We finally have a 2024 NCAA Baseball Tournament bracket in our hands, featuring 16 regional host sites with four different teams apiece.
Right now, we’ll be taking a look at the Athens Regional hosted by one of nearly a dozen SEC representatives in the tournament, Georgia, who not only earned the right to host a regional, but is also the No. 7 overall seed, meaning they’ll host a super regional as well if they’re able to advance past this weekend.
As for how likely that scenario is, the folks at DraftKings already have odds out on each of the four teams in the Athens Regional to win and advance to the supers. Take a look right here at those odds:
Georgia (-115)
Georgia Tech (+245)
UNC Wilmington (+380)
Army (+2000)
No surprise that home-town Georgia is the favorite with negative money. However, Georgia Tech can certainly contend and UNC Wilmington isn’t a crazy long shot like the Army.
Committee chairman explains why Georgia made top-8
The selection of the Bulldogs as a top-eight seed was slightly controversial, since they were the fifth SEC team to receive one behind Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas A&M and Arkansas. But here was what Selection Committee Chairman Matt Hogue had to say on the matter:
“Well I think our committee, they looked at factors with Georgia. One thing that I think does stand out when you kind of look at the overall picture, 21 wins against teams that are in the tournament. Again, an overall strength of schedule that was 11. 22 wins, I think, in quad one and quad two, strong finish in an extremely difficult league. I think those were some factors that the committee certainly reviewed in trying to make that decision.”
There is no question that the Bulldogs have an impressive body of work and it’s that cluster of quality wins which really made them a worthy host. Now, they’ll look to make a top-eight seed worth it starting on Friday at 1 p.m. ET at Foley Field as the Dawgs take on Army.
The Bulldogs finished the season with a 39-15 record, also winning 17 games in the hotly competitive SEC despite losing their first four conference matchups of the season. Much of their success was fueled by one of the strongest offenses in the nation that ranked third across all of Division I in home runs and slugging percentage this season — and was led by college baseball’s batting average and home run leader Charlie Condon.
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