College Baseball Regional 2016: Bracket, Schedule and Hosts
The College Baseball Regional bracket was unveiled on Monday, with the ACC and SEC completely dominating the seedings.
Here's a look at each regional, super-regional and matchup:
| Gainesvile | (1) Florida vs. (4) Bethune-Cookman | Friday, June 3 | 6 p.m. |
| Gainesvile | (2) Georgia Tech vs. (3) UConn | Friday, June 3 | 1 p.m. |
| Tallahassee | (1) Florida State vs. (4) Alabama State | Friday, June 3 | 6 p.m. |
| Tallahassee | (2) Southern Miss vs. (3) South Alabama | Friday, June 3 | Noon |
| Raleigh | (1) NC State vs. (4) Navy | Friday, June 3 | 7 p.m. |
| Raleigh | (2) Coastal Carolina vs. (3) Saint Mary's | Friday, June 3 | 2 p.m. |
| Baton Rouge | (1) LSU vs. (4) Utah Valley | Friday, June 3 | 3 p.m. |
| Baton Rouge | (2) Rice vs. (3) Southeastern Louisiana | Friday, June 3 | 8 p.m. |
| Lubbock | (1) Texas Tech vs. (4) Fairfield | Friday, June 3 | 3 p.m. |
| Lubbock | (2) Dallas Baptist vs. (3) New Mexico | Friday, June 3 | 7 p.m. |
| Charlottesville | (1) Virginia vs. (4) William & Mary | Friday, June 3 | 1 p.m. |
| Charlottesville | (2) Bryant vs. East Carolina | Friday, June 3 | 6 p.m. |
| Fort Worth | (1) TCU vs. (4) Oral Roberts | Friday, June 3 | 7:30 p.m. |
| Fort Worth | (2) Arizona State vs. (3) Gonzaga | Friday, June 3 | 3 p.m. |
| College Station | (1) Texas A&M vs. (4) Binghamton | Friday, June 3 | 9 p.m. |
| College Station | (2) Minnesota vs. (3) Wake Forest | Friday, June 3 | 4 p.m. |
| Louisville | (1) Louisville vs. (4) Western Michigan | Friday, June 3 | 6 p.m. |
| Louisville | (2) Ohio State vs. (3) Wright State | Friday, June 3 | 2 p.m. |
| Nashville | (1) Vanderbilt vs. (4) Xavier | Friday, June 3 | 8 p.m. |
| Nashville | (2) UC Santa Barbara vs. (3) Washington | Friday, June 3 | 3 p.m. |
| Columbia | (1) South Carolina vs. (4) Rhode Island | Friday, June 3 | 7 p.m. |
| Columbia | (2) UNC Wilmington vs. (3) Duke | Friday, June 3 | 1 p.m. |
| Clemson | (1) Clemson vs. (4) Western Carolina | Friday, June 3 | 7 p.m. |
| Clemson | (2) Oklahoma State vs. (3) Nebraska | Friday, June 3 | Noon |
| Starkville | (1) Mississippi State vs. (4) Southeast Missouri State | Friday, June 3 | 7:30 p.m. |
| Starkville | (2) Cal State Fullerton vs. (3) Louisiana Tech | Friday, June 3 | 2:30 p.m. |
| Lafayette | (1) Louisiana-Lafayette vs. (4) Princeton | Friday, June 3 | 8 p.m. |
| Lafayette | (2) Arizona vs. (3) Sam Houston State | Friday, June 3 | 2 p.m. |
| Oxford | (1) Ole Miss vs. (4) Utah | Friday, June 3 | 8 p.m. |
| Oxford | (2) Tulane vs. (3) Boston College | Friday, June 3 | 4 p.m. |
| Coral Gables | (1) Miami vs. (4) Stetson | Friday, June 3 | 7 p.m. |
| Coral Gables | (2) Florida Atlantic vs. (3) Long Beach State | Friday, June 3 | 1 p.m. |
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And here's how the full bracket shakes out—along with the eight national seeds—per NCAA Baseball:
With 10 bids, the ACC tied an all-time record, according to ESPNU. The SEC set a record with seven regional No. 1 seeds, while there won't be a single West Coast Regional for the first time since 1994, per ESPNU.
NCAA Baseball, meanwhile, shared the last three teams that made the tournament and the last three out:
And committee chair Joel Erdmann spoke about the decisions made to seed the tournament:
With 17 seeds among them, all eyes will be on the ACC and SEC teams and whether they can live up to the hype.
Florida, the top overall seed, will be the favorite, and for good reason. The Gators went 47-13 this season and are led by an excellent pitching staff that finished the season with a team ERA of 3.08, 10th in the nation.
They also had a ratio of 4.15 strikeouts to one walk, second in the nation, and a 1.12 WHIP, the country's third-best mark. And the Gators back up their pitchers, with an impressive 98.3 fielding percentage that led all teams.
The team the Gators lost to in the SEC title game, Texas A&M, came in as the No. 4 overall seed. The Aggies are an offensive threat, hitting .316 on the year (13th in the nation). No. 6 Mississippi State and No. 8 LSU rounded out the nationally seeded SEC schools, while No. 2 Louisville, No. 3 Miami and No. 7 Clemson—which won the ACC title game over Florida State—round out the ACC national seeds.
Only No. 5 Texas Tech interrupted the ACC and SEC party atop the seedings.
As for players to watch, Florida pitcher A.J. Puk is one of the top prospects in college baseball and went 2-3 this year for the Gators with a 2.88 ERA and 90 strikeouts in 65.2 innings pitched. Florida's Buddy Reed, meanwhile, is hitting .260 with four home runs, 31 RBI, 24 stolen bases and 51 runs scored on the season and is also a highly valued prospect. He's made just one error on the year.
Louisville outfielder Corey Ray is hitting .325 on the year with 11 home runs, 56 RBI, 34 stolen bases and 46 runs scored. And finally, Virginia's Connor Jones has been awesome this year, going 11-1 with a 2.29 ERA and 69 strikeouts in 98.1 innings pitched, posting three complete games and a shutout.
That's just a smattering of the talent that will be on display at this tournament. It promises to be another thrilling showdown on the road to the College World Series.
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