Bracketology projections for Florida Baseball are starting to get tight and the Gators are in a position where they can't afford to drop games where they are the favorite. Last night Florida took care of Georgia Southern, a respectable team but one Florida had to beat to stay afloat.
There was zero drama as Florida run-ruled the Eagles 12-1, capped up by Luke Heyman hitting a walk-off grand slam in the 7th inning.
Florida now moves to 28-15 overall with a massive series against Arkansas looming. We highlighted yesterday how bracketology was all over the place with Florida, and On3 did a deep dive on why they think Florida is one of the last teams in the field of 64 for now.
The projection for Florida Baseball is tight
Following a series win over Mississippi State, the Gators find themselves as one of the last four teams in the NCAA Tournament, according to a projection by On3's Jonathan Wagner. Florida sits alongside USC, Kansas State, and UC Santa Barbara as the final teams in the field. McNeese, UConn, Mississippi State, and Hawaii are currently on the outside looking in, making up the first four teams out. Southeastern Louisiana, South Florida, Creighton, and Florida Atlantic trail behind, but are still on the "next four out" location of the bubble.
Wagner added information on the current last four teams in the field, indicating a victory goal that the Gators will need to meet for tournament inclusion: "USC leads the way as one of our last teams in, but the Trojans are somewhat comfortable, at least compared to the rest of the bubble. Florida is in a similar boat, but at 6-12 in the SEC, they must find a way to get to 12-13 SEC wins to get in. Kansas State's 0-5 week was a disaster, but for now, they're still in. They have work to do down the stretch, as does UC Santa Barbara, who is trending in the right direction and back in the field."
The projection is a victory compared to last week's bracketology, where the Gators sat on the wrong side of the bubble. A midweek win over Stetson and ever-important SEC road series victory over Mississippi State sent the Gators to the next tier while the Bulldogs fell out of the projected field.
The full NCAA Tournament field will be announced on Monday, May 26.
The Bracket
Projected in the Conway Regional, the Gators would be joined by top-seeded Coasta Carolina second-seeded Georgia Tech, and automatic qualifier Austin Peay, the representing team of the Atlantic Sun conference. Florida would play Georgia Tech in their first tournament game before awaiting the winner of Coastal Carolina and Austin Peay (if the Gators won) or the loser of the game (if the Gators lost).
The regional is a traditional double-elimination style, and the regional winner would face the victor of the Tallahassee Regional, spearheaded by rival Florida State.
The Tallahassee Regional is also made up of second-seeded Dallas Baptist, third-seeded Kentucky, and automatic qualifier Central Connecticut, the representing team of the Northeast Conference.
The winner of the Super Regional would then head to the College World Series in Omaha.
What's Next?
Florida will welcome fifth-ranked Arkansas to Gainesville for a weekend series, with the first game taking place on Friday. The Razorbacks enter the series as the heavy favorite, but the Gators are playing at their highest level of the season. They've won eight of their last nine (albeit against some weaker competition) and recorded 32 runs of offense combined during their series win over Mississippi State.
Though another series victory may be a tall task, the Gators need to salvage at least one game to inch near the twelve or thirteen win total that will be needed for NCAA Tournament inclusion.