NCAA Baseball Tournament 2015: Full List of Regions, Bracket and More
The hottest summer vacation destination this year is Omaha, Nebraska. At least it is if you are one of the 64 teams that cracked the 2015 NCAA baseball tournament field.
The NCAA announced the 16 regional hosts and their postseason competition Monday. The winners of the double-elimination regionals will advance to the Super Regionals for the right to play in the College World Series in Omaha.
Here is a look at the complete list of regions, the bracket, some of the tournament snubs and a national champion prediction.
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Regions
| Los Angeles Region | |
| 1 | UCLA |
| 2 | Ole Miss |
| 3 | Maryland |
| 4 | CSU Bakersfield |
| Lake Elsinore Region | |
| 1 | UC Santa Barbara |
| 2 | USC |
| 3 | Virginia |
| 4 | San Diego State |
| Stillwater Region | |
| 1 | Oklahoma State |
| 2 | Arkansas |
| 3 | Oral Roberts |
| 4 | St. John's |
| Springfield Region | |
| 1 | Missouri State |
| 2 | Iowa |
| 3 | Oregon |
| 4 | Canisius |
| Coral Gables Region | |
| 1 | Miami |
| 2 | East Carolina |
| 3 | Columbia |
| 4 | FIU |
| Dallas Region | |
| 1 | Dallas Baptist |
| 2 | Oregon State |
| 3 | Texas |
| 4 | VCU |
| Tallahassee Region | |
| 1 | Florida State |
| 2 | College of Charleston |
| 3 | Auburn |
| 4 | Mercer |
| Gainesville Region | |
| 1 | Florida |
| 2 | Florida Atlantic |
| 3 | South Florida |
| 4 | Florida A&M |
| Baton Rouge Region | |
| 1 | LSU |
| 2 | UNC Wilmington |
| 3 | Tulane |
| 4 | Lehigh |
| Houston Region | |
| 1 | Houston |
| 2 | Rice |
| 3 | UL Lafayette |
| 4 | Houston Baptist |
| College Station Region | |
| 1 | Texas A&M |
| 2 | Coastal Carolina |
| 3 | California |
| 4 | Texas Southern |
| Fort Worth Region | |
| 1 | TCU |
| 2 | North Carolina State |
| 3 | Stony Brook |
| 4 | Sacred Heart |
| Chapaign Region | |
| 1 | Illinois |
| 2 | Notre Dame |
| 3 | Wright State |
| 4 | Ohio |
| Nashville Region | |
| 1 | Vanderbilt |
| 2 | Radford |
| 3 | Indiana |
| 4 | Lipscomb |
| Fullerton Region | |
| 1 | CS Fullerton |
| 2 | Arizona State |
| 3 | Clemson |
| 4 | Pepperdine |
| Louisville Region | |
| 1 | Louisville |
| 2 | Bradley |
| 3 | Michigan |
| 4 | Morehead State |
Bracket
A full bracket can be found at NCAA.com.
Snubs
As is the case every year, there were a handful of snubs when the tournament field was announced.
One surprise this year is the fact that a Big Ten team cracks the list of deserving teams that were left out. The Big Ten is not known as a baseball power, but it sent five representatives into the 64-team field this year and could have six if Michigan State had been rewarded with a spot.
The Spartans swept Oregon, beat Clemson and finished in a tie for third place in the most competitive Big Ten fans have seen in years. Ironically, Michigan State's archrival Michigan may have done the Spartans in because the Wolverines stole an at-large spot when they won the conference tournament.
Sean Ryan of Sporting News touched on Michigan State's exclusion and also pointed out a handful of other snubs:
"North Carolina (RPI 28) was pushed out by Clemson despite the fact the Tar Heels were among the Top 10 teams in the nation with 23 wins over teams ranked in the Top 100 in the RPI and their RPI was 26 spots better than the Tigers. And it’s hard not to feel for UNF (RPI 42), which won 45 games (including two of three against Bradley, which made the field) and won a regular-season championship before falling in the A-Sun tourney final. And Southeastern Louisiana and Nevada, both of which won regular-season rings but were left out as power-program teams were extended an invite.
"
Predicted Winner
The SEC flexed its collective muscle Monday when the field was announced. Four different teams from arguably the nation's strongest conference earned No. 1 seeds in LSU, Florida, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt, and there will likely be a Southern flare in Omaha for the College World Series.
While each of those teams is a threat to take home the title, the SEC regular-season champion will prevail in the NCAA tournament. LSU took home the league championship, didn't lose consecutive games all season and won nine of 10 regular-season SEC series this season.
That is downright incredible, especially when the strength of the league is taken into consideration.
Alex Lange is the ace who will lock down the opponent's best hitters every time he takes the hill, and Jared Poche went 7-1 this season and gives the rotation the necessary depth to compete in the long tournament.
While the Tigers offense disappeared in their SEC tournament loss to Florida, they still ranked third in the country in batting average and 12th in runs, per NCAA.com. That means LSU should have no problem coming through with timely hits to support that pitching staff with games on the line.
The Tigers are also SEC-tested and earned the No. 1 seed in their league. The NCAA tournament is a pressure-packed environment, but it is also less difficult than competing in LSU's conference on a weekly basis.
LSU also has something to play for besides the NCAA title since UCLA earned the overall No. 1 seed in the tournament Monday even though many expected it to go to the Tigers. Lange suggested as much, per Ross Dellenger of the Advocate: "We’ve got motivation. We’ve got something to play for."
LSU is talented enough as it is without extra motivation. That just spells trouble for the rest of the country.
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