NCAA Baseball Bracketology: Championship Week Edition (Updated After 5/22)

This post was updated after the games of 5/22. Changes were made to the national seeds and regional hosts. A final projection of the 16 host sites will be made Sunday morning, and one last look at the entire field will come Sunday night.

National Seeds:

1. LSU

2. UCLA

3. Louisville

4. Florida

5. Illinois

6. Miami (Florida)

7. TCU

8. Missouri State

LSU has gone 2-0 this week with both victories coming against tournament teams, so the Tigers keep their spot as the top national seed. Louisville drops to third after falling to Clemson on Thursday, and TCU falls all the way to seventh after losing to Baylor and Texas Tech earlier this week in the Big 12 Tournament. I still think the Horned Frogs and their regular season conference title are safe as a national seed, but it is a lot closer than it was when we entered the week.

I have Missouri State edging out Texas A&M for the final spot, but their resumes are nearly interchangeable. The Aggies should be able to jump the Bears if they win the SEC Tournament, but that is easier said than done.

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Other Regional Hosts (In Order)

9. Texas A&M

10. Vanderbilt

11. Florida State

12. Oklahoma State

13. Dallas Baptist

14. Houston

15. UC Santa Barbara (in Phoenix)

16. College of Charleston

First Five Out: Arizona State, USC, Oregon State, Cal State Fullerton, California

The regional hosting bubble is very interesting, and there are still plenty of scenarios remaining with just one full day of games left before the 16 host sites are announced. Six teams remain in play to get the final two spots, and one of those will be locked up for College of Charleston if it can come through the loser's bracket to win the CAA Tournament.

Arizona State remains as the landing site for UC Santa Barbara, who cannot host at home due to a lack of lights. The Gauchos did submit a bid to host in Lake Elsinore, but it is unlikely the selection committee will approve that. Oregon State may be able to slide in with a Sun Devil loss on Saturday, but who the committee would take between them and USC is anyone's guess.

A final scenario, the one where no Pac-12 team (except UCLA) gets to host, would come into play if UCSB loses and Cal State Fullerton wins on Saturday. That would drop the Gauchos to a two seed and likely move the Big West champion Titans up to the one line.

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