The number one overall national seed has not won the national championship since Miami did it in 1999. Last season, Wake Forest went into the NCAA Tournament as the number one overall seed and got to Omaha, but ultimately lost to eventual national champion LSU. In 2022, the Tennessee Volunteers had one of the greatest seasons in college baseball history. However, they were knocked out in the Super Regionals by Notre Dame. In 2021, Arkansas was also defeated in the Super Regionals by North Carolina State.
This season, Tennessee looks to break the curse of the overall number one national seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Vols have made the College World Series in two of the last three seasons, but the national title has eluded them. Now, as the number one overall seed for the second time in three seasons, Tony Vitello’s squad are the favorites to win it all (+500 according to DraftKings Sportsbook). As a matter of fact, the top five favorites are currently from the Southeastern Conference.
NCAA Tournament Top 8 National Seeds
Tennessee Volunteers (50-11)
Kentucky Wildcats (40-14)
Texas A&M Aggies (44-13)
North Carolina Tar Heels (42-13)
Arkansas Razorbacks (43-14)
Clemson Tigers (41-14)
Georgia Bulldogs (39-15)
Florida State Seminoles (42-15)
The field has been revealed and the potential matchups and storylines are abundant. The 16 host sites were announced on Sunday night, but the rest of the 64 team field was announced Monday afternoon.
NCAA Tournament Regional Sites and Matchups
Knoxville Regional
The University of Tennessee will play host to the Knoxville Regional, as the winner will match up with the Greenville Regional. Tennessee finished as the regular season and tournament champions of the SEC. Southern Miss will seek a measure of revenge against the Vols from last season’s Super Regional in Hattiesburg.
1 Tennessee Volunteers (50-11)
2 Southern Miss Golden Eagles (41-18)
3 Indiana Hoosiers (32-24-1)
4 Northern Kentucky Norse (35-22)
Greenville Regional
Matching up with the winner of the Knoxville Regional, the Greenville Regional is stacked with ECU and Wake Forest. East Carolina is hoping to have their ace Trey Yesavage back this week. Wake Forest was the NCAA preseason number one team and has the most dominant starting pitcher in the country with Chase Burns.
1 East Carolina Pirates (43-15)
2 Wake Forest Demon Deacons (38-20)
3 VCU Rams (37-21)
4 Evansville Purple Aces (35-23)
Norman Regional
Oklahoma and Duke are the class of the Norman Regional, as both had claims at hosting. Duke is coming off an ACC Tournament title, while the Sooners were the best team in the Big XII all season. Oral Roberts had a magical season in 2023, making it all the way to the NCAA College World Series in Omaha. That will prove to be tougher in 2024.
1 Oklahoma Sooners (37-19)
2 Duke Blue Devils (39-18)
3 UConn Huskies (32-23)
4 Oral Roberts Golden Eagles (27-30-1)
Tallahassee Regional
Florida State had a huge bounce-back season after missing the NCAA Tournament in 2023. Alabama and UCF were both bubble teams, but could potentially give the Seminoles problems in this regional. The winner of the Tallahassee Regional will face the winner of the Norman Regional in the NCAA Super Regionals.
1 Florida State Seminoles (42-15)
2 Alabama Crimson Tide (33-22)
3 UCF Knights (35-19)
4 Stetson Hatters (40-20)
Fayetteville Regional
The Fayetteville Regional will match up with the winner of the Charlottesville Regional in the Supers. Behind an elite pitching staff led by Hagan Smith, Arkansas is the clear favorite to win. However, Louisiana Tech has a pretty powerful lineup and can put up runs in bunches.
1 Arkansas Razorbacks (43-14)
2 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (45-17)
3 Kansas State Wildcats (32-24)
4 Southeast Missouri Redhawks (34-25)
Charlottesville Regional
Mississippi State was hoping to host in Starkville, but they ultimately will travel to Virginia, as the Cavaliers got the hosting nod from the NCAA. UVA and Mississippi State will be a handful and should face off against each other for the chance to take on the winner of the Fayetteville Regional.
1 Virginia Cavaliers (41-15)
2 Mississippi State Bulldogs (38-21)
3 St. John’s Red Storm (37-16-1)
4 Penn Quakers (24-23)
Tucson Regional
In another stacked regional, the winner of the Tucson Regional will take on the winner of the Chapel Hill Regional. All four of these teams have a shot at winning it. Arizona won the final Pac-12 Tournament. Dallas Baptist beat Louisiana Tech in their tournament championship game. West Virginia has a potential top 10 pick for the June MLB draft in JJ Wetherholt. GCU took two of three from Arizona throughout this season.
