UNC baseball makes BIG leap for National Seed in latest NCAA projections
The excitement of postseason college baseball is finally here.
Conference tournaments begin later this week. There’s certain teams – practically anyone in the SEC – who are looking to boost their status ahead of the NCAA Regionals. Others, such as the Miami Hurricanes, need to win their entire conference tournaments for a shot at the NCAA Tournament.
To add onto the excitement of conference tournaments, not every program makes it. Just take a look at the ACC: despite Notre Dame finishing its regular season with an overall winning record, its 9-21 mark in conference play placed it just behind Pitt for the ACC Baseball Championship’s final spot.
One program favored to win its conference tournament is North Carolina, who earned the ACC Championship’s top overall seed with a 41-12 (22-8) record.
The Diamond Heels, who are looking for their second ACC Championship Title in three seasons, sport a Top-25 offense (.310 team batting average) anchored by Casey Cook and Vance Honeycutt. Pitching, which has dealt with numerous injuries throughout the season, is starting to solidify at the right time.
In this week’s D1Baseball Projected Field of 64 for the NCAA Tournament, UNC is projected to host a regional as a Top 4 National Seed.
The Diamond Heels are currently slated to face Southern Conference regular season champion UNC-Greensboro, Oregon (third in the Pac-12) and Cornell (third in Ivy League). None of the above teams were previously projected in the Chapel Hill Regional.
North Carolina lost its most recent matchup to UNCG, 3-2 in Chapel Hill on May 11, 2021. UNC has a decent baseball history with Cornell, owning a 13-6 record dating back to 1900, including a 7-4 win in their most recent matchup on June 1, 2012.
The Diamond Heels have never played Oregon before, but they’re no stranger to the Ducks’ in-state rivals, Oregon State.
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