2022 NCAA Baseball Tournament Projected Field Of 64 (4/13/22)

College baseball has passed the mid-point of the regular season and while there’s still a long way to go on the Road to Omaha, the postseason picture is beginning to take shape.

At this time of season, the emphasis is definitely on “projected.” This is not meant to be how the tournament would be seeded if it started tomorrow, it is meant to illustrate what it might be expected to look like on Selection Monday.

This week’s projection includes two new hosts, as Auburn and Southern Mississippi join the group. The Golden Eagles (24-8, 10-2) have already put themselves in a strong position to host for the first time since 2017. They rank ninth in RPI and are in first place in Conference USA, having already won a series against second-place Louisiana Tech. If they can keep on this track in the second half, there will be postseason baseball at Pete Taylor Park and it’s reasonable to wonder if a top-eight seed is possible (it would require a truly gaudy C-USA mark).

Auburn gets the nod in this projection after winning three straight SEC series and rising into the top 25 of RPI. There’s a strong chance the SEC will get at least four hosts (Arkansas, Georgia and Tennessee also host in this projection) but the Tigers are far from locked in. How the SEC standings shake out—as well as the conference tournament—will play a huge role in the host race. For now, however, Auburn projects to host for the first time since 2010.

The ACC and SEC have 10 teams in this projected field, which would tie a record they jointly own. Nearly every team in both conferences is still very much in the postseason mix. As ever, getting as close to .500 in conference play as possible is the goal for any team with regional aspirations in those conferences. Notably, Mississippi State, the 2021 national champion, is out of these projections after getting swept last weekend at home by Louisiana State and falling to 4-8 in SEC play. There’s still time for the Bulldogs to bounce back, but they’ll need 10 more conference wins over the next six weeks (plus the SEC Tournament).

With the ACC and SEC eating up 18 of the 33 at-large bids, some mid-major leagues are squeezed in this projection. The Missouri Valley Conference and West Coast Conference both have just one team in this field – and that team is a host. While that seems unlikely, no other teams in either conference have yet put together a strong at-large candidacy. Still, keep an eye on those leagues in the second half, as well as the Southern Conference and Sun Belt Conference, which both project as multi-bid leagues here.

Baseball America will continue to update the projected field weekly throughout the spring.

PROJECTED FIELD OF 64
Knoxville, Tenn.		College Park, Md.
1. (1) Tennessee*^		1. (16) Maryland*^
2. Kennesaw State*		2. Wake Forest
3. North Carolina		3. Alabama
4. Alabama State*		4. Pennsylvania*

Coral Gables, Fla.		Auburn, Ala.
1. (2) Miami*^		1. (15) Auburn^
2. Grand Canyon*		2. Florida State
3. Connecticut*		3. Georgia Southern
4. Central Connecticut State*		4. Campbell*

Corvallis, Ore.		Spokane, Wash.
1. (3) Oregon State*^		1. (14) Gonzaga*^
2. UC Santa Barbara*		2. Oregon
3. North Carolina State		3. Cal Poly
4. Army*		4. Nevada*

Stillwater, Okla.		Hattiesburg, Miss.
1. (4) Oklahoma State*^		1. (13) Southern Mississippi*^
2. Arizona		2. Louisiana State
3. Louisiana Tech		3. Virginia Tech
4. Maine*		4. New Orleans*

Charlottesville, Va.		Dallas
1. (5) Virginia^		1. (12) Dallas Baptist*^
2. Wofford*		2. Texas Christian
3. East Carolina*		3. Mississippi
4. Norfolk State*		4. Southeast Missouri State*

Athens, Ga.		Louisville
1. (6) Georgia^		1. (11) Louisville^
2. Georgia Tech		2. Vanderbilt
3. Mercer		3. West Virginia
4. College of Charleston*		4. Wright State*

Austin		Fayetteville, Ark.
1. (7) Texas^		1. (10) Arkansas^
2. Texas State*		2. UCLA
3. Texas A&M		3. Oklahoma
4. North Dakota State*		4. Davidson*

South Bend, Ind.		Lubbock, Texas
1. (8) Notre Dame^		1. (9) Texas Tech^
2. Stanford		2. Florida
3. Illinois		3. Rutgers
4. Central Michigan*		4. Rider*