Previewing the 2017 NCAA College Baseball Tournament
The College World Series regional field has been announced. Who is in, who is out, and who has the easiest path to Omaha?
One of the nation’s longest streaks came to a close this week as the field of 64 for the NCAA Division 1 College World Series was announced.
The University of Miami has had a strong baseball program for many years producing such big leaguers as Ryan Braun, Yasmani Grandal, and Yonder Alonso, along with players in the past like Greg Vaughn, Charles Johnson, Aubrey Huff, and Pat Burrell.
With the announcement of the regional field on Monday, 2017 will end a 44-year run of Miami making the field of 64 teams. While in-state rival Florida State is now the leader with 40 consecutive tournaments made, the next closest team is Cal State Fullerton with 26, so Miami’s streak ending is quite significant.
We will examine each regional in more depth, but first a few notes about the tournament field in general.
- Florida Gulf Coast and Davidson are both making their first ever appearance in the field of 64.
- Oregon State, with a record of 49-4 is the top overall seed in the tournament.
- The SEC has the most teams in the field with 8, while 20 of the teams are the only representative from their conference.
Games begin Thursday, will continue with the super regionals the next weekend, and conclude with the College World Series beginning play Saturday, June 17 at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska.
Let’s take a look at the regionals…