As expected, Clemson and South Carolina were among the 16 host schools named for the NCAA on Sunday night for the Division I playoffs.
Coastal Carolina, meanwhile was bypassed despite having a Top 15 RPI and will begin its College World Series quest on the road.
A record seven Southeastern Conference teams (Florida, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, USC, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt) were selected to be regional hosts. The Atlantic Coast Conference tied the previous record with six regional host designations (Clemson, Florida State, Louisville, Miami, N.C. State and Virginia).
Completing the host lineup are two Big 12 teams (Texas Christian, Texas Tech) and Louisiana of the Sun Belt Conference.
There are no hosts in the Mountain or Pacific time zones.
The Top 8 national seeds and the 64-team field will be announced at noon Monday on ESPNU. Clemson's late-season run has thrust the Tigers into the center of the national seed discussion. Meanwhile, South Carolina's SEC flameout appears to have pushed the Gamecocks onto the bubble - at best - to bee a seed.
There are 31 automatic qualifiers as conference champions. Throw in the 12 non-champions named as hosts and means only 21 at-large teams are still yet to be announced. There are no other South Carolina teams in contention for at-large spots.
One other note: I don't think BYU's RPI is high enough (+/- 54) to be in the at-large discussion. But, if the Cougars are selected, the regional where it is assigned will have its scheduled adjusted BYU won't play on Sunday. It is prohibited by school/Latter Day Saints rules.
I'll post some thoughts on the regional choices a little later tonight.
NCAA release
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