Conference champions across the country have been crowned; now comes the journey to the College World Series, where 64 teams from around the country will shift from conference tournament mentality to the same mission: winning a Regional, then a Super Regional, then reaching the promised land of Omaha, Nebraska. With the selections on Monday, each of the 64 programs now has the path forward to leave its mark on baseball lore for generations to come. 

As we see every year, there will be disagreements about what the committee decides to do with each program, but for the most part, this season, the committee did a good job. A few issues, though, like how is Georgia rewarded with the path to Omaha, where they would have to play Mississippi State for a 6th or even a 7th time to reach the College World Series, or how an Alabama or Florida get the top eight seed over a Southern Miss team that won the head to head with Alabama with a run ruled game at Pete Taylor Park, or how the committee viewed UTSA by keeping them out of a Regional for simply losing a conference tournament championship game after winning the outright reguarl season, or even allowing the poltics of letting an NC State team with a losing conference record in just because the legandary coach is retiring. Out of those, the Georgia draw and allowing NC State in by not letting UTSA in seem to be the biggest issues I personally have with the selections heading into Regional play. 

As we do with games, let’s deep dive into a few thoughts and takeaways from the Regional selections. 

First, I get the frustration that Georgia and even Mississippi State might have with the potential Super Regional matchup in Athens, for at the very least the 6th or even the 7th time this season. As it stands, Georgia has beaten Mississippi State four times this season, three times in the regular season at Dudy Noble, then the 4th coming last week in Hoover at the SEC Tournament. For the third-seeded national seed, Georgia should have been rewarded with an easier path, as they were given to UCLA and Georgia Tech. Instead, Georgia drew a challenging Athens Regional with an opener against Long Island, followed by Boston College or Liberty. Obviously, once you reach this point in the season, there’s not an easy road per se, just thought Georgia wouldn’t have to play two sneaky regional opponents in Liberty or Boston College, before having to likely welcome Mississippi State to Foley Field for a possible 7th time this season. 

Second, it’s beyond time that the rest of the college baseball puts some respect on the Sun Belt Conference. Once again, the Sun Belt is a multibid league, with Southern Miss earning the ninth one seed, while Coastal Carolina, Louisiana, Troy, and Texas State all earn Regional bids, further underscoring the league’s status as one of the best in college baseball. For the last few years, Sun Belt baseball has replaced the Big 12 and Big 10 as the third-best baseball conference, and, to be honest, with the amount of midweek wins and Coastal Carolina competing for championships, the Sun Belt has earned a seat at the table. Out of the five Sun Belt teams making the tournament this year, it feels like all five can make a run, and truthfully, have been for a few years now, and the five teams in this year’s tournament are further validation for the depth of the conference. 

Third, leaving Mercer out of the Regionals is a dangerous path the committee chose to take. Mercer lost in the SOCON Tournament after winning the regular season championship. Mercer had an RPI of 28 and a non-conference strength of schedule of 218 and was passed by an NC State team with a losing conference record, an RPI of 51, and a non-conference strength of schedule of 242, simply because the legendary NC State Head Coach Elliott Avent announced he would be retiring after the season. There’s not a single other reason or metric that makes sense to allow NC State into a Regional and not Mercer, or heck, even the American Conference regular-season champion UTSA. At this rate, if the bigger named brands won’t play those types of programs, then what chance do they have to reach a Regional without winning the conference tournament? As a whole, we as a sport need to reward playing winning baseball and find a combination that rewards regular-season success without punishing teams who have a bad game in the conference tournament. Objectively speaking, Mercer and UTSA both deserved to reach a Regional. They played winning baseball all season, had a bad game in the conference tournament, and then missed the Regional while rewarding teams from the Southeastern Conference and the ACC with losing conference records. Hopefully, next year we will have a clear picture of the metrics, and those metrics will be used to make the right decisions. 

As far as intriguing Regionals go, there are two in the state of Mississippi that have the potential to set attendance records at Dudy Noble and Pete Taylor Park alike, while delivering a host of teams with rosters capable of making deep runs this tournament. Starting in Starkville, where Mississippi State will welcome Lipscomb, Cincinnati, and Louisiana to Dudy Noble Field for an insane weekend of baseball. In Hattiesburg, Southern Miss will welcome the likeness of Little Rock as the four seed, Virginia as the two, and Jacksonville State as the three seed. Out of all the Regionals, the Hattiesburg one might be the most talented from a roster perspective in the list of the other 16 Regionals. With two regionals in the state of Mississippi, the love the state has for college baseball and the baseball action at both stadiums will create memories etched in the history books of baseball in the state for generations to come. 

On the positive side, we have some exciting Regionals and potential for the Super Regionals. A few matchups to watch out for on Friday from across the programs across the southeast. Starting with Wake Forest and Kentucky, Virginia and Jacksonville State, Southern Miss and Little Rock, Miami and Troy, Tennessee and East Carolina, Cincinnati and Lipscomb, and Arkansas and Missouri State is spicy to say the least. Out of those matchups, you can expect to see some drama-filled matchups that have the potential to jumpstart the tournament with some major upsets, and could even start a team on a journey of a lifetime. 

Memories will be made this week, and the baseball action will likely deliver moments that will be talked about by future generations of college baseball fans. Every year, there’s always a handful of teams that make some noise and deliver some memorable moments that get added to the lore of college baseball. My advice to the fans, no matter your team: enjoy the moment. College baseball is among the only things in life that have remained pure in modern times, when traditions have gone to die. 

Photo Credits- School pages on X