South Carolina Baseball: USC picked as 10-seed in latest NCAA Tournament projection

South Carolina baseball has had an up-and-down year in 2024, but thanks to a tough strength of schedule and a strong record at home, the Gamecocks have done enough to be in the conversation to host a Regional in the NCAA Tournament.

According to the latest NCAA Tournament projections from D1Baseball, Mark Kingston's team is slated to be the 10th overall seed on this year's road to Omaha, making them a 1-seed in a Regional they would host.

In these projections, the 1-seeded South Carolina Gamecocks are matched up with the 2-seed Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, 3-seed Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, and 4-seed USC-Upstate Spartans. The winner of the Regional would play the winner of the Regional hosted by the Florida State Seminoles. The UConn Huskies, Texas Tech Red Raiders, and Florida A&M Rattlers are also in the Tallahassee Regional.

Being a 10-seed would mean that the Gamecocks are in line to host a Regional again in 2024, but it would not guarantee a Super Regional hosting spot with a Regional victory. Generally, as long as NCAA Tournament bidding goes as it should, the top-16 seeds host Regionals, while the top-8 seeds are guaranteed to host a Super Regional if they advance past the Regional round.

A lot can change over the next several weeks as South Carolina baseball still has two mid-week contests, three SEC weekend series, and the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Alabama in the month of May. However, with USC likely to be favored in two of those three series (on the road against Missouri and at home against Georgia), if the YardCocks handle their business, they will host a Regional for the second year in a row.

The Gamecocks have not been to the College World Series since making three National Championship series in a row from 2010-2012, winning two of them.