Selection Monday has finally arrived. On Monday, the full NCAA Tournament bracket and Field of 64 was officially released.
On Sunday evening, the 16 regional host sites were announced. They didn’t come without controversy, as Arizona and East Carolina were the two biggest surprises in the top 16. Teams such as Mississippi State, Duke, Indiana State, Dallas Baptist and others were on the outside looking in on the hosting line, despite there being arguments for all of them.
Ultimately, there were more than 16 teams that deserved to host a regional. RPI did not seem to matter as much as overall resumes, and that mindset had an interesting impact throughout the complete bracket.
Here is how the full NCAA Tournament bracket and Field of 64 looks. Regionals will get underway on Friday and will be played through Sunday or Monday in a double elimination format.
*denotes automatic qualifier
Knoxville Regional
1. Tennessee (1)*
2. Southern Miss*
3. Indiana
4. Northern Kentucky*
In a field that has been full of controversy on the hosting line alone, Tennessee stands at the top as the unquestioned No. 1 overall seed. The Vols won a share of the regular season SEC title and went on to win the conference tournament.
Greenville Regional
1. East Carolina (16)
2. Wake Forest
3. VCU*
4. Evansville*
Not many expected East Carolina to host a regional, but they are bringing postseason baseball back to Greenville. The Pirates have a series win over North Carolina, in addition to midweek wins over NC State, UNC Wilmington and others. ECU also sits at No. 2 in non-conference RPI.
Norman Regional
1. Oklahoma (9)
2. Duke*
3. UConn
4. Oral Roberts*
Despite being No. 14 in RPI, Oklahoma has been viewed highly in the hosting picture. The Sooners went 23-7 in Big 12 play during the regular season and won the regular season title, and fell to Oklahoma State in the conference tournament championship.
Tallahassee Regional
1. Florida State (8)
2. Alabama
3. UCF
4. Stetson*
Florida State went 17-12 during ACC play in the regular season and was in contention for a top eight seed all year long. The Seminoles then went on a run in the ACC Tournament before falling just short of the title by falling to Duke in the championship game.
Fayetteville Regional
1. Arkansas (5)
2. Louisiana Tech
3. Kansas State
4. Southeast Missouri State*
Arkansas was another team that spent most of the season ranked in the top five. The Razorbacks went 20-10 during SEC play in the regular season and enter the postseason No. 5 in RPI.
Charlottesville Regional
1. Virginia (12)
2. Mississippi State
3. St. John’s*
4. Penn*
Virginia had some ups and downs throughout the season, but they put together a strong resume. Sitting at No. 12 in RPI, Virginia went 18-12 during regular season ACC play with a top ten non-conference RPI.
Tucson Regional
1. Arizona (13)*
2. Dallas Baptist*
3. West Virginia
4. Grand Canyon*
Arizona was a surprise host in the eyes of many, simply due to their RPI sitting at No. 31 heading into the selection. The Wildcats won the Pac-12 regular season by going 20-10 in league play, and then went on to win the Pac-12 Tournament title as well. Even with the RPI, Arizona got the nod due to resume alone.
Chapel Hill Regional
1. North Carolina (4)
2. LSU
3. Wofford*
4. Long Island*
North Carolina had a tremendous regular season, winning the ACC title outright with a 22-8 league record. While they did not win their pool in the ACC Tournament, UNC is still a very high-ranked host and for good reason.
Lexington Regional
1. Kentucky (2)
2. Indiana State
3. Illinois
4. Western Michigan*
Kentucky has been one of college baseball’s best teams throughout the season. They won a share of the regular season SEC title at 22-8 and sat towards the top of the rankings for a lot of the year.
Corvallis Regional
1. Oregon State (15)
2. UC Irvine
3. Nicholls*
4. Tulane*
Oregon State did not win the regular season or conference tournament title in the Pac-12, with fellow host Arizona earning those honors instead. Still, the Beavers did enough for the committee to give them a bid to host a regional in the official Field of 64.
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