NCAA Baseball: Championship Week

For Many ACC, NC-Based Teams,
League Tournaments Are Do-Or-Die

By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
(last updated May 26, 2025)

It’s conference tournament week in college baseball, and for many teams that means one final, do-or-die attempt to make the NCAA Baseball Championship.

Among the 18 Division One baseball teams in North Carolina, only four can be confident that they will receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament if they don’t earn an automatic bid as a conference champion. All four are members of the Atlantic Coast Conference: Duke, NC State, UNC and Wake Forest.

The Blue Devils (36-18 entering postseason play), Wolfpack (33-18), Tar Heels (39-12) and Demon Deacons (31-23) all have spent time in the national Top 25 this season.

UNC, ranked #2 nationally by Baseball America, is in great position for a top-eight national seed, meaning the Tar Heels would be guaranteed to host a regional and — if they advance from there — a Super Regional in the NCAA Tournament. Duke, NC State and Wake Forest are projected as likely #2 seeds in the regional round.

Elsewhere in the ACC, Florida State (37-13), Clemson (41-15) and regular-season champion Georgia Tech (39-16) also are ranked in the Top 25 and comfortably positioned for NCAA at-large bids, if needed. Louisville (35-20) and Miami (31-23) are expected to make the national tournament, too, and Virginia (32-17) is considered a bubble team.

While the state of North Carolina is coming off perhaps its best two-year run of high-quality college baseball depth in history, there almost certainly will be a dropoff this season from the Old North State’s record-setting number of NCAA Tournament bids (including an all-time high of eight in 2023) in recent years.

The expected presence of Duke, NC State, UNC and Wake Forest will keep the state among the national leaders in NCAA Tournament participants, but to finish first in that category for the third year in a row, another team or two (beyond the ACC) will have to win its conference tournament this week.

The top candidates to achieve that feat include UNC Wilmington (the #2 seed in the Coastal Athletic Association Tournament), Charlotte (the #2 seed in the American Athletic Conference Tournament), High Point (the #2 seed in the Big South Tournament), Campbell (the #3 seed in the CAA Tournament) and Davidson (the #4 seed in the Atlantic-10 Tournament).

East Carolina, which has made the NCAA Tournament eight times in coach Cliff Godwin’s nine full campaigns in Greenville, is another possibility, although the Pirates finished only tied for fifth in the 10-team AAC during the regular season.

NOTE: RESULTS = UPDATED WITH THIS WEEK’S WINNERS BELOW.

Conference Tournament Week

ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE

Venue: Durham Bulls Athletic Park
City: Durham, N.C.
Dates: May 20-25 (Tuesday-Sunday)
Format: single-elimination; staggered bracket rewards higher seeds
Baseball-Playing Members: 16
NC-Based Teams (RS conference finish): North Carolina (third), NC State (fourth), Duke (seventh), Wake Forest (eighth)
League Tournament Invitees: all 16 teams
Top Seeds: #1 Georgia Tech, #2 Florida State, #3 North Carolina, #4 NC State
Champion: North Carolina

ATLANTIC-10 CONFERENCE

Venue: Capital One Park
City: Tysons, Va.
Dates: May 20-24 (Tuesday-Saturday)
Format: double-elimination
Baseball-Playing Members: 12
NC-Based Teams (RS conference finish): Davidson (tied for third)
League Tournament Invitees: top seven in conference standings
Top Seeds: #1 Rhode Island, #2 George Mason, #3 Saint Louis, #4 Davidson
Champion: Rhode Island

ATLANTIC SUN CONFERENCE

Venue: Melching Field at Conrad Park
City: DeLand, Fla.
Dates: May 20-25 (Tuesday-Sunday)
Format: double-elimination
Baseball-Playing Members: 12
NC-Based Teams (RS conference finish): Queens (12th; not invited)
League Tournament Invitees: top four in each division (eight total)
Top Seeds: #1 Austin Peay/#2 Lipscomb; #1 Stetson/#2 Jacksonville (by division)
Champion: Stetson/Florida Gulf Coast (co-champions/weather)

AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

Venue: BayCare Ballpark
City: Clearwater, Fla.
Dates: May 20-25 (Tuesday-Sunday)
Format: double-elimination
Baseball-Playing Members: 10
NC-Based Teams (RS conference finish): Charlotte (second), East Carolina (fifth)
League Tournament Invitees: top eight in conference standings
Top Seeds: #1 UTSA, #2 Charlotte, #3 South Florida, #4 Florida Atlantic
Champion: East Carolina

BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE

Venue: Truist Point
City: High Point, N.C.
Dates: May 21-24 (Wednesday-Saturday)
Format: double-elimination
Baseball-Playing Members: nine
NC-Based Teams (RS conference finish): High Point (second), UNC Asheville (seventh), Gardner-Webb (ninth)
League Tournament Invitees: top six in conference standings (UNC Asheville and Gardner-Webb not invited)
Top Seeds: #1 USC Upstate, #2 High Point, #3 Charleston Southern, #4 Radford
Champion: USC Upstate

COASTAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION

Venue: The Ballpark at Patriots Point
City: Mount Pleasant, S.C.
Dates: May 21-24 (Wednesday-Saturday)
Format: double-elimination
Baseball-Playing Members: 12
NC-Based Teams (RS conference finish): UNC Wilmington (second), Campbell (third), Elon (sixth), North Carolina A&T (11th)
League Tournament Invitees: top six in conference standings (A&T not invited)
Top Seeds:#1 Northeastern, #2 UNCW, #3 Campbell, #4 Charleston
Champion: Northeastern

SOUTHERN CONFERENCE

Venue: Fluor Field
City: Greenville, S.C.
Dates: May 21-25 (Wednesday-Sunday)
Format: single-elimination on Wednesday (lower seeds), then double-elimination
Baseball-Playing Members: eight
NC-Based Teams (RS conference finish): Western Carolina (fifth), UNC Greensboro (sixth)
League Tournament Invitees: all eight teams
Top Seeds: #1 ETSU, #2 Samford, #3 The Citadel, #4 Mercer
Champion: ETSU

SUN BELT CONFERENCE

Venue: Riverwalk Stadium
City: Montgomery, Ala.
Dates: May 20-25 (Tuesday-Sunday)
Format: single-elimination on Tuesday (lower seeds), then double-elimination
Baseball-Playing Members: 14
NC-Based Teams (RS conference finish): Appalachian State (ninth)
League Tournament Invitees: top 10 in conference standings
Top Seeds: #1 Coastal Carolina, #2 Southern Miss, #3 Troy, #4 Marshall
Champion: Coastal Carolina