By Phil Stanton
Co-Founder
CollegeBaseballInsider.com
The SEC again has the most teams in the tournament with nine. There are eight from the ACC, six from the Pac-12, four from the Big 12 and Conference USA, three from the Big 10 and two from the American, ASUN, Big South, Big West, Metro Atlantic and Missouri Valley.
There are four teams making their first appearances in the NCAA Tournament: Grand Canyon, NJIT, Norfolk State and Presbyterian.
Florida State is making its 43rd straight appearance.
North Carolina leads all state with seven (Campbell, Charlotte, Duke, East Carolina, North Carolina, NC State, Presbyterian). Florida and Virginia both have five. It is the highest total for Virginia, passing four in 2013 (Liberty, Virginia, Virginia Tech, William & Mary) and 2014 (George Mason, Liberty, Old Dominion, Virginia).
The Gainesville Regional has three teams from the state of Florida, the most from one state in a regional.
The Fayetteville Regional is the only regional with four conference champions. There are three in both the Fort Worth Regional and Stanford Regional.
There are two teams in the tournament with the nickname Blue Devils (CCSU, Duke) and one Blue Hose (Presbyterian). You also have the Crimson Tide (Alabama), Redhawks (SEMO), Red Raiders (Texas Tech), Cardinal (Stanford), Black Knights (Army), Yellow Jackets (Georgia Tech) and Golden Eagles (Southern Miss).
The Fayetteville Regional could be known at the 4H regional, with nicknames Hogs, Huskers, Huskies and Highlanders.
Starkville will have Bulldogs vs. Bulldogs (Mississippi State vs. Samford) in the first round, along with Camels vs. Rams (Campbell vs. VCU). Other Bulldogs in action will be Gonzaga and Louisiana Tech.
NC State’s Wolfpack and Nevada’s Wolf Pack also made the field.