NCAA Tournament (Baseball Style)

The bracket has been announced. The Noles are a top 8 seeed. They will be joined by many others in the conference. Nobody has as many teams as the SEC though who has 8 teams (No Alabama). The ACC has the next most teams with 7 (FSU, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Miami, UNC, NC State, and Miami). I thought Virginia Tech and Maryland had a shot, but after they weren't in the ACC Tournament it was hard for them to get the invite. Maybe next year. Another surprising exclusion was the Texas Longhorns. Texas is usually a team that does pretty well in tournament play so it is surprising to see them out of the field. The Miami Hurricanes have the most consecutive appearances with 40. Our beloved Noles are next with 35.

South Carolina was also a top 8 national seed as they try for their third straight title. They would be only the second team to do that.

The top 8 national seeds are listed here in order. If any of these teams advance, they will host super regionals next week. Winners of the Super Regionals advance to the College World Series.
1. Florida
2. UCLA
3. Florida State
4. Baylor
5. Oregon
6. UNC
7. LSU
8. South Carolina

All of those teams are pretty familiar with the top 8 besides the Baylor Bears. I cannot remember Baylor as a baseball powerhouse, but perhaps I am just forgetting their exploits. Now that I looked it up I can see that Baylor has been to three College World Series and been ranked in the top 8 twice.

Now on to the Tallahassee Regional.
I like the draw other than the fact that we must play Mississippi State. How does the SEC champion get into the regional of the #3 team in the nation. It would seem that Miss State should have hosted a regional or at least been at a regional that was not a host site. That I don't like. Miss State knocked us out of a regional before and I do not like to play them. However, we are the better team and should still win. Also in our bracket is first year postseason team, Samford. All 3 teams in the regional with us won their conference.

Friday, June 1, 2012
Game 1: Mississippi State vs. Samford - 12:00 p.m. (ESPN3)
Game 2: Florida State vs. UAB - 6:00 p.m. (ESPN3)
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 - 12:00 p.m. (ESPN3)
Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 - 7:00 p.m. (ESPN2)
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 - 12:00 p.m. (ESPN3)
Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 - 6:00 p.m. (ESPN3)
Monday, June 4, 2012
Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 (if necessary) - 6:00 p.m. (ESPN3)
Tournament passes are $50.00 for reserved seats and $35 for general admission seats. These are good for every game of the tournament. Single game reserved seats are $12.00 with single game general admission tickets priced at $10.00 for adults, $7.00 for youth and students. The stadium will be cleared at the end of each game.

-Noland