Will Florida baseball earn a national seed? Latest NCAA projections

Florida baseball seems to have locked up the opportunity to host a regional.

The No. 19 Gators (34-18, 15-12 SEC) won its home series against Kentucky.

Here’s where Florida stands in the latest NCAA Tournament projections entering the series against the Wildcats.

Florida baseball NCAA Tournament resume

As of May 12, Florida’s rating percentage index (RPI), which is used to judge strength of schedule, stands at No. 12.

The Gators are 15-11 in Quad 1 games, a combined 19-7 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 second in the country.

The LSU series this weekend will represent a Quad 1 opportunity for the Gators.

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 remained the No. 11 national seed. The other teams in the regional would be No. 22 Virginia, Arizona State and Bethune-Cookman.

D1Baseball also raised Florida's projection as the Gators have been bumped from No. 12 to the No. 10 national seed. The teams included in the Gainesville Regional feature No. 23 Wake Forest, Western Carolina and Saint Joseph's.