Murray State dogpiled while a full SEC ballpark quietly watched. LSU fans exchanged relieved high fives as their baseball team survived late against the eighth-best regular-season club in the Ohio Valley Conference.
A Monday packed with winner-take-all regional final action gave way to Tuesday clarity about the last 16 squads left in the NCAA tournament — and how the College World Series could shape up next week.
The eight super-regional matchups will feature plenty of name brands along with a few surprises. Seven of the best-of-three series include SEC or ACC representation. Only three are meetings of top-16 national seeds.
The SEC sent a record 13 schools into the NCAA tournament but only four advanced out of their regionals. Among those to fall short were four hosts in No. 1 national seed Vanderbilt, No. 2 Texas, No. 7 Georgia and No. 10 Ole Miss.
People are also reading…
Only the Rebels forced a decisive Monday game, rallying from down nine runs in the seventh inning only to lose to Murray State 12-11. The Racers — in their third year in the Missouri Valley Conference — become the 10th regional four seed to claim a regional after Evansville (2024) and Oral Roberts (2023) the last two seasons. They’ll try to be the fourth to reach Omaha after ORU, Stony Brook (2012) and Fresno State (2008).
“You don’t have a speech for this,” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. “Because like the rest of the 40 in that dugout and probably 12,000 in the stands, we didn’t think we were going to lose. But unfortunately we did.”
SEC survivors are No. 3 Arkansas, No. 4 Auburn, No. 6 LSU and No. 14 Tennessee. The league can max out at three teams in Omaha — Tennessee and Arkansas meet next week — after netting three or four CWS reps each of the last seven full seasons.
LSU’s finish was the tightest in a 10-6 win over four-seed Little Rock that wasn’t secure until the Tigers pulled away in the ninth inning late Monday.
The ACC kept five of its nine postseason teams alive including the only regional three seed in Miami, which eliminated No. 16 national seed Southern Miss. The Hurricanes had lost six of their last seven games before the NCAA tournament — coming off their first losing season a year ago since 1957, they’re now eyeing their first Omaha visit since 2016.
No. 5 North Carolina and No. 9 Florida State also move on along with a pair of two seeds that will be surprise super-regional hosts in Duke and Louisville. The Cardinals did it by prevailing against No. 1 Vanderbilt and then upstart Wright State in the regional final.
As many as four ACC teams could reach the College World Series, a number the conference also achieved last year for the first time in decades.
None of the Big 12’s eight postseason berths were hosts but regional two seeds West Virginia and Arizona still move into next weekend by emerging from sites at No. 11 Clemson and No. 12 Oregon, respectively.
Nine of the 16 regional hosts will keep playing in the next round after 10 did so last year. Two seed UTSA — which took two of three from Texas to make its first-ever super — secured its spot after a stirring 3-0 run through the Austin Regional.
Here’s a quick look at each of the super-regional matchups with Omaha on the line.
Three seed Miami at two seed Louisville: All-ACC matchup pits clubs that scuffled late in the regular season but have a combined eight Omaha appearances between them since 2007.
Two seed UTSA at No. 15 UCLA: Either the Roadrunners and their “junkyard dog” style break through to the CWS for the first time or the Bruins return after a 12-year layoff as new carriers of the Big Ten flag.
No. 14 Tennessee at No. 3 Arkansas: Last year’s national champion and the highest remaining national seed clash. The Hogs took two of three from the Vols in Fayetteville to end the regular season.
No. 13 Coastal Carolina at No. 4 Auburn: The Chanticleers are still an Omaha favorite after their title run in 2016. The Tigers were recent CWS participants in 2019 and 2022 but have yet to win a baseball national championship.
Two seed Arizona at No. 5 North Carolina: UNC has never dogpiled in Omaha after runner-up tries in 2006 and 2007. Arizona is rolling with eight straight wins including a Big 12 tournament title last month.
Two seed West Virginia at No. 6 LSU: Country Roads heads to the Box in an all-time meeting of party-time fanbases. LSU is the purple-and-gold standard in the sport; WVU is trying for its first Omaha trip.
Four seed Murray State at two seed Duke: The Racers — located in Murray, Kentucky — pulled an historic upset. As a result, Duke will host them in its attempt to get back to the CWS after last appearing there in 1961.
No. 9 Florida State at No. 8 Oregon State: Few teams have made more all-time CWS trips than FSU (24) while the Beavers — who last went in 2018 and are newly independent — are in their longest Omaha drought this century.
