The setup
Texas finished 40-13 in their first SEC season and earned the No. 6 overall seed in the tournament. The Longhorns survived the toughest conference baseball plays without missing a beat, won series in Athens and Lexington, and look every bit like the host site they were going to be either way. Jim Schlossnagle, in his second season at Texas after coming from Texas A&M, has the Longhorns back to feeling like Texas.
UFCU Disch-Falk Field has been one of the toughest places to play all season. The Longhorns went deep into the season undefeated at home and ride that home-field advantage into a regional weekend that should be heavily favoring them. Auto bid programs round out the bracket with chip-on-shoulder energy.
UC Santa Barbara at 38-18 is the most credentialed two seed in this bracket, a Big West team that has been a regional regular for years. Tarleton State at 37-19 is the WAC auto bid winner playing in their first NCAA Tournament since reclassifying to Division I, a milestone moment for the program. Holy Cross is the Patriot League champion at 25-28.
The teams
Texas
First SEC season produced a No. 6 overall seed. Texas hosted regionals 31 times in program history, more than any school in the country. Jim Schlossnagle, in his second year after coming over from Texas A&M, has the program rolling and Disch-Falk has been one of the toughest places to play all spring.
UC Santa Barbara
Andrew Checketts has UCSB back in the regional conversation. The Gauchos play deep in the Big West, and 38 wins reflects a balanced offensive attack and a pitching staff that grinds. The kind of two seed that has won regionals before from this slot.
Tarleton State
First NCAA Tournament appearance in program history after reclassifying to Division I. The Texans won the WAC tournament with a roster that has been building toward this moment for years. A 37-win season earns them the three seed and a date with their state's flagship.
Holy Cross
Patriot League champions. The Crusaders won their conference tournament to grab the auto bid at 25-28 overall. Cross-country trip to Texas is a quick turnaround, but the program embraces the regional weekend experience for what it is.
What's at stake
Texas has the deepest pitching in the regional and a lineup that survived SEC opposition all spring. The Longhorns should advance to the super regional with relatively few complications, which is the kind of seeding line that gets every other team in the bracket fired up.
The Tarleton State story is going to dominate Friday's coverage. Their first NCAA Tournament appearance ever, against an in-state rival they would have played in regular-season scheduling if circumstances had differed. UCSB at the same time is a perfectly capable two seed that does not want to be overlooked.
The super regional pairing with the Eugene winner adds another layer. Whoever comes out of the Oregon vs Oregon State four-team weekend in Eugene is going to be road-tested and dangerous. If Texas advances and Oregon State emerges from Eugene, that's a juicy super regional that gets played in Austin under bracketing rules with Texas as the higher national seed.