2023 NCAA Tournament Regional Picks

The road to Omaha begins.

It's time for the 2023 NCAA Tournament. 

Across 16 ballparks, 64 teams officially begin the road to Omaha and the College World Series.

For all things Kentucky baseball and the Lexington Regional, see the links below: 

• For a complete preview of the action this weekend in Lexington, click HERE.
• For some UK baseball postseason lore, click HERE.
• Everything Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione said about the draw HERE.
• More on Mingione HERE.
• More on Kentucky's pitching staff heading into the postseason HERE.
• Find out which Kentuckians are returning to their home state to play HERE. 

Enough chit chat, let's do some picks. Here are my selections. 

WINSTON SALEM REGIONAL

1. Wake Forest (No. 1 overall)
2. Maryland
3. Northeastern
4. George Mason

WINNER: Wake Forest

RUNNER UP: Northeastern

If you have the stones to take someone other than the Demon Deacons playing in Winston Salem, you're a bolder human than I. Realistically, any other team making a Super Regional here would be quite the shock. I do back Northeastern to beat Maryland, though. 

GAINESVILLE REGIONAL

1. Florida (No. 2)
2. UConn
3. Texas Tech
4. Florida A&M

WINNER: Florida

RUNNER UP: UConn

This should be smooth sailing for the Gators, in my opinion. UConn earlier this season? Sure, viable challenge. Now? Not so sure. Expecting : Caglianone to put up some serious Shohei Ohtani numbers with his pitching and hitting performance against Florida A&M. 

FAYETTEVILLE REGIONAL

1. Arkansas (No. 3)
2. TCU
3. Arizona
4. Santa Clara

WINNER: TCU

RUNNER UP: Arkansas

I'm firmly in the camp of "when you're hot, you're hot." I think the Big 12 Tournament champ Horned Frogs will find enough pitching to get across the finish line and stun the Razorbacks at Baum-Walker.

CLEMSON REGIONAL

1. Clemson (No. 4)
2. Tennessee
3. Charlotte
4. Lipscomb 

WINNER: Clemson

RUNNER UP: Tennessee

Having said what I said about TCU, I can't not pick Clemson, the hottest team in the land, who may currently be the actual favorite to take down the rest in Omaha. Tennessee is a dastardly No. 2 in any Regional, but I think the Tigers are the right team to handle the Vols and move on.

BATON ROUGE REGIONAL

1. LSU (No. 5)
2. Oregon State
3. Sam Houston
4. Tulane

WINNER: LSU

RUNNER UP: Oregon State

I do truly think one would be foolish not to pick LSU to make it out of Alex Box Stadium the winner here. Sure, the pitching behind Skenes is a huge question, but I think head coach Jay Johnson found another answer or two over the last couple of weeks. In my heart of hearts, though, I do wish to see 40-loss Tulane provide another miracle in Louisiana.

NASHVILLE REGIONAL

1. Vanderbilt (No. 6)
2. Oregon
3. Xavier
4. Eastern Illinois

WINNER: Vanderbilt

RUNNER UP: Xavier

Again, is pitching a potential issue? Of course. Do you dare doubt Tim Corbin after what happened at the SEC Tournament, though? On top of that, I think this is a super favorable draw for the Commodores, and I would be very surprised to see any other team moving on, though look for Big East auto-bidder Xavier to try and make some noise.

CHARLOTTESVILLE REGIONAL

1. Virginia (No. 7)
2. East Carolina
3. Oklahoma
4. Army

WINNER: Oklahoma

RUNNER UP: Virginia

Looking at this from that classic house money standpoint. Should the Sooners be in the tournament? Up for some heated debate. Is this a really tough group of four teams? Yes, but it can't all be chalk, so give me Oklahoma to top the Cavaliers on the road here. 

STANFORD REGIONAL

1. Stanford (No. 8)
2. Texas A&M
3. Cal State Fullerton
4. San Jose State

WINNER: Stanford

RUNNER UP: Fullerton

Am I a crazy person for thinking Stanford is still criminally underrated? Is this simply the west-coast factor? I can't pretend like i've been able to sit down and watch the Cardinal play a ton this season, but when you dive into the numbers and look at the body of work, I see a true championship contender. Fullerton loves the month of June and will do its worst, but I like Stanford to make its dominance known. 

CORAL GABLES REGIONAL

1. Miami
2. Texas
3. Louisiana
4. Maine

WINNER: Louisiana

RUNNER UP: Miami

Is anyone really pretending like they have a clue with this group of four? I'm taking the Oklahoma approach with this and picking the Ragin' Cajuns to take advantage of their bubble nod, though I wouldn't be surprised to see any of the four advance, even Maine, traveling ALL the way down the east coast. 

CONWAY REGIONAL

1. Coastal Carolina
2. Duke
3. UNC Wilmington
4. Rider

WINNER: UNC Wilmington

RUNNER UP: Coastal Carolina

The Seahawks have five players hitting over .300 and two reliable starters that can eat some innings. Both of those things set up nicely in another group that I believe is totally up for grabs. Coastal is admittedly being slept on ahead of this postseason, but I can't pass up on the potential of an Oklahoma-UNCW Super Regional.

STILLWATER REGIONAL

1. Oklahoma State
2. Dallas Baptist
3. Washington
4. Oral Roberts

WINNER: Dallas Baptist

RUNNER UP: Oral Roberts

Chaos. This DBU ballclub very easily could've been a host. I'll take the Patriots over Oral Roberts in a fun twist. 

LEXINGTON REGIONAL

1. Kentucky
2. West Virginia
3. Indiana
4. Ball State

WINNER: Kentucky

RUNNER UP: West Virginia

This is a monumental weekend for Kentucky. I think it takes advantage of a monstrous home crowd and doesn't let West Virginia beat it at its own game, though the Wildcats are going to need some big-time pitching performances every day. Don't count out Ball State, either.

AUBURN REGIONAL

1. Auburn
2. Southern Miss
3. Samford
4. Penn

WINNER: Southern Miss

RUNNER UP: Auburn

Auburn is an SEC team that I think won't be able to find the right answers to pitching issues this weekend. Southern Miss is seasoned and just flat-out knows how to win a baseball game or two. A Regional in Hattiesburg wasn't far off, I think the Tigers find out why in the finale. 

TERRE HAUTE

1. Indiana State
2. Iowa
3. North Carolina
4. Wright State 

WINNER: North Carolina

RUNNER UP: Iowa

Chalking this one up in the "who the hell knows?" category. Indiana State earned the right to host, but it wasn't done many favors. UNC's talent has not reached the expected heights this year, so when's a better time for that to start than this weekend? 

COLUMBIA

1. South Carolina
2. Campbell
3. NC State
4. Central Connecticut State

WINNER: Campbell

RUNNER UP: South Carolina 

I was actually in the camp that believed that South Carolina should host. But man, Campbell had just as much of a gripe, and the Camels are one helluva No. 2 team. The Gamecocks' injured and inconsistent season makes them hard to pick in a scenario like this against a feisty mid-major like that. 

TUSCALOOSA REGIONAL

1. Alabama
2. Boston College
3. Troy
4. Nicholls

WINNER: Boston College

RUNNER UP: Alabama

This comes from the same place as South Carolina, in that Alabama is playing good baseball right now, but Boston College not hosting will surely leave the Eagles coming to T-Town on a mission. I'll take a fourth ACC team to make it to the supers. 

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