College Baseball Regionals 2014: Dates, Schedule, Bracket and Predictions
The road to Omaha is officially set, and chances are it's going to go through the SEC.
Of the 64 teams in the college baseball tournament field, 10 are from the powerhouse conference. As ESPNU pointed out, that sets a new record:
Along with LSU, who earned the No. 8 national seed by winning the league, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss and South Carolina will all host regionals.
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The Big Ten has been at the complete opposite end of the spectrum in this sport, but Indiana put an end to a conference-wide drought, becoming the first school in history to receive a national seed:
Let's take a look at how the rest of the regionals shook out, along with a gander at the schedule, bracket and predictions.
Regionals Schedule
| No. 1 Oregon State vs. No. 4 North Dakota State | Friday, May 30 | 11 p.m. | ESPNU |
| No. 2 UNLV vs. No. 3 UC Irvine | Friday, May 30 | 5 p.m. | ESPN3 |
| No. 1 Oklahoma State vs. No. 4 Binghamton | Friday, May 30 | 7 p.m. | ESPN3 |
| No. 2 Nebraska vs. No. 3 Cal State Fullerton | Friday, May 30 | 1 p.m. | ESPNU |
| No. 1 Rice vs. No. 4 George Mason | Friday, May 30 | 8 p.m. | ESPN3 |
| No. 2 Texas vs. No. 3 Texas A&M | Friday, May 30 | 4 p.m. | ESPNU |
| No. 1 LSU vs. No. 4 Southeastern Louisiana | Friday, May 30 | 3 p.m. | ESPN3 |
| No. 2 Houston vs. No. 3 Bryant | Friday, May 30 | 8 p.m. | ESPN3 |
| No. 1 Florida State vs. No. 4 Georgia Southern | Friday, May 30 | 6 p.m. | ESPN3 |
| No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 3 Kennesaw State | Friday, May 30 | Noon | ESPN3 |
| No. 1 Louisville vs. No. 4 Kent State | Friday, May 30 | 6 p.m. | ESPN3 |
| No. 2 Kentucky vs. No. 3 Kansas | Friday, May 30 | 2 p.m. | ESPN3 |
| No. 1 Vanderbilt vs. No. 4 Xavier | Friday, May 30 | 8 p.m. | ESPN3 |
| No. 2 Oregon vs. No. 3 Clemson | Friday, May 30 | 1 p.m. | ESPN3 |
| No. 1 Indiana vs. No. 4 Youngstown State | Friday, May 30 | 7 p.m. | ESPN3 |
| No. 2 Indiana State vs. No. 3 Stanford | Friday, May 30 | 2 p.m. | ESPN3 |
| No. 1 Florida vs. No. 4 Charleston | Friday, May 30 | 7 p.m. | ESPN3 |
| No. 2 Long Beach State vs. No. 3 North Carolina | Friday, May 30 | 1 p.m. | ESPN3 |
| No. 1 Miami (Fla.) vs. No. 4 Bethune-Cookman | Friday, May 30 | 7 p.m. | ESPN3 |
| No. 2 Texas Tech vs. No. 3 Columbia | Friday, May 30 | 2 p.m. | ESPN3 |
| No. 1 Cal Poly vs. No. 4 Sacramento State | Friday, May 30 | 9 p.m. | ESPN3 |
| No. 2 Arizona State vs. No. 3 Pepperdine | Friday, May 30 | 4 p.m. | ESPN3 |
| No. 1 TCU vs. No. 4 Siena | Friday, May 30 | 8 p.m. | ESPN3 |
| No. 2 Dallas Baptist vs. No. 3 Sam Houston State | Friday, May 30 | 3:30 p.m. | ESPN3 |
| No. 1 La.-Lafayette vs. No. 4 Jackson State | Friday, May 30 | 7 p.m. | ESPN3 |
| No. 2 Mississippi State vs. No. 3 San Diego State | Friday, May 30 | 2 p.m. | ESPN3 |
| No. 1 Ole Miss vs. No. 4 Jacksonville State | Friday, May 30 | 8 p.m. | ESPN3 |
| No. 2 Washington vs. No. 3 Georgia Tech | Friday, May 30 | 4 p.m. | ESPN3 |
| No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 4 Campbell | Friday, May 30 | 7 p.m. | ESPN3 |
| No. 2 Maryland vs. No. 3 Old Dominion | Friday, May 30 | 1 p.m. | ESPN3 |
| No. 1 Virginia vs. No. 4 Bucknell | Friday, May 30 | 2 p.m. | ESPN3 |
| No. 2 Arkansas vs. No. 3 Liberty | Friday, May 30 | 7 p.m. | ESPNU |
These are, of course, just the first games in each regional. Future games will be determined based on the results of these contests.
Bracket
You can find a complete bracket of every individual regional, as well as the full 64-team bracket for the road to Omaha, right here, courtesy of NCAA.com.
Predictions
| Corvallis | Oregon State |
| Stillwater | Cal St. Fullerton |
| Houston | Texas |
| Baton Rouge | LSU |
| Tallahassee | Florida State |
| Louisville | Kentucky |
| Nashville | Oregon |
| Bloomington | Indiana |
| Gainesville | Florida |
| Coral Gables | Miami (Fla.) |
| San Luis Obispo | Cal Poly |
| Fort Worth | TCU |
| Lafayette | Louisiana-Lafayette |
| Oxford | Washington |
| Columbia | South Carolina |
| Charlottesville | Virginia |
NCAA Stats on Twitter gave us a historical idea of what to expect when it comes to hosts making it out of their regional:
Among those sites with the best chance of producing some upsets include the Houston, Oxford and Stillwater regionals.
Rice is a fixture atop the college baseball world, with this marking the Owls' 20th consecutive inclusion in the tournament field. However, Wayne Graham's squad wasn't exactly dealt many favors with in-state rivals Texas and Texas A&M joining them in Houston.
The Longhorns slipped in the Big 12 tournament against Oklahoma State, but they are ranked No. 21 nationally by Baseball America. Moreover, according to tournament committee chairman Dennis Farrell, via Baseball America's Aaron Fitt, they were just shy of being named a host:
Against the Longhorns and Aggies this season, Rice went just 1-3.
The most brutal regional, meanwhile, likely resides in Oxford. No. 1 Ole Miss is a deserving host, No. 2 Washington has a strong case to be a host and No. 3 Georgia Tech could easily be a No. 2 after winning the ACC tourney.
In the case of the Huskies, they faltered down the stretch and didn't have a strong nonconference schedule, but this was the second-best team in the Pac-12 behind only the tournament's No. 1 overall seed.
Head coach Lindsay Meggs, via the Seattle Times' Adam Jude, was far from happy:
That extra motivation should only fuel the Huskies, adding difficulty to what was already the only regional with three Baseball America top-25 teams.
Finally, over in Stillwater, Oklahoma State is the clear favorite, but Nebraska (12-2 in its last 14) and Cal State Fullerton (won its last seven) are both very dangerous opponents.
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