2012 NCAA Baseball Tournament: Regional Recap

The first round of the 2012 NCAA Baseball Tournament is over, and sixteen teams are still alive on the road to Omaha. Last week we gave you our predictions for the first weekend, so let's check on those and see how we did (Answer: NOT GOOD!)

Gainsville Regional

Prediction: Florida

Winner: Florida

Los Angeles Regional

Prediction: UCLA

Winner: UCLA

Tallahassee Regional

Prediction: Mississippi State

Winner: Florida State

Yeah, uh, that one didn't work out so well. MSU went 1-2 and the Noles swept in three games.

Waco Regional

Prediction: Baylor

Winner: Baylor

Eugene Regional

Prediction: Oregon

Winner: Oregon

Chapel Hill Regional

Prediction: North Carolina

Winner:St John's

UNC went 2-2, and three-seed St John's swept in three games.

Baton Rouge Regional

Prediction: LSU

Winner: LSU

Columbia Regional

Prediction: South Carolina

Winner: South Carolina

The Gamecocks have won an NCAA-record nineteen postseason games in a row.

Charlottesville Regional

Prediction: UVA

Winner: Oklahoma

Appalachian State made an exciting run at winning the regional, but the Sooners managed to pull it out.

College Station Regional

Prediction: Texas A&M

Winner: TCU

The Texas A&M arms were still good for the most part, but they didn't get much help from their offense and went 1-2.

Coral Gables Regional

Winner: Miami

Winner: Stony Brook

OOOF. Getting bounced from your own regional in two straight losses is downright embarrassing. Hot-hitting four-seed Stony Brook beat UCF to win the round.

Gary Regional

Prediction: Kentucky

Winner: Kent State

Yeah, I was wrong on this one. So was everybody else. We all agree the Big Ten doesn't baseball well.

Houston Regional

Prediction: Rice

Winner: Arkansas

Another 1-2 performance by a regional host. How hospitable of you!

Stanford Regional

Prediction: Stanford

Winner: Stanford

Raleigh Regional

Prediction: Vanderbilt

Winner: NC State

Hey! The ACC finally won another one! Way to go, guys!

Tucson Reginal

Prediction: Arizona

Winner: Arizona

That gives us a record of 8-8 predicting regional winners, which means BET ALL OF YOUR MONEY BASED ON OUR PREDICTIONS!

We'll be back tomorrow to look at everything you need to know for Super Regional matchups.

2012 NCAA Baseball Regionals: Predictions, Sleepers, And Upsets

NCAA Baseball Tournament 2012: Sam Houston State Bearkats Waited In Suspense For Announcement In Houston Regional

The Sam Houston State Bearkats were confident enough in their overall body of work to know that a disappointing showing by the Southland Conference regular season champions in the conference tournament would be overlooked when it came to the field of 64 regional selections.

But they waited in suspense as 14 regional sites were announced with a few automatic spots left and at-large bids yet to be filled. Then Sam Houston drew the No. 3 seed in the Houston Regional, pitted against No. 2-seed Arkansas on Friday for a chance to play the winner between Rice and Prairie View A&M, both teams Sam Houston has defeated earlier in the season (Rice and SHSU split two games).

"It was nerve-wracking. We thought we were going to be picked to the (Texas) A&M Regional to go there and it didn't come up," Sam Houston senior pitcher Justin Jackson told The Huntsville Item. "I looked at our chances and said I don't know, but it came up finally. We waited a long time. It was a great feeling. ...

"Each time they said (this was a bubble team that got in) and our name didn't pop up there, you just thought that it wasn't going to happen."

"There were a lot of emotions," senior outfielder Jake Arrington said. "You want to get in and if you don't, there's nothing you can do about it. We had done everything we could up to this point."

Read more about the NCAA Baseball Tournament at SB Nation Houston.

NCAA Baseball Tournament 2012: Prairie View A&M Glad To Be Playing In Houston

The ultimate underdog in the Houston Regional of the NCAA Baseball Tournament has to be the Prairie View A&M Panthers of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), a league of Historically Black Colleges and Universities that are rarely expected to compete with the larger schools for college baseball supremacy.

But Prairie View is no slouch and Rice would be wise not to overlook the Panthers in their first-round matchup on Friday. In 2006, it took a ninth-inning single with the bases loaded to keep Prairie View from upsetting Rice in the first round.

Panthers head coach Waskyla Cullivan is glad to be playing in Houston for the sake of the PV fan base.

"We felt we could bring the biggest crowd to Rice, as opposed to Baylor or Texas A&M," Cullivan told Joseph Duarte of the Houston Chronicle.

The winner between Rice and Prairie View will face the winner between Sam Houston State and Arkansas for a chance to play in the Super Regional against the winner out of the Waco tournament.