1 Arizona Wildcats (36-21)
2 Dallas Baptist Patriots (44-13)
3 West Virginia Mountaineers (33-22)
4 Grand Canyon Antelopes (34-23)
Chapel Hill Regional
Led by Vance Honeycutt, North Carolina won the ACC regular season title. They will look to move on to the Super Regional, but LSU got hot over the final few weeks of the season and could give them problems. Wofford did a solid job of winning their conference tournament, taking two games on Sunday over Samford to make the NCAA Tournament. Honeycutt and Tommy White bring big time star power to the Chapel Hill Regional.
1 North Carolina Tar Heels (42-13)
2 LSU Tigers (40-21)
3 Wofford Terriers (41-18)
4 Long Island Sharks (33-23)
Lexington Regional
Indiana State had been projected to be a host site going into Sunday, but that did not come to fruition. Instead, they will head to the home of number two overall seed Kentucky Wildcats. Kentucky shared the regular season SEC title before going 0-2 in the conference tournament. This will be a good battle, as the winner will take on the Corvallis Regional winner.
1 Kentucky Wildcats (40-14)
2 Indiana State Sycamores (42-13)
3 Illinois Fighting Illini (34-19)
4 Western Michigan Broncos (32-21)
Corvallis Regional
Oregon State spent most of the season ranked in the top five. Towards the end of the season, they had to sweat it out in regards to hosting. UC Irvine is a dangerous matchup and could end up taking this regional. The winner of the Corvallis Regional gets the winner of the Lexington Regional in the NCAA Super Regionals.
1 Oregon State Beavers (42-14)
2 UC Irvine Anteaters (43-12)
3 Nicholls Colonels (38-20)
4 Tulane Green Wave (35-24)
Raleigh Regional
The Raleigh Regional may be the weakest of all the regionals. NC State got the hosting nod with only 33 wins. Both South Carolina and James Madison were both considered bubble teams going into Selection Monday. The NCAA committee deemed them worthy of bids and they will face off in their first game. The winner of the Raleigh Regional will face the winner of the Athens Regional.
1 North Carolina State Wolfpack (33-20)
2 South Carolina Gamecocks (36-23)
3 James Madison Dukes (34-23)
4 Bryant Bulldogs (36-19)
Athens Regional
Power, power, and more power. Georgia finished second in the SEC in home runs and third in all of NCAA baseball, led by Charlie Condon who had 35. Drew Burgess for Georgia Tech finished with 21 himself. Army led the Patriot League in homers too. This regional could turn out to be a slugfest.
1 Georgia Bulldogs (39-15)
2 UNC Wilmington Seahawks (39-19)
3 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (31-23)
4 Army Black Knights (31-21)
Clemson Regional
Clemson was the number four overall seed in 2023 but failed to make it out of their regional. This season, the Tigers are the number six overall national seed in the NCAA Tournament. Vanderbilt, another bubble team, got hot in the SEC Tournament and made it to the semi finals. Coastal Carolina was another bubble team that just scraped in as one of the last four teams into the NCAA Tournament.
1 Clemson Tigers (41-14)
2 Vanderbilt Commodores (38-21)
3 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (34-23)
4 High Point Panthers (34-25)
Stillwater Regional
The winner of the Stillwater Regional will face the winner of the Clemson Regional in the NCAA Super Regional round. Oklahoma State challenged in-state rival Oklahoma all season in the Big XII. Nebraska was the best team in the Big 10. Florida flirted with .500 all season but got in the NCAA Tourney by the skin of their teeth. Jack Caglianone is the biggest star in this regional, but he may not be there long.
1 Oklahoma State Cowboys (40-17)
2 Nebraska Cornhuskers (39-20)
3 Florida Gators (28-27)
4 Niagara Purple Eagles (38-15)
Santa Barbara Regional
UC Santa Barbara and San Diego could have both been named hosting sites, but the Gauchos got the honors. Oregon lost two of three to UCSB in the regular season, but is always dangerous. The winner of the Santa Barbara Regional will face off with the College Station Regional in the next round of the NCAA Tournament.
1 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (42-12)
2 San Diego Toreros (40-13)
3 Oregon Ducks (37-18)
4 Fresno State Bulldogs (33-27)
College Station
The Aggies spent some of the season ranked as the number one team in the country. They have a great power-hitting trio in Braden Montgomery, Jace LoViolette, and Gavin Grahovac. Kyle DeBarge leads Louisiana into College Station, looking for an upset.
1 Texas A&M Aggies (44-13)
2 Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns (40-18)
3 Texas Longhorns (35-22)
4 Grambling Tigers (26-26)
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Tom has been writing about professional wrestling, college football, NFL, and fantasy football for over a decade and is an avid sports fan. He has been known in the fantasy football industry for his dynasty and devy knowledge, but he is also very versed in betting.
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