College Baseball bracket projection: Updated Field of 64 and region predictions

College Baseball bracket projection: Updated Field of 64 and region predictions

It's May. And that means it's time to start thinking about the NCAA baseball tournament field that will be announced at the end of the month. The first three months of the season have seen teams jockeying for position ahead of a sprint to the Memorial Day reveal of the 64-team bracket that will send eight teams to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.

This season hasn't gone to script with defending champion LSU starting as preseason No. 1 and currently well outside the tournament field at . The team just behind the Tigers in the first rankings - UCLA - has occupied the top spot in the poll since March 2 and is the clear overall No. 1 seed. Texas, Georgia Tech and North Carolina are among the other teams that have justified their preseason rankings.

On the opposite end, there's been several other disappointments joining LSU. Arkansas, TCU and Louisville were expected to be in the mix for regional seeds. It looks like none of the three will reach that goal with Razorbacks still in the field, while the Horned Frogs and Cardinals outside the field at this point.

Two weeks of regular-season play remain before conference tournament weekend that has pressure on teams teams jockeying for spots. Here's our projection of the NCAA tournament bracket ahead of the stretch run.

NCAA baseball tournament bracket projections

(* denotes teams that are automatic qualifiers based on current conference standings.)

Los Angeles region

1. UCLA (1)*
2. UC Santa Barbara (32)
3. Tennessee
4. Fairleigh Dickinson*

Atlanta region

1. Georgia Tech (2)*
2. Jacksonville State (29)*
3. Kentucky
4. Bethune-Cookman*

Austin region

1. Texas (3)
2. Miami (Fla.) (30)
3. Texas-San Antonio*
4. Army*

Chapel Hill region

1. North Carolina (4)
2. Missouri State (31)
3. Liberty
4. Penn*

Athens region

1. Georgia (5)*
2. Cincinnati (28)
3. East Carolina
4. Niagara*

College Station region

1. Texas A&M (6)
2. Wake Forest (27)
3. Oklahoma State
4. Oral Roberts*

Auburn region

1. Auburn (7)
2. Virginia (26)
3. Michigan
4. Wright State*

Lawrence region

1. Kansas (8)*
2. Oregon (25)
3. Virginia Tech
4. Indiana State*

Starkville region

1. Mississippi State (9)
2. Central Florida (24)
3. North Carolina State
4. Binghamton*

Corvallis region

1. Oregon State (11)
2. Arizona State (23)
3. Gonzaga*
4. Cal Poly*

Oxford region

1. Mississippi (11)
2. Boston College (22)
3. Western Carolina*
4. North Florida*

Tallahassee region

1. Florida State (12)
2. Oklahoma (21)
3. Pittsburgh
4. St. John’s*

Hattiesburg region

1. Southern Mississippi (13)
2. Arkansas (20)
3. Kent State*
4. San Diego State*

Myrtle Beach region

1. Coastal Carolina (14)*
2. West Virginia (19)
3. Eastern Illinois*
4. Campbell*

Tuscaloosa region

1. Alabama (15)
2. Southern California (18)
3. Tarleton State*
4. Southeastern Louisiana*

Gainesville region

1. Florida (16)
2. Nebraska (17)
3. St. Joseph’s*
4. Winthrop*

Last four in

Virginia Tech, North Carolina State, Michigan, Pittsburgh.

Last four out

TCU, Purdue, Louisiana-Lafayette, Clemson.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College baseball NCAA Tournament bracket projection for field of 64