Final NCAA Tournament projections for Clemson baseball team

The Clemson baseball team is a lock to host a NCAA regional. But who’s joining them in Upstate South Carolina next weekend?

Final NCAA Tournament projections for the Tigers and other teams were made late Sunday ahead of Monday’s selection show (noon, ESPN2). And national outlets, as they have for weeks, remain confident Clemson will be one of the top 8 seeds.

D1Baseball’s final projection has Clemson (41-14) as the No. 6 overall seed and hosting No. 2 LSU (40-21), No. 3 College of Charleston (41-14) and No. 4 Bryant (36-19).

Baseball America’s final projection also has Clemson as the No. 6 seed, hosting No. 2 South Carolina (36-23), No. 3 Coastal Carolina (34-23) and No. 4 Penn (24-23).

Ahead of Monday’s selection show, the NCAA announced the 16 regional host sites (just the schools, not their specific 1-16 seeding) via social media on Sunday night.

Clemson, as expected, was on that initial list.

Heading into Monday, D1Baseball and Baseball America both notably kept Clemson as a top 8 “national seed” in their Sunday projections despite the Tigers going 1-1 and failing to advance out of ACC Tournament pool play this week in Charlotte.

If they advance past the regional round, top 8 seeds in the NCAA Tournament automatically earn the right to host a super regional at their home ballpark.

That’s obviously a huge advantage for teams striving to make it to the College World Series in Omaha, where Clemson has not been since the 2010 season.

And there was some concern among Tigers fans that the team could be on the top 8 cut-off line after Clemson, the No. 2 seed in the ACC Tournament, lost its opening game to No. 11 Miami.

That 8-7 loss automatically eliminated Clemson, the 2023 ACC Tournament champion, from advancing to the semifinal round due to the bracket’s pool play setup. Coach Erik Bakich even emphasized postgame Thursday his team was nowhere near a lock for a national seed.

But Clemson took care of business Friday, beating No. 7 Louisville on a walk-off to finish its stay at Charlotte’s Truist Field on a more positive note.

Clemson baseball’s NCAA resume

The Tigers are already locked in for a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance and top 16 seed under Bakich, the former Michigan coach who replaced Monte Lee after the 2022 season.

And despite some struggles late in the season (Clemson started 26-3 this season but was just 15-11 over its last 26 games), the team also appears safe for a second straight top 8 national seed.

Last year, Clemson was the No. 3 overall seed but failed to advance out of its own regional after beating Lipscomb and losing back-to-back games against Tennessee (the eventual regional champion) and Charlotte at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

Clemson has a similar résumé this year. The team is 41-14 and 20-10 in the ACC (good enough for an ACC Atlantic Division title) with the nation’s No. 8 RPI, per D1Baseball. Clemson is also 27-6 at home, 10-7 on the road and 4-1 at neutral sites.

According to D1Baseball, the Tigers also boast the nation’s No. 19 strength of schedule, a 20-3 record non-conference record and the No. 2 strength of schedule in non-conference games. Clemson is 10-8 in Quad 1 games, 12-2 in Quad 2, 13-4 in Quad 3 and 6-0 in Quad 4.

Over the past few weeks, the only ACC school to be projected above Clemson in NCAA Tournament projections is UNC (currently projected as the No. 2 or No. 3 national seed). Florida State is considered a No. 7 or No. 8 national seed.

Key Clemson baseball dates

• May 27: NCAA baseball selection show

• May 31-June 3: NCAA regional round

• June 7-9 or 8-10: NCAA super regional round

• June 14: First day of Men’s College World Series in Omaha

• June 22-23/24: Men’s College World Series finals