The NCAA baseball selection crew announced this year’s field earlier today, and while Rice was able to pocket a national seed, Texas A&M was left out in the cold. The No. 8 overall seeded Owls will play host in a very dangerous regional, with Baylor (29-26) as the second seed and California (31-20), who almost lost their baseball team entirely, taking the third seed in the region. Rice will lead things off against No. 4 Alcorn State (27-28), the SWAC’s auto-qualifier, on Friday.
The Aggies didn’t get a national seed, but still host their own regional. In case you were wondering, Tim Weiser, who was part of the selection committee, says they weren’t docked for losing ace John Stilson to a torn labrum. Suuure they weren’t. The Aggies play host to Arizona (36-19), Seton Hall (33-23), and Wright State (36-17). A&M will open up against the Raiders on Friday.
Should Rice and A&M advance out of their regionals, Rice will take on the winner of the Fort Worth regional, where TCU is the No. 1 seed, and Texas A&M will face the winner of the Tallahassee regional, where Florida State is the No. 1 seed.
Here’s SB Nation’s coverage of the whole field, and here is the entire bracket on NCAA.com.