Florida baseball seems to have locked up the opportunity to host a regional, but the question remains if the Gators can earn a top eight national seed, which would give them the opportunity to host through super regionals.
The No. 18 Gators (37-18, 18-12 SEC) closed out the regular season with a sweep against LSU and have now won eight of their last 10 games.
Here’s where Florida stands in the latest NCAA Tournament projections entering the SEC tournament.
Florida baseball NCAA Tournament resume
As of May 18, Florida’s rating percentage index (RPI), which is used to judge strength of schedule, stands at No. 9.
The Gators are 15-11 in Quad 1 games, a combined 22-7 in Quad 2-4 games and are ranked No. 2 in strength of schedule. UF is 14-6 when facing top 25 teams, while its 15 Quad 1 wins are tied for the third most in the country.
Florida will play the winner of Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt in the second round of the SEC tournament. The Wildcats would be a potential Quad 2 game, while the Commodores would be No. 3.
Florida baseball NCAA Tournament projections
This will be the first season that the NCAA committee ranks teams from No. 1 to No. 32 to create more of a balance in the tournament rather than the previous system of ranking teams as a No. 2 seed in a respective regional bracket.
The top 16 seeds will be grouped into pods of four. Seeds 1-4, 5-8, 9-12 and 13-16 will be grouped together. Similarly, seeds 17-32 will also be grouped into four-team pods, just as the top 16 seeds.
As the bracket comes together, the top four seeds will be paired with the pod that groups seeds 29-32.
- Seeds 1-4 are paired with one team from seeds 29-32
- Seeds 5-8 are paired with one team from seeds 25-28
- Seeds 9-12 are paired with one team from seeds 21-24
- Seeds 13-16 are paired with one team from seeds 17-20
USA Today currently has Florida hosting a regional. The Gators have improved from the No. 11 to the No. 10 national seed. The other teams in the regional would be No. 22 Cincinnati, Troy and North Florida.
D1Baseball’s projection kept the Gators as the No. 10 national seed. The teams included in the Gainesville Regional feature No. 22 Cincinnati, NC State and Rider.
Baseball America has UF dipping from No. 8 to the No. 9 seed. Florida’s regional consisted of No. 24 Jacksonville State, Virginia Tech and North Florida.
Reach Florida Gators writer Andrew Abadie at AAbadie@usatodayco.com or on X (formerly Twitter) at @AndrewAbadie. You can also find him on Facebook at Andrew Abadie Sports Reporter or on Instagram @andrewabadie_sports.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Where Florida baseball stands in latest NCAA Tournament bracket projections