Could the Eyes of Texas Be Upon Wake Forest in the Post Season?

This week's projections from D1Baseball.com have the Deacs traveling to Austin for the Regionals round of the NCAA Tournament

Members of the Wake Forest baseball team celebrate after the win at home on April 14 against Coastal Carolina. | Wake Forest Athletics

With just over a month left in the regular season of college basketball, it's time for one of the sport's most anticipated parts of the season - postseason speculation. It's a time we start thinking about which 64 teams will keep playing when the calendar flips to June and which eight teams might make it to Omaha.

How about the Wake Forest Demon Deacons? Have they shown us enough to give us hope of any baseball beyond the ACC Tournament in Charlotte? Well, right now, despite some recent losses, the prospects of postseason play are looking good for the Deacs.

On Tuesday, Wake Forest defeated No. 7 Coastal Carolina by a score of 10-5. Head Coach Tom Walter earned his 950th career win. And, more importantly for this particular discussion, Wake's RPI - a key metric used in determining postseason play - jumped up one spot to No. 24.

D1Baseball.com, one of the premier online resources for college baseball, released their latest "Field of 64" projections on Tuesday. They currently have Wake Forest as the No. 2 seed in the Austin Regional. Other teams in that projected regional are the 1-seed Texas (the No. 3 national seed), 3-seed Texas State and 4-seed New Mexico (the projected automatic qualifier for the Mountain West).

This week's projections have eight ACC teams making the tournament, with four of those projected as national seeds and hosting regionals. That's behind the SEC (13 teams in the tournament; six national seeds) and just ahead of the Big 12 (7 teams in the tournament, two national seeds).

The projections also have four of Wake's nonconference opponents in the Field of 64 - No. 8 national seed Coastal Carolina, High Point, Indiana State, and Liberty.

Projected ACC Schools in the NCAA Baseball Tournament

Luke Costello celebrates as he crosses home plate in Wake Forest's win over Coastal Carolina on April 14. | Wake Forest Athletics

• Boston College (27-12, 11-7 ACC) - Projected No. 2 seed in the Gainesville Regional
• Florida State (25-11, 9-6 ACC) - Projected No.10 national seed and hosting a Regional in Tallahassee
• Georgia Tech (31-5, 15-3 ACC) - Projected No. 2 national seed and hosting a Regional in Atlanta
• Miami (27-9, 8-7 ACC) - Projected No. 2 seed in the College Station Regional
• North Carolina (31-6-1, 13-5 ACC) - Projected No. 6 national seed and hosting a Regional in Chapel Hill
• NC State (25-12, 8-7 ACC) - Projected No. 3 seed in the Lawrence Regional
• Virginia (26-12, 10-8 ACC) - Projected No. 11 national seed and hosting a Regional in Charlottesville
• Wake Forest (25-13, 9-9 ACC) - Projected No. 2 seed in the Austin Regional

Wake Forest's Nonconference Opponents Projected in the NCAA Baseball Tournament

• Coastal Carolina (26-10) - Projected No. 8 national seed and hosting a Regional in Conway
• High Point (24-12) - Projected No. 3 seed in the Charlottesville Regional
• Indiana State (18-19) - Projected No. 4 seed in the Tuscaloosa Regional
• Liberty (26-10) - Projected No. 2 seen in the Los Angeles (UCLA) Regional

Projected Austin Regional

Where will Wake Forest play in the NCAA Tournament? Current projections have them as the No. 2 seed in the Austin Regional, where they could potentially face No. 3 national seed Texas. | Wake Forest Athletics

1. Texas (28-7) - automatic qualifier from the SEC
2. Wake Forest (25-13) - at-large bid from the ACC
3. Texas State (25-12) - at-large bid from the Sun Belt
4. New Mexico (22-13-1) - automatic qualifier from the Mountain West

Regional Tournament Hosts: The Top 16

1. Los Angeles Regional (UCLA)
2. Atlanta Regional (Georgia Tech)
3. Austin Regional (Texas)
4. Gainesville Regional (Florida)
5. Athens Regional (Georgia)
6. Chapel Hill Regional (North Carolina)
7. Corvallis Regional (Oregon State)
8. Conway Regional (Coastal Carolina)
9. College Station Regional (Texas A&M)
10. Tallahassee Regional (Florida State)
11. Charlottesville Regional (Virginia)
12. Tuscaloosa Regional (Alabama)
13. Morgantown Regional (West Virginia)
14. Auburn Regional (Auburn)
15. Los Angeles Regional (USC)
16. Lawrence Regional (Kansas)

NCAA College Baseball Tournament Dates to Know

The next few weeks will determine the Demon Deacons’ direction.

The Selection Show is Monday, May 25. Regionals are May 29-June 1. Super Regionals are June 5-8. The College World Series begins June 12 in Omaha.