Clemson moving up, South Carolina down in latest NCAA baseball tournament projections
The Clemson and South Carolina baseball teams are trending in opposite directions with one weekend remaining in the regular season.
Coastal Carolina, meanwhile, remains in the conversation for a national seed, giving the state three potential regional hosts for the NCAA Tournament — although a lot can change during next week’s conference tournaments.
After starting off slowly in former Michigan coach Erik Bakich’s first year at the helm, the Tigers (36-17, 17-10 ACC) have rocketed up the RPI and postseason projections with a late-season tear, winning nine straight games. Now ranking No. 8 in the RPI and No. 3 in strength of schedule, Clemson has surged to a No. 6 national seed in Baseball America’s latest field of 64 and moved up to No. 7 in D1Baseball.com’s field. The Tigers will round out their regular-season slate with a home series against a North Carolina team that ranks No. 25 in RPI.
Unlike Clemson, Mark Kingston’s Gamecocks have gone cold during the final stretch of the season, dropping three consecutive SEC series while dealing with a plethora of injuries. USC (37-15, 15-11 SEC) went from a surefire national seed three weeks ago to a team very much in need of a series win against Tennessee this weekend to remain in the regional hosting picture. The Gamecocks sit at No. 13 in BA’s field of 64 projections and at No. 11 in D1’s field, essentially swapping places with Clemson.
Last week, BA projected the Gamecocks as a No. 6 national seed and Clemson at No. 13, while D1 ranked USC at No. 10 and Clemson at No. 11.
During his Wednesday news conference, Kingston made his pitch for why USC’s resume remains strong. The Gamecocks slid to No. 5 in the RPI after Tuesday night’s loss to Charlotte and rank No. 7 in strength of schedule.
“The Alabama softball team just got the overall No. 5 national seed for the softball tournament, and they finished fifth in the SEC, so I think that’s an interesting, interesting precedent to look at,” Kingston said. “Because, if you look at our metrics, they’re off the charts.
“We have the third most quadrant one wins in the entire country ... and the Gamecocks had the hardest SEC schedule this year based on how things fell. So it’s going to be interesting to see how all of those things are considered on selection day.”
The Chanticleers (34-17, 20-7 Sun Belt) continue to motor through conference play, sweeping South Alabama on the road and will finish against the season at home against Marshall team (16-34) that is well below .500. At No. 9 in the RPI and No. 8 in strength of schedule, Coastal is in great shape to host a regional. The question is whether or not the Chanticleers will be a national seed. BA remains bullish on Coastal, ranking the Chanticleers as its No. 8 national seed, but D1 has Coastal at No. 12.
Key dates for college baseball
SEC baseball tournament: May 23-28 in Hoover, Alabama
ACC baseball tournament: May 23-28 in Durham, North Carolina
Sun Belt baseball tournament: May 23-28 in Montgomery, Alabama
Regional hosts announced: evening of Sunday, May 28
NCAA selection show: noon Monday, May 29 on ESPN2
This story was originally published May 17, 2023 at 12:57 PM.
