Even when considering March Madness, there’s nothing quite as hectic as the first round of the NCAA Baseball Tournament, when a field of 64 is reduced to 16 in the span of four days. After Monday’s final regional championship games, that’s the number we’re left with heading into the super regionals this weekend. Notably absent from that group are a large number of host teams and national seeds.
NCAA Baseball Tournament 2014: Super regionals set
A wild first week of the tournament concluded Monday, leaving just three of the eight national seeds standing. The NCAA has announced the host sites and schedules for the second round.
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Nine of the 16 regional hosts failed to make it out of a wild first round slammed with upsets. Five of the eight national seeds were booted, including the top two, Oregon State and Florida. Four three-seeds won a regional. Even a four-seed made it -- College of Charleston knocked off the Gators, the regular season champs of the mighty SEC. In fact, only two of the record 10 SEC teams that made it in are still standing (Ole Miss and Vanderbilt).
NCAA Baseball Tournament
To put a bow on the weekend of insanity, a Stanford freshman hit a walkoff two-run homer with his team down to its last out to lift the Cardinal over No. 4 Indiana on Monday night.
In short, the last four days have been pandemonium.
With so many national seeds biting the dust, the NCAA had to do some scrambling to set the host sites for the next round. Those were released on Tuesday morning, along with the times and TV schedules for each game. Note that half the games will start on Friday and the other half start on Saturday.
For an updated bracket, visit NCAA.com.
All times Eastern
Stillwater: UC Irvine vs. Oklahoma State
Game 1 -- Friday, 9:30 p.m. -- ESPNU
Game 2 -- Saturday, 10 p.m. -- ESPNU
Game 3 (if necessary) -- Sunday, 9 p.m. -- ESPNU
Austin: Houston vs. Texas
Game 1 -- Friday, 4 p.m. -- ESPN2
Game 2 -- Saturday, 2 p.m. -- ESPN
Game 3 (if necessary) -- Sunday, 2 p.m. -- ESPN
Louisville: Kennesaw State vs. Louisville
Game 1 -- Friday, 6:30 p.m. -- ESPNU
Game 2 -- Saturday, 7 p.m. -- ESPNU
Game 3 (if necessary) -- Sunday, 6 p.m. -- ESPN2
Nashville: Stanford vs. Vanderbilt
Game 1 -- Friday, 1 p.m. -- ESPN2
Game 2 -- Saturday, 3 p.m. -- ESPN2
Game 3 (if necessary) -- Sunday, 3 p.m. -- ESPN2
Lubbock: College of Charleston vs. Texas Tech
Game 1 -- Saturday, 1 p.m. -- ESPNU
Game 2 -- Sunday, 3 p.m. -- ESPNU
Game 3 (if necessary) -- Monday, 1 p.m. -- ESPN2
Fort Worth: Pepperdine vs. (7) TCU
Game 1 -- Saturday, 4 p.m. -- ESPNU
Game 2 -- Sunday, 6 p.m. -- ESPNU
Game 3 (if necessary) -- Monday, 7 p.m. -- ESPNU
Lafayette: Ole Miss vs. (6) Louisiana-Lafayette
Game 1 -- Saturday, 8 p.m. -- ESPN2
Game 2 -- Sunday, 9 p.m. -- ESPN2
Game 3 (if necessary) -- Monday, 7 p.m. -- ESPN2
Charlottesville: Maryland vs. (3) Virginia
Game 1 -- Saturday, noon -- ESPN2
Game 2 -- Sunday, noon -- ESPN2
Game 3 (if necessary) -- Monday, 4 p.m. -- ESPN2
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