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South Carolina Baseball: An updated projection says Gamecocks will not face rival Clemson Tigers in NCAA Tournament

D1Baseball's most updated NCAA Tournament projection does not have the South Carolina baseball team traveling to Clemson but to Chapel Hill.

By Kevin Miller

South Carolina baseball's Parker Noland during the controversial call at the plate on Saturday
South Carolina baseball's Parker Noland during the controversial call at the plate on Saturday / Vasha Hunt-USA TODAY Sports
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To say the least, South Carolina baseball had an interesting SEC Tournament. The Gamecocks won three games over the Alabama Crimson Tide, Arkansas Razorbacks, and Kentucky Wildcats, but they lost both times to the LSU Tigers in gut-wrenching walk-off fashion.

The Gamecocks hit the ball well for most of the tournament but played absolutely horrendous defense (tying an all-time record for SEC Tournament erros with 12 but also committing about 10 more that could have been recorded as errors) and didn't pitch well enough to overcome most of their mistakes.

After entering Hoover on the NCAA Tournament bubble, Mark Kingston's team has secured their place in the field, but where they will end up won't be decided until the NCAA Tournament Selection Show on Monday.

On Sunday, D1Baseball released another NCAA Tournament mock bracket, and the Gamecocks once again were projected as a 2-seed in the field of 64. However, instead of being projected to play in the Regional hosted by the rival Clemson Tigers as they have been for most of the last two weeks, USC was placed in the Chapel Hill, North Carolina Regional in D1Baseball's latest projection.

In this projection, North Carolina is the #3 overall seed, and the Chapel Hill Regional is paired with the Corvallis, Oregon Regional hosted by the Oregon State Beavers. In Chapel Hill, the North Carolina Tar Heels, South Carolina Gamecocks, UNC-Wilmington Seahawks, and Sacred Heart Pioneers would battle for the Chapel Hill Regional title, and the Oregon State Beavers, Duke Blue Devils, Connecticut Huskies, and Evansville Purple Aces would face off for the Corvallis Regional crown.

This is just a projection from D1Baseball, but it is interesting to see a different host site other than Clemson for the Gamecocks' postseason destination. Ultimately, with some conference tournament finals still unfinished, things can change between now and the selection process' finalization.

The NCAA Tournament Selection Show will take place at Noon ET on Monday and will be broadcast on ESPN2 and streamed on the ESPN app.

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