With the conference tournaments already finished and only hours before the NCAA baseball tournament field of 68 is set on Monday, May 25, a projected bracket points to UCLA and Georgia Tech as top seeds—while Georgia appears slated for No. 3 and the host list
UCLA’s path and Georgia Tech’s punch as automatic contenders could look a lot clearer once the NCAA baseball tournament field of 68 is unveiled on Monday, May 25.
For now, the bracket isn’t official—but the stage is. Conference tournaments are complete, and Sunday’s announcement named the 16 host schools. The pressure is still on the bubble teams trying to avoid getting squeezed out as the committee fills the remaining slots.
The hosts set the tone early. The SEC dominates the list with seven teams. In the projection. Big Ten champion UCLA and ACC champion Georgia Tech are expected to be the top two seeds. a placement that would send them to the top of the regional matchups. Georgia, which won both the regular season and the conference tournament, is projected for the No. 3 spot.
The mix for the home-series picture runs straight through the middle of the projected field. Texas, Auburn, Alabama, and Florida are all considered in the mix to land among the top eight. If they do, those teams would be guaranteed a home series through the super regionals.
At the bottom end of the bracket, the decisions get tougher. Conference tournament outcomes create bid thieves, while smaller schools are described as vulnerable to nudges from the bubble—exactly the kind of swing that can separate a season’s last games from an empty offseason.
On the projected bracket sheet, the regional matchups unfold like a countdown:
Los Angeles regional
UCLA (1)
Liberty (32)
Arizona State
South Dakota State
Atlanta regional
Georgia Tech (2)
Oklahoma (31)
Louisiana-Lafayette
Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Athens regional
Georgia (3)
Virginia (30)
Central Florida
Illinois-Chicago
Chapel Hill regional
North Carolina (4)
UC Santa Barbara (29)
Kentucky
Long Island
Auburn (5)
Missouri State (28)
Boston College
Holy Cross
Austin regional
Texas (6)
Jacksonville State (27)
Virginia Tech
Lipscomb
Tuscaloosa regional
Alabama (7)
Miami (26)
East Carolina
Alabama State
Gainesville regional
Florida (8)
Coastal Carolina (25)
Mercer
Yale
Tallahassee regional
Florida State (9)
Tennessee (24)
Troy
Rider
College Station regional
Texas A&M (10)
Oklahoma State (23)
Pittsburgh
Saint Mary’s
Hattiesburg regional
Southern Mississippi (11)
Wake Forest (22)
The Citadel
Binghamton
Starkville regional
Mississippi State (12)
Southern California (21)
Tarleton State
St. John’s
Lawrence regional
Kansas (13)
Oregon State (20)
Northern Illinois
Arkansas-Little Rock
Eugene regional
Oregon (14)
Cincinnati (19)
Cal Poly
Washington State.
Lincoln regional
Nebraska (15)
Mississippi (18)
USC Upstate
Lamar
Morgantown regional
West Virginia (16)
Arkansas (17)
Virginia Commonwealth
Northeastern
The projection also names what’s still at stake in the final line of the committee’s decisions. The “Last four in” are listed as Kentucky, Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, and Troy. The “Last four out” are listed as TCU, Michigan, Texas State, and North Carolina State.
What matters most in these hours isn’t only who gets in—it’s how the top seeds and host choices can change the temperature of a postseason run. If Texas, Auburn, Alabama, and Florida land in the top eight, that home-series advantage would carry them deeper. If the bubble holds or breaks. the difference may come down to those last four teams waiting for May 25 to end uncertainty one way or another.
NCAA baseball tournament bracket projection host schools May 25 UCLA seed Georgia Tech seed Georgia No. 3 SEC hosts bubble teams last four in last four out