a year where the top teams were concentrated in the Southeast portion of the country, there is little geographic diversity among the host sites. No regional will be held north of Louisville or west of Lubbock, Texas.
This year’s hosts are also largely the sport’s traditional powers. All have been to the College World Series and are hosting at least their third regional. In contrast, last year’s field included four first-time hosts.
The full bracket, including the national seeds, will be announced during the selection show Monday at noon ET on ESPNU.
Each regional field features four teams, playing in a double-elimination format. All 16 regionals are scheduled to be conducted from Friday, June 3 to Monday, June 6 (if necessary).
The 16 regional sites, with host institutions and records are as follows:
• Baton Rouge, La. – LSU (42-18)
• Charlottesville, Va. – Virginia (37-20)
• Clemson, S.C. – Clemson (42-18)
• College Station, Texas – Texas A&M (45-14)
• Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina (42-15)
• Coral Gables, Fla. – Miami (45-11)
• Fort Worth, Texas – TCU (42-15)
• Gainesville, Fla. – Florida (47-13)
• Lafayette, La. – Louisiana-Lafayette (41-19)
• Louisville, Ky. – Louisville (47-12)
• Lubbock, Texas – Texas Tech (41-16)
• Nashville – Vanderbilt (43-17)
• Oxford, Miss. – Mississippi (43-17)
• Raleigh, N.C. – North Carolina State (35-20)
• Starkville, Miss. – Mississippi State (41-16)
• Tallahassee, Fla. – Florida State (37-20)
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