It’s Clemson vs. South Carolina in this Field of 64 projection for NCAA Tournament
Ready for another round of Clemson vs. South Carolina in the NCAA Baseball Tournament?
It may soon be happening, according to the latest Field of 64 projections for the 64-team postseason from D1Baseball.
The Tigers (41-14 overall) held as a top-eight national seed (No. 6 overall) in D1Baseball’s updated postseason outlook Saturday. The Gamecocks are D1Baseball’s projected No. 2 seed for the four-team, double-elimination Clemson Regional.
South Carolina, which defeated Alabama and Arkansas at the SEC Tournament this week, is paired with College of Charleston and Samford as the three teams projected by D1Baseball to join the host Tigers at the on-site regional at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
Clemson-South Carolina is one of the best rivalries in college baseball. The two teams have a rich postseason history, having met twice at the College World Series in Omaha (in 2002 and 2010).
The Gamecocks got the best of the Tigers both times in Omaha, beating Clemson twice in the 2002 semifinals to advance to the championship game against eventual national champion Texas.
Eight years later, the Gamecocks again beat the Tigers twice in the semifinals to meet UCLA in the best-of-three CWS Finals. South Carolina went on to beat the Bruins to win the first of two back-to-back national championships under former coach Ray Tanner. Clemson hasn’t made a College World Series appearance since 2010.
The two teams meet annually in the regular season. Clemson won both games against the Gamecocks this season by identical 5-4 scores in a rain-shortened series back in early March.
Baseball America also had the Tigers as the No. 6 overall seed in their updated postseason projections Saturday. Unlike D1Baseball, Baseball America has the Tigers projected to host Texas, James Madison and Florida A&M at the Clemson Regional.
Tennessee remained the No. 1 overall seed in both D1Baseball and Baseball America’s updated projections Saturday.
The unveiling of the 16 NCAA Tournament regional host sites is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. EDT Sunday. The NCAA Tournament Selection Show will air live on ESPN2 Monday at noon.
