NCAA Baseball Regionals: First Reaction

ALERT ALERT ALERT! We have a BRACKET! Selection shows always get the blood pumping! The 16 regionals have been announced, and now begins all of the back and forth. Now of course later this week I’ll drop some predictions and best bets for those who don’t know much about college baseball, for now lets soak this one in. This weekend is about to be a movie, it is a wide-open field, unlike some years where it feels like it’s "so & so vs. the field." This year, the belief is that about 12–16 teams have a legit argument to win it, with another 10–15 that could flip the switch and shock the world.

So again for those not in the college baseball circle, there are 16 hosts, with the top 8 being national seeds that can host the super regionals(sweet 16) if they advance. Then the College World Series is played as a double-elimination bracket with 8 teams in Omaha(Final Four comp). First, though, we’ve got the 16 regionals of 4 teams each, fighting to be the last one standing in a double-elimination bracket. Let’s take a look at the Top 8.

Gut reaction: Auburn at #4 ahead of North Carolina and others was a disgrace. They also, for some reason, got one of the weakest regionals. Which...I still don’t get it. They say geography goes into the choosing and all, but it doesn’t seem fair that #1 Vanderbilt has a matchup with 38-19 Wright State, while #6 LSU gets an under .500 Little Rock team. It just doesn’t make sense to me. There’s almost no reward for being ranked 1 through 6. Really, the only true advantage is being a Top 8 for home-field advantage throughout. Also how Coastal Carolina didn't get a Top 8 is a frickin crime, call the police now. Holy Crap.

Now on the flip side of the national seeds is the bubble. This committee on this aspect probably did as good a job as one can ask, minimal drama with the bubble teams getting in. The only two people might gripe about would be Kentucky (29-24) and Oklahoma State (28-23) getting in over Troy (39-21) and UConn (38-21).

So yes...that’s SEC and Big 12 in over Sun Belt and Big East, which makes sense on the surface. But look deeper: Troy was 3rd in a conference that had two national seeds in Coastal Carolina and Southern Mississippi. Then you’ve got UConn, who lost in the Big East championship to a 41-14 Creighton squad. Meanwhile, Kentucky and Oklahoma State didn’t do much in their conference tourneys. Yes, this is an impossible conversation in many ways, but it’s hard to not argue for those two squads. Troy more so as they have DUDES, and just lost a heartbreaker to host Southern Miss on Saturday.

From national seeds to bubble teams, this tournament is loaded. And as I said before, this thing is anyone's guess to who will win it. A great year to latch onto the college baseball fandom! You don’t have a team that’s clearly waves ahead of the rest. That means, hopefully, we get a ton of shocking results this first weekend.

Whenever we have a college sports bracket, sign me up as a couch potato for the opening weekend. Later this week, I’ll drop a two-part series: giving you a winner from each regional, and beyond. This bracket, though, in just the first few moments, already has baseball fans drooling over potential matchups, upsets, and much more.