Eight ACC Baseball Teams Selected for NCAA Championship
GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – Eight Atlantic Coast Conference teams will be among the 64-team field when the 2021 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship gets underway this weekend, the second-most teams of any conference.
ACC teams that are postseason bound are No. 10 national seed Notre Dame, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, NC State and Virginia.
The ACC has had at least six teams in the NCAA tournament for 17 straight years. This is the fifth year since 2010 that at least eight ACC teams have landed spots in the field.
Two of the ACC teams selected this year rank among the top five nationally for all-time NCAA tournament appearances: No. 2 Florida State (58) and No. 3 Miami (47).
The NCAA Regionals will be played Friday, June 4 through Monday, June 7.
ACC Atlantic Division Champion Notre Dame will host a regional for the first time since 2004 and the first time since joining the conference. The Fighting Irish (30-11) will take on Central Michigan (40-16) in their first tournament game Friday at 1 p.m. on ESPN3.
Duke (32-20) claimed the league’s automatic bid after winning its first ACC Championship title on Sunday and will head to Tennessee as the No. 2 seed in the Knoxville (Tenn.) Regional. The Blue Devils, making their third consecutive and ninth overall NCAA appearance, will face third-seeded Liberty (39-14) at noon Friday on ACC Network.
Florida State (30-22) is making its 43rd consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament, which is the nation’s longest active streak. It is also the 58th overall trip to an NCAA Regional for the Seminoles, who are the No. 3 seed in the Oxford (Miss.) Regional hosted by Ole Miss. FSU will face second-seeded Southern Miss at 3 p.m. Friday on ESPNU.
Georgia Tech (29-23) is in the postseason for the 33rd time in program history and heads to the Nashville (Tenn.) Regional hosted by Vanderbilt as the No. 2 seed and will play Indiana State (30-19) at 1 p.m. Friday on ESPN3.
Miami (32-19) is appearing for the 47th overall time and will battle South Alabama (33-20) at 5 p.m. Friday on ACC Network. The Hurricanes are the second seed in the Gainesville (Fla.) Regional hosted by Florida.
North Carolina (27-25) is the No. 3 seed in the Lubbock (Texas) Regional at Texas Tech and the Tar Heels will face second-seeded UCLA (35-18) on Friday at 7 p.m. on ESPN3.
NC State (30-17) will be seeded second in the Ruston (La.) Regional hosted by No. 16 national seed Louisiana Tech and the Wolfpack opens play Friday versus Alabama (31-24) at 3 p.m. on ESPN3.
The Tar Heels are making their 33rd NCAA appearance and the Wolfpack is making its 32nd.
Virginia (29-23) is back in the field for the first time since 2017 as the third seed in the Columbia (S.C.) Regional hosted by second-seeded South Carolina (33-21). Friday’s game is set for a noon first pitch on ESPN2. Though the Gamecocks are serving as the host team, Old Dominion (42-16) is the top seed in the regional. The Cavaliers are making their 18th NCAA appearance.
Selection of the eight super regional hosts will be announced on www.NCAA.com/cws, Tuesday, June 8 at approximately 8 a.m. (ET). The 74th Men’s College World Series begins play Saturday, June 19, at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska.
The regional format for the DI baseball championship is a double-elimination tournament format with the winning 16 teams advancing to Super Regionals, which will be held from June 11-14. The top eight teams remaining will host the Super Regionals on-campus in a best-of-three series with the eight winners advancing to Omaha.
The College World Series will be held from June 19-29/30. The eight Super Regional winners will compete in two four-team double elimination brackets. The two winning teams from each bracket will play in a best two-of-three championship series to determine the national champion.
At least one ACC team has reached the College World Series in Omaha each of the previous 14 years in which it has been held, and multiple ACC teams reached the CWS nine times during that span. The ACC has placed a total of 26 teams in the past 14 College World Series, an average of just under two per season.
South Bend Regional hosted by Notre Dame
#1 Notre Dame (30-11) vs. #4 Central Michigan (40-16), 1 p.m., ESPN3
#2 UConn (33-18) vs. #3 Michigan (27-17), 7 p.m., ESPN3
Gainesville Regional hosted by Florida
#1 Florida (38-20) vs. #4 South Florida (28-27), noon, SECN
#2 Miami (32-19) vs. #3 South Alabama (33-20), 5 p.m., ACCN
Knoxville Regional hosted by Tennessee
#2 Duke (32-20) vs. #3 Liberty (39-14), noon, ACCN
#1 Tennessee (45-16) vs. #4 Wright State (35-11), 6 p.m., ESPN3
Nashville Regional hosted by Vanderbilt
#2 Georgia Tech (29-23) vs. #3 Indiana State (30-19), 1 p.m., ESPN3
#1 Vanderbilt (40-15) vs. #4 Presbyterian (22-21), 7 p.m., SECN
Ruston Regional hosted by Louisiana Tech
#2 NC State (30-17) vs. #3 Alabama (31-24), 3 p.m., ESPN3
#1 Louisiana Tech (40-18) vs. #4 Rider (23-16), 7 p.m., ESPN3
Columbia Regional hosted by South Carolina
#2 South Carolina (33-21) vs. #3 Virginia (29-23), noon, ESPN2
#1 Old Dominion (42-14) vs. #4 Jacksonville (16-32), 7 p.m., ESPN3
Lubbock Regional hosted by Texas Tech
#1 Texas Tech (36-15) vs. #4 Army (28-23), noon, ESPNU
#2 UCLA (35-18) vs. #3 North Carolina (27-25), 7 p.m., ESPN3
Oxford Regional hosted by Ole Miss
#2 Southern Miss (37-19) vs. #3 Florida State (30-22), 3 p.m., ESPNU
#1 Ole Miss (41-19) vs. #4 Southeast Missouri State (30-20), 8 p.m., ESPN3