The super regional field is set. And it’s immediately apparent the first weekend of the NCAA tournament was kind to the home teams.
Twelve of the 16 regional hosts advanced to the super regional round — the most since 2013. The 16 hosts combined for a 45-13 record. Only No. 16 overall seed Oregon State, last year’s national champion, failed to win a game.
It should be noted, though, that some of those top seeds are fortunate to still be alive.
No. 1 seed UCLA, No. 7 Louisville, No. 10 East Carolina and No. 11 Stanford all had to work their way out of the losers bracket this past weekend. They each won twice against a better-positioned opponent — forcing a winner-take-all final and then clinching that regional title.
No. 9 Oklahoma State had a chance to avoid the do-or-die regional final, but it suffered a 5-2 defeat to UConn on Sunday. Still, the Cowboys recovered for a 3-1 win Monday.
So instead of upset-filled chaos on the final day of regionals, the tournament produced chalk. The five hosts who faced elimination in regional final games were all victorious.
There still were a few surprises last weekend, though.
Florida State, Michigan and Duke — three of the last four at-large teams selected to the tournament — all won their regionals. Auburn helped the SEC tie a record by becoming the sixth different school from the talent-rich league to advance to a super regional this year.
No. 2 Vanderbilt, No. 5 Arkansas, No. 6 Mississippi State, No. 8 Texas Tech, No. 12 Ole Miss, No. 13 LSU and No. 14 North Carolina each went a perfect 3-0 during the first weekend of the NCAA tournament.
Up next are eight best-of-three matchups. The winners will head to Omaha.
It’s the first super regional berth for Michigan since 2007. UCLA hasn’t made it this far since 2013. The other 14 teams qualified for at least one super regional in the previous five years.
Here are the eight super regional round pairings:
FRIDAY-SUNDAY
No. 10 East Carolina (47-16) at No. 7 Louisville (47-16)
11 a.m. (ESPN2), 2 p.m. (ESPNU), *11 a.m. (ESPN2)
No. 9 Oklahoma St. (39-19) at No. 8 Texas Tech (42-17)
2 p.m. (ESPN2), 5 p.m. (ESPNU), *5 p.m. (ESPNU)
Duke (34-25) at No. 2 Vanderbilt (52-10)
5 p.m. (ESPN2), 8 p.m. (ESPNU), *2 p.m. (ESPN2)
Michigan (44-19) at No. 1 UCLA (51-9)
8 p.m. (ESPN2), 8 p.m. (ESPN2), *8 p.m. (ESPN2)
SATURDAY-MONDAY
No. 12 Ole Miss (40-25) at No. 5 Arkansas (44-17)
11 a.m. (ESPN), 2 p.m. (ESPNU), *3 p.m. (ESPN2)
Florida St. (39-21) at No. 13 LSU (40-24)
2 p.m. (ESPN), 5 p.m. (ESPN2), *7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Auburn (36-25) at No. 14 North Carolina (45-17)
11 a.m. (ESPN2), TBA, (ESPN), *Noon (ESPN2)
No 11 Stanford (45-12) at No. 6 Mississippi St. (49-13)
2 p.m. (ESPN2), 8 p.m. (ESPNU), *6 p.m. (ESPN2)
*Game times and ESPN Network subject to change
