On3 projects Field of 64, including Florida's Regional
On Sunday night, the Florida Gators learned they would be hosting a regional to kick off the NCAA tournament. The Gators are no strangers to hosting a regional, as head baseball coach Kevin O’Sullivan has led Florida to host 13 of the 15 seasons he has been in Gainesville. 2023 marks the third-straight year that Florida has hosted an NCAA Regional.
Regardless of opponents, the Gainesville Regional will go on from June 2-5.
The Field of 64 will be announced on Monday, but On3’s Jonathan Wagner took a stab at projecting who would join the Gators in Gainesville and the rest of the Field of 64.
Projecting the Florida Regional
The Gators are projected to be the No. 2 overall seed, falling short of the No. 1 seed Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
As for the Gators’ projected opponents, Wagner has Oregon as a No. 2 seed in the regional, followed by No. 3 Troy and No. 4 Florida A&M.
Representing the Pac-12, the Oregon Ducks took home a victory in the conference tournament on Saturday. The Ducks are 37-20 on the season and finished the regular season 16-14 in conference play.
As for Troy, the Trojans finished 39-20, going 18-12 in conference. During the Sun Belt Tournament, Appalachian State sent the Trojans packing after beating them on Wednesday and Friday.
The Florida A&M Rattlers won the SWAC tournament on Sunday, allowing them an automatic bid to a Regional. The Rattlers are 29-28 on the season and went 19-12 in conference play.
If this were to be the Regional, Florida would play Florida A&M and Oregon and Troy would match up.
With Florida being the No. 2 overall seed, they would pair with the No. 15 overall seed, which would be Indiana State, according to On3’s projections. The other teams in Indiana State’s projected regional include No. 2 Boston College, No. 3 Kent State and No. 4 Central Connecticut State. The winner of the Gainesville Regional would take on the winner of the Terre Haute Regional for a chance to go to Omaha.
The official NCAA Field of 64 will be announced Monday at noon on ESPN.
