2023 NCAA Tournament Projected Field of 64 (5/17/23)

The first automatic bids to the 2023 NCAA Tournament will be handed out this weekend at the Ivy League and Patriot League tournaments. Selection Monday itself is less than two weeks away.

In short, it’s crunch time around college baseball. Teams will have very few opportunities to improve their standing. Most teams have just one regular-season series remaining before the frenetic week of conference tournaments begins.

The host line is firming up and there is just one change in this week’s projection. Duke, which has struggled since returning from its finals break, falls out of the host line, replaced by Dallas Baptist. The Patriots last weekend clinched the Conference USA title with a sweep of Texas-San Antonio and are up to No. 14 in RPI.

While the hosts were mostly stable this week, there’s still time for several schools to snag one of the 16 regionals. Oklahoma State is just outside the group now and could move up with a series win this weekend against Oklahoma. Auburn and Tennessee can make their case with a series win this weekend, while Alabama needs either a sweep or a strong run at the SEC Tournament. North Carolina is making another late surge toward hosting and Connecticut cannot be counted out yet, though it may need to win out.

The tournament bubble will inevitably tighten next week due to conference tournament upsets. There are a couple key series to watch this weekend, however. In the ACC, Georgia Tech boosted its hopes with a series win last weekend against Duke. Now, it hosts Virginia. Another series win would make things interesting for the Yellow Jackets. In the Big 12, TCU travels to Kansas State. They’re just a game apart in the standings and both have RPIs of about 50. The winner this weekend should feel good, while the loser might be sweating things next week at the Big 12 Tournament. In the Pac-12, Southern California could use at least one win at Arizona, while UCLA and Arizona State face off with some urgency on both sides, but especially for the Bruins. In the SEC, a home series loss last weekend has left Texas A&M needing a series win at Mississippi State.