Autzen Zoo NCAA Regional Picks
By Mike Vamosi
Gainesville Regional/McKethan Stadium-Perry Field: Host – 1 seed Florida Gators
Teams: 1 Florida (42-18) 2George Tech (36-24) 3 College of Charleston (37-20) 4 Bethune-Cookman (34-25)
Pick: Florida Gators, playing at home will help but the Gators are pretty complete
Look Out For: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, can the Jackets find some pitching to go with the above average offense they have?
Raleigh Regional/Doak Field at Dail Park: Host – North Carolina State Wolfpack
Teams: 1 North Carolina State (39-17) 2 Vanderbilt (33-26) 3 UNC Wilmington (38-21) 4 Sacred Heart (25-30)
Pick: Vanderbilt Commodores, no offense to the host but Vandy has been here before and plays in the tougher conference
Look Out For: Sacred Heart Pioneers, one of the little guys that will fly under the radar that hopefully the big boys in this conference are aware of
Charlottesville Regional/Davenport Field: Host – Virginia Cavaliers
Teams: 1 Virginia (38-17-1) 2 Oklahoma (38-22) 3 Appalachian State (39-16) 4 Army (41-13)
Pick: Virginia Cavaliers, not an easy home regional but I like Virginia to get to the Super Regional’s
Look Out For: Oklahoma Sooners, OU can win this regional and will have no fear having won at this site two-years ago on the way to Omaha
Columbia Regional/Carolina Stadium: Host – 8 seed South Carolina Gamecocks
Teams: 1 South Carolina (40-17) 2 Clemson (33-26) 3 Coastal Carolina (41-17) 4 Manhattan (33-25)
Pick: South Carolina Gamecocks, the two-time defending champions won’t have a cake walk but should get through
Look Out For: Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, they’ve got the best record of the quartet of teams in Columbia this weekend and can pull the surprise
Eugene Regional/PK Park: Host – 5 seed Oregon Ducks
Teams: 1 Oregon (42-17) 2 Cal State Fullerton (35-19) 3 Indiana State (41-17) 4 Austin Peay (38-22)
Pick: Oregon Ducks, coach Horton might not like seeing his old team but playing at home will help
Look Out For: Indiana State Sycamores, regular season champs of the Valley I believe can compete with those in Eugene
Gary Regional/U.S. Steel Yard: Host – Purdue Boilermakers
Teams: 1 Purdue (44-12) 2 Kentucky (43-16) 3 Kent State (41-17) 4 Valparaiso (35-23)
Pick: Purdue Boilermakers, sure it’s been awhile since a Big Ten team played in the Super Regionals but Purdue did wait over 100 years to win a conference title
Look Out For: Kentucky Wildcats, I like this Kentucky team and think they can get on a run over the next couple weeks
Houston Regional/Reckling Park: Host – Rice Owls
Teams: 1 Rice (40-17) 2 Arkansas (39-19) 3 Sam Houston State (38-20) 4 Prairie View (28-23)
Pick: Rice Owls, seems like the Owls host yearly but were dealt a tough regional hand
Look Out For: Sam Houston State Bearkats, Southland Conference regular season champions can sneak out with the win I believe
Waco Regional/Baylor Ballpark: Host – 4 seed Baylor Bears
Teams: 1 Baylor (44-14) 2 Dallas Baptist (39-17) 3 UT-Arlington (36-23) 4 Oral Roberts (37-23)
Pick: Baylor Bears, this is one of the toughest regionals but the Bears are tough at home
Look Out For: Dallas Baptist Patriots, they played in a Super Regional last year and won’t be far from home so look out Waco!
Los Angeles Regional/Jackie Robinson Stadium: Host – 2 seed UCLA Bruins
Teams: 1 UCLA (42-14) 2 San Diego (40-15) 3 New Mexico (36-22) 4 Creighton (26-28)
Pick: UCLA Bruins, not an ideal regional and actually one of the tougher ones but I think what doesn’t kill you gets you to Omaha
Look Out For: Creighton Bluejays, keep an eye on Friday night because if Ty Blach gets the ‘Jays a win they can repeat their cinderfella run of last week
College Station Regional/Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park: Host – Texas A&M Aggies
Teams: 1 Texas A&M (42-16) 2 TCU (36-19) 3 Mississippi (35-24) 4 Dayton (31-28)
Pick: Texas A&M Aggies, Michael Wacha and the Ags should be able make it to next weekend but the committee didn’t do any favors
Look Out For: Mississippi Rebels, Ole Miss is a team I’ve been waiting for years to come around so will this be the year?
Coral Gables Regional/Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field: Host – Miami (FL)
Teams: 1 Miami (FL) (36-21) 2 Central Florida (43-15) 3 Missouri State (39-20) 4 Stony Brook (46-11)
Pick: Central Florida Golden Knights, only SBU has a better record and I think UCF can win this regional
Look Out For: Stony Brook Seawolves, sure many haven’t heard of this team but they will be heard from
Baton Rouge Regional/Alex Box Stadium: Host – 7 seed LSU Tigers
Teams: 1 LSU (43-16) 2 Oregon State (38-18) 3 Belmont (39-22) 4 Louisiana-Monroe (31-28)
Pick: LSU Tigers, I think that the Bayou Bengals just run rough shot at home like they usually do
Look Out For: Belmont Bruins, not crazy about non-LSU teams in this regional so I selected Belmont
Chapel Hill Regional/Boshamer Stadium: Host – 6 seed North Carolina Tar Heels
Teams: 1 North Carolina (44-14) 2 East Carolina (35-22-1) 3 St. John’s (37-21) 4 Cornell (31-15-1)
Pick: North Carolina Tar Heels, UNC playing at home shouldn’t have much trouble this weekend
Look Out For: St. John’s Red Storm, well I usually fall into the Red Storm trap this time of year that they will shock people, will it pay off for me finally?
Tucson Regional/Hi Corbett Field: Host – Arizona Wildcats
Teams: 1 Arizona (38-17) 2 New Mexico State (35-22) 3 Louisville (39-20) 4 Missouri (32-26)
Pick: Arizona Wildcats, I’m not in love with Arizona but they do will well at home which I think continues, playing in the Pac12 will prove valuable this weekend
Look Out For: Louisville Cardinals, this Cards team can get through but NM State and Mizzou were close to taking this spot also
Stanford Regional/Sunken Diamond: Host – Stanford Cardinal
Teams: 1 Stanford (38-16) 2 Pepperdine (34-21) 3 Michigan State (37-21) 4 Fresno State (30-26)
Pick: Stanford Cardinal, Mark Appel and friends should be able to navigate this and move on
Look Out For: Fresno State Bulldogs, I can’t forget the Wonder Dog team and that’s probably why I’m going with Fresno State
Tallahassee Regional/Dick Howser Field: Host – 3 seed Florida State Seminoles
Teams: 1 Florida State (43-15) 2 Mississippi State (39-22) 3 Samford (39-21) 4 UAB (32-28)
Pick: Mississippi State Bulldogs, I’m sure Florida State felt good until they saw Mississippi State show up during the selection show
Look Out For: UAB Blazers, I’ve read good things about the Blazers and think they can compete well this weekend
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