›2016 NCAA Tournament Field is set. The pairings for this season’s edition of the NCAA Tourney have been finalized. The ACC and SEC were heavily represented. Ten ACC teams and seven SEC teams made the field, including 13 of 16 regional hosts and 7 of 8 national seeds between the two conferences. After weeks of discussion, speculation and anticipation, the actual national seeds have been announced. They are: 1) Florida 2) Louisville 3) Miami 4) Texas A&M 5) Texas Tech 6) Mississippi State 7) Clemson 8) LSU.
›There will be a distinct “Southern” feel to the regionals. The Southeastern Conference sets a new record, becoming the first conference ever to have seven #1 seeds host regionals in the same season. As if that isn’t enough, no regional games will be played west of the Lone Star State or north of the commonwealths of Kentucky and Virginia. It marks the first time sine the mid-90’s without a single west coast regional.
›28 of the 31 conferences have a new champion. Only three clubs were able to successfully defend their league titles from 2015. Cal State Fullerton (Big West), Oral Roberts (Summit) and Louisiana Lafayette (Sunbelt) shared that rare air once the dust settled on conference tournament baseball and this year’s automatic bids were officially handed out. The parity in college baseball has made it increasingly difficult to repeat success from one season to the next.
›Four teams will make their first appearance in the NCAA Tourney. Congratulations to Alabama State, Fairfield, St Mary’s (California) and Utah Valley. There is nothing quite like punching your post-season ticket for the first time. The tournament debuts will be made in the Tallahassee (Alabama State), Lubbock (Fairfield), Raleigh (St. Mary’s) and Baton Rouge (Utah Valley) regionals respectively.
›Florida secures the #1 overall national seed. Though the Gators came up short for both the regular season and SEC tournament titles, their dominance in the polls for the majority of the season was rewarded with the top seed. Mississippi State won the regular season conference title, South Carolina finished atop the Eastern Division and Texas A&M defeated the orange and blue on Sunday to claim the SEC post-season crown. Still, with all the highly regarded pieces in place, Florida enters regional play as the favorite to win the College World Series.
“First Glances” provides a weekly snapshot of the story lines impacting the hunt for the National Championship with quick-hit headlines from around the country.