Where Is Texas A&M Baseball Projected To Play In NCAA Regional Tournament?
Texas A&M Aggies baseball isn't in jeopardy of missing the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala., next week. Missing the NCAA national tournament altogether? Things could get interesting after a weekend in Starkville.
Entering the final series of the regular season, the Aggies look to be in good hands. Defending national champion Ole Miss has already been eliminated from postseason contention, and A&M (30-22, 12-15 SEC) has a stable enough record to make it to Hoover for the six-day tournament even with a loss or two to Mississippi State (26-24, 8-19).
Outside of that? Everything remains a mystery. Second-year manager Jim Schlossnagle isn't allowing his players to think their status among tournament contenders is safe, either entering the three-game road trip starting Thursday night.
“We have pinned ourselves into a corner, where we need to really do well,” Schlossnagle said during his weekly interview with the media Wednesday. “Just can’t make anything more about it than what it is other than just go play good baseball. If you want to extend your season beyond the conference tournament, then we need to start stacking some wins on top of each other.”
Should A&M win the series against the Bulldogs, and perhaps a game or two in the conference tournament, its status to make the national tournament should be secure. Even with a series of losses, so long as the Aggies prevail at The Hoover Met, it's hard to imagine them not being one of the 68 programs in this year's tournament.
According to D1Baseball.com, the Aggies are projected to play in the Stillwater Regional as the three-seed opposite Oklahoma State's top ranking. They are projected to face off against two-seed Dallas Baptist, with the winner playing either No. 14 Oklahoma State or four-seed Sam Houston State.
Baseball America, another established college baseball website that regularly projects the 64-team field, has the Aggies as a three-seed in the Dallas Regional, with No. 15 Dallas Baptist playing host. A&M is projected to play second-seed and in-state rival Texas, with the winner to face either the Patriots or four-seed Bearkats.
NCAA.com also has the Aggies playing in the Stillwater Regional and against Dallas Baptist but has Oral Roberts listed as the four-seed. The Golden Eagles faced the Aggies last season in College Station Regional en route to A&M's path to the College World Series.
College Sports Madness rounds out the list of website projections, with A&M grabbing the No.3-seed in the Durham Regional. The Aggies are expected to face No. 2-seed, East Carolina, with the winner advancing to take on either No. 16 Duke or No. 4-seed Penn.
On all four sites, at least 10 SEC programs are represented in the field of 68, with NCAA.com listing 11 by including Georgia. No. 2 Arkansas, No. 4 Florida, No. 5 LSU, No. 12 Vanderbilt, No. 13 South Carolina, and No. 19 Kentucky are all projected to host the first round of the regionals in their respective cities.
The first pitch Thursday from Dudy Noble Field between the Aggies and Bulldogs is scheduled for 6 p.m. The two SEC West programs will return Friday at 6 p.m. before closing out the regular season Saturday with a 2 p.m. call time.
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