Area College Baseball Teams in the Spotlight

The University of Georgia, Georgia Tech and Auburn University baseball teams are bringing the attention of college baseball fans to our wonderful state and area. In case you haven’t heard, the Yellow Jackets won the ACC title this year and the Bulldogs won the SEC title.
At the present time, the Yellow Jackets are ranked number two in the NCAA Division Baseball Championships and the Bulldogs are ranked number three.
The Yellow Jackets finished regular season play with an overall record of 48-9 and won the title with a 13-6 victory over North Carolina on the road in Charlotte. That is the first championship the Yellow Jackets have claimed since 2014. North Carolina is ranked number four.
This is the first time in the history of UGA baseball that a tem had won the SEC tournament. The Bulldogs have an overall record of 46-12 and defeated Arkansas11-1 to win the title. The team also pulled off an impressive 8-7 victory over Florida in the SEC semifinals.
The list of teams in the Top 25 of the USA Today poll is an impressive one and included the following teams:
1 UCLA Bruins
2 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
3 Georgia Bulldogs
4 North Carolina Tar Heels
5 Texas Longhorns
6 Auburn Tigers
7 Southern Miss Golden Eagles
8 Oregon State Beavers
9 Florida State Seminoles
10 Texas A&M Aggies
11 West Virginia Mountaineers
12 Oregon Ducks
13 Arkansas Razorbacks
14 Florida Gators
15 Kansas Jayhawks
16 Alabama Crimson Tide
17 Mississippi State Bulldogs
18 Nebraska Cornhuskers
19 USC Trojans
20 Ole Miss Rebels
21 Oklahoma State Cowboys
22 Arizona State Sun Devils
23 Jacksonville State Gamecocks
24 Cincinnati Bearcats
25 Tennessee Volunteers
The Yellow Jackets will take on UIC on Friday, May 29 in the first round at Russ Chandler Stadium in Atlanta.. UIC is the number four seed in the Missouri Valley Conference.
The Bulldogs will host Long Island that same day at Foley Field in Athens. The Long Island Sharks are in the Northeast Conference and this will be the third time in the past five years the team has made the NCAA tournament.
UCLA has a really good baseball team are while the team is ranked number one, they will see some tough competition in the tournament. If I was a betting man, I would put my money on the Yellow Jackets taking it all in the tournament. The team is strong on both offense and defense, has great pitching and playing really well right now.
Georgia should also make a good run.
Lets not forget however, that Auburn is also in the tournament and is close by as well.
The Auburn Tigers will host Milwaukee on May 29 at Plainsman Park in Auburn.
There will be 64 teams in the tournament and the regionals (first round) will feature 16 double-elimination brackets consisting of four teams, each hosted by one of the top-16 national seeds in the field.
The winner of each regional bracket advances to the super regionals, which features eight best-of-three series hosted by the higher-seeded team from June 5-8.
The College World Series will be played at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Neb., from June 12-22.
What does this mean to our local area. It means large crowds will gather for the three games and that means tourist dollars coming into the state and area.
With the Yellow Jackets and the Bulldogs being ranked so high in the tournament it is definitely going to bring attention to baseball in the state.
As a Georgia fan, I would love to see the Bulldogs win it all and I believe the team can go deep in the tournament. I also believe the Auburn Tigers can as well.
However, the Yellow Jackets have talent and a very favorable draw for a national title run. The Yellow Jackets have one of the most explosive offenses in college baseball.
Also, the Jackets have several All-ACC players like Drew Burress, Ryan Zuckerman, Carson Kerch and Jarren Advincula. The team also has a proven postseason record and a favorable region draw.
With the talent, depth and experience of the Yellow Jackets, the team has a really good chance of winning the NCAA tournament and a College World Series.
So, if you like baseball this tournament provides the best in college baseball. It also showcases some really good Southern teams.