It will only be 2016 national champion Coastal Carolina representing the state of South Carolina in the 2022 NCAA D-1 Baseball Tournament. The Chanticleers received an at-large bid from the committee thanks to an RPI of 30 and the #2 non-conference strength of schedule in the country. The non-conference strength of schedule apparently was a strong point of emphasis by the committee.
The Chants are 36-18-1 and went 21-8-1 in the highly regarded Sun Belt Conference which placed four teams in the tournament, the most of any non-Power Five league. They will be making their 18th tournament appearance and their third in the last four years.
Coastal is the #3 seed for the Greenville, NC Regional and will face Virginia Friday at 6:00 PM on ESPN+. East Carolina is the #1 seed for the regional and will play Coppin State Friday afternoon.
Wofford, the Southern Conference regular season champion and runner up in the tournament, was listed among the first four teams out of the field by committee chairman Army AD Mike Buddie, the former AD at Furman. The Terriers lost twice to UNC Greensboro on Sunday in the finals of the SOCON Tournament and finished with a #35 RPI and 42-16-1 record. Their non-conference strength of schedule was 90 and 24 of their wins came outside their league. Greensboro was made the #4 seed for the Georgia Southern regional.
Another regular season league champion from the state that was passed over was College of Charleston. The Cougars did not make the finals of the CAA Tournament. They finished with a 37-20 record and a #66 RPI. Their non-conference strength of schedule was 133 and the Cougars had 17 non-league wins.
USC was already eliminated from tournament consideration after a first-round loss Tuesday night in the SEC Tournament left the Gamecocks with a 27-28 record, their first losing mark since 1996. Clemson, however, had high hopes of making the field by either winning the ACC Tournament or making a strong showing. The Tigers did neither losing both of their tournament games in lopsided fashion.
Clemson finished with an RPI of 34, the second highest of the teams not in the tournament behind #32 NC State. The Tigers had a 35-23 record including a 13-16 ACC record. Their overall strength of schedule is 17th but their non-conference slate is 87th, and the Tigers had 22 non-conference wins.
This marks the second straight season Clemson has missed the tournament, the first time for that since the mid-80s. And this marks the first time both the Tigers and Gamecocks failed to make the tournament in the same season for the first time since 1973.
NCAA D-1 Tournament Bracket
