Regional Rooting Interests: May 24

The WVU baseball team has earned a very well-deserved day off after a big 5-1 win over Texas Tech.

Along with Brandon White’s and Alek Manoah’s heroics last night, the Mountaineers got a lot of games to go their way as regional bubble teams Baylor, UCSB, Oregon State and Texas A&M all fell.

Should WVU continue to win in Oklahoma City, the possibility of NCAA Regional games being played at Mon County Ballpark will become even more likely.

As the weekend presses forward and we all sit two days away from the NCAA selecting regional hosts, let’s take a look at what games we should all keep an eye on.

#23 North Carolina (39-17) vs. #17 Miami (39-17)

3 p.m. on AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh/ACC Network Extra

In the highly competitive ACC Pool D, both the Tar Heels and the Hurricanes have taken care of Virginia and will now compete against each other to clinch a spot in the semifinals.

Both teams are on the regional hosting bubble with Miami having more of an inside track, but the Tar Heels would make a strong argument with a win. Pool A surprise Boston College awaits the winner on Saturday.

#8 East Carolina (43-14) vs. Wichita State (27-30)

3 p.m. on Facebook Live

The Pirates look like a solid regional host, but Wichita State managed to cruise to an upset on Tuesday.

Should East Carolina fall, they would be eliminated in a fairly weak American Athletic tournament and would inch closer to the hosting bubble.

#22 Ole Miss (35-24) vs. #5 Arkansas (41-16)

4 p.m. on SEC Network

Arkansas is locked into a hosting bid and likely a national seed even after losing a very forgivable game to Georgia. There is absolutely no doubt about that.

The hope for Mountaineer fans watching this game is for the Razorbacks to avoid a situation where Ole Miss would be elevated to regional host hopeful.

#24 Dallas Baptist (40-16) at Illinois State (34-22)

Approx. 4 p.m. on ESPN+

Small Metroplex school Dallas Baptist has been quietly winning game after game in the Missouri Valley Conference and has been slowly ticking up in the polls.

Since a few hosting bubble teams fell yesterday, the Patriots have become a new possible threat to WVU’s hopes to playout the postseason at home. While Illinois State is a strong NCAA team in their own right, an upset in Normal would go a long way to help the Mountaineers keep a possible hosting favorite.

Kansas (32-25) vs. #10 Texas Tech (37-16)

4:15 p.m. on Fox College Sports Central

West Virginia awaits the winner of this game, and that’s the main reason it’s on this list.

Kansas won an 11-inning marathon over K-State to stick in OKC for another day and have been very feisty over the last few days. Don’t be surprised to see an upset here.

Cal Poly (27-27) at #14 UC Santa Barbara (44-8)

6 p.m. on BigWest.TV

The Mustangs managed to pick up a 3-0 shutout upset in Santa Barbara, which could give the NCAA selection committee a double take come Sunday.

If UCSB falls again this evening, it might put them on the outside looking in when hosts are announced this coming weekend as they have lost only one conference series so far.

Florida State (35-21) vs. #15 NC State (42-15)

7 p.m. on ACC Network Extra

The Wolfpack needed a ninth inning rally to beat Wake Forest and avoided upset.

Since their series win over North Carolina last week, it’s tough to knock NC State down from their spot in the projections as a regional host, mainly because they have yet to play any team that would make them fall too far in the RPI. Florida State is another one of those teams, but this game is till worth keeping an eye on.

#16 LSU (36-23) vs. #3 Mississippi State (46-12)

Approx. 7:30 p.m. on SEC Network

The rematch of Tuesday night’s 17-inning never-ending Mississippi State win should be great TV.

Currently LSU sits on the outside looking in, but has gone 2-1 in Hoover with the one loss being among the most forgivable in college baseball history. The debate between the Tigers and teams like WVU, Miami and NC State should be interesting to see over the weekend.

USC (24-28-1) at #13 Oregon State (35-17-1)

9 p.m. on Pac-12 Oregon

The Trojans pulled off a pretty big upset last night in Corvallis and have the opportunity to knock Oregon State down a couple more pegs with a possible series win.

Like I said yesterday however, what happens if there is a debate between WVU and Oregon State as a regional host? If the NCAA selection committee goes to a head-to-head comparison, they would have to roll with the Beavers.