Read more about the NCAA Baseball Tournament at SB Nation Houston.

2012 NCAA Baseball Regional Tournament: Rice Head Coach Wayne Graham Has 'Mixed Emotions'

The Houston Regional of the 2012 NCAA Baseball Tournament features three popular Houston-area schools in Rice, Sam Houston State and Prairie View A&M. Even further, Sam Houston first-year head coach is a former longtime Rice assistant under Wayne Graham, who admits he was rooting for the Bearkats to make the field of 64, but isn't rooting for them to win anymore.

Rice and Sam Houston have played each other twice this season already, and could play each other again for a spot in the Super Regional if they take care of business against Prairie View and Arkansas, respectively.

Whatever happens, this will be a reunion of sorts for a many Houston folks.

"We have mixed feelings because David is one of our own," Graham said of his longtime assistant, who left in the offseason.

"We were pulling for him to get in. We're not pulling for him to win."

"It is going to be exciting because we have friends and family there," said Pierce, the Southland Coach of the Year. "There are no easy regions. Every site is tough, but it is nice to go home and be at Rice. It is going to be a tough regional, and we are glad we are in. It really didn't matter where we play."

Read more about the Houston Regional at SB Nation Houston.

2012 NCAA Baseball Tournament: Texas A&M Hosting TCU, Ole Miss And Dayton

The Texas A&M Aggies are hosting the College Station Regional and the field was announced Monday afternoon on ESPN3. The Aggies will open up against Dayton, while TCU and Ole Miss are also in the field.

NCAA College Station Regional Field - #1 Seed - Texas A&M, #2 Seed - TCU, #3 Seed - Ole Miss, #4 Seed - Dayton

— Texas A&M Baseball (@aggie_baseball) May 28, 2012

Texas A&M didn't necessarily play in the shadows of Baylor in the Big 12 this season, with the Aggies doing well enough to host a regional. The Aggies clearly had the best season of any other team in their field, but any of them can be dangerous.

Dayton 31-28 for the season and 17-7 in the Atlantic 10. TCU had a solid season as well, going 36-19 overall and 18-16 in the Mountain West. Ole Miss had a mediocre 14-16 record in the SEC and fell to the LSU Tigers in the conference tournament.

Read more about the College Station Regional right here at SB Nation Houston.

2012 NCAA Baseball Tournament: Rice, SHSU, Prairie View A&M All In Houston Regional

The seedings and matchups for the 2012 NCAA Baseball Tournament Regionals were announced on ESPN3 Monday afternoon and Rice will host Arkansas, Sam Houston State and Prairie View A&M in the Houston Regional.

Arkansas goes in as the No. 2 seed and plays the No.3-seed Bearkats on Friday, while the Panthers are the No. 4 seed. For Sam Houston, it's a relief to still be playing baseball after a disappointing showing the Southland Conference tournament where they were knocked out by the eventual champion UT-Arlington Mavericks, who will play in the Waco Regional.

Rice and Prairie View are pitted against each other in a David vs. Goliath matchup. But these three prideful Houston-area schools, the Houston Regional should have really nice attendance and a lot of fanfare.

Read more updates about the NCAA Baseball Tournament at SB Nation Houston to see which of these local schools goes forward to the Super Regional.

2012 NCAA Baseball Tournament: LSU To Play Louisiana-Monroe In Regional Opener

The LSU Tigers earned the No. 7 seed of the NCAA baseball tournament and will face Louisiana-Monroe in regional opener, hosted by the Tigers at Alex Box Stadium on Friday.

Specific time slots for the regional have yet to be announced, but it begins at 2 p.m. This is the 20th NCAA Baseball Regional hosted by the Tigers.

The winner of the regional advances to the June 8-11 NCAA Super Regional, a best-of-three series that the Tigers could also host if they advance through the double-elimination, four-team regional.

Here is a look at the format and schedule for the Baton Rouge regional:

NCAA Regional Schedule
Baton Rouge, La.
Alex Box Stadium
All times Central and subject to change

Thursday, May 31
Practice Sessions (Open to Public), Times TBD

Friday, June 1 (pairings to be determined on Monday; LSU start time also TBD)
Game 1 - 2 p.m.
Game 2 - 7 p.m.

Saturday, June 2
Game 3 - 2 p.m. - Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser
Game 4 - 7 p.m. - Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner

Sunday, June 3
Game 5 - 1:30 p.m. - Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser
Game 6 - 6:30 p.m. - Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner

Monday, June 4
Game 7 - 6:30 p.m. - Game 6 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser (if necessary)

Visit SB Nation Houston for updates on the NCAA Baseball Tournament.

2012 NCAA Baseball Tournament: Rice, Texas A&M Named As Regional Hosts

Texas A&M and Rice have been selected to be a regional host for the 2012 NCAA baseball tournament.