College Baseball In North Carolina (18 NCAA Teams):
North Carolina Hosting Three
League Tournaments This Week,
With NCAA Bids/Seeds At Stake
By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
It’s conference championship week in college baseball, and the state of North Carolina is hosting league tournaments in Charlotte (Atlantic Coast Conference), High Point (Big South Conference) and Wilmington (Coastal Athletic Association).
Meanwhile, some in-state teams are headed to Alabama, Florida and South Carolina for their respective conference tournaments, while others failed to achieve a high enough regular-season finish for a bid to their leagues’ invitation-only postseason events.
North Carolina is home to 18 Division One baseball programs, eight of which made the 2023 NCAA Baseball Championship: Campbell, Charlotte, Duke, East Carolina, North Carolina, NC State, UNC Wilmington and Wake Forest. Those eight NCAA bids were the most of any state last year and the most in North Carolina history.
Duke, ECU, UNC, NC State and Wake Forest enter this year’s postseason knowing they’ll be invited to the NCAA Tournament but hoping to sustain or achieve a much-desired top-16 seed in the Big Bracket with their performance this week. UNCW also appears well-positioned for an NCAA bid.
The other participating in-state teams likely will need to win their conference tournament, and its accompanying automatic bid, to make the NCAA field. UNC Greensboro (#1 seed in Southern Conference) and High Point (#2 seed in Big South) are among the favorites in their respective league championships.
Below are additional details on the conference tournaments for each of the eight leagues that have one or more North Carolina-based team(s) as a baseball-playing member.
Atlantic Coast Conference
Championship City: Charlotte, N.C.
Championship Site: Truist Field (home field of Charlotte Knights minor-league baseball team)
Championship Dates: May 21-26 (Tuesday-Sunday)
Baseball-Playing Members: 14
NC-Based Teams: four (Duke, North Carolina, NC State, Wake Forest)
Tournament Invitations: top 12 regular-season finishers
TV/Streaming Coverage: ACC Network (ESPN2 for title game)
Our 2024 Bracket/Details: LINK
Coastal Athletic Association
Championship City: Wilmington, N.C.
Championship Site: Brooks Field (UNCW’s home field)
Championship Dates: May 22-26 (Wednesday-Sunday)
Baseball-Playing Members: 12
NC-Based Teams: four (Campbell, Elon, North Carolina A&T, UNCW)
Tournament Invitations: top six regular-season finishers (#1 seed Charleston, #2 UNCW, #3 Northeastern, #4 Delaware, #5 William & Mary, #6 Hofstra)
TV/Streaming Coverage: FloBaseball
Official 2024 Bracket/Details: LINK
American Athletic Conference
Championship City: Clearwater, Fla.
Championship Site: BayCare Ballpark (home field of the Clearwater Threshers minor-league baseball team)
Championship Dates: May 21-26 (Tuesday-Sunday)
Baseball-Playing Members: 10
NC-Based Teams: two (Charlotte, East Carolina)
Tournament Invitations: top eight regular-season finishers (#1 seed ECU, #2 UTSA, #3 Tulane, #4 Wichita State, #5 UAB, #6 Florida Atlantic, #7 Charlotte, #8 Rice)
TV/Streaming Coverage: ESPN+ (ESPNews for title game)
Official 2024 Bracket/Details: LINK
Big South Conference
Championship City: High Point, N.C.
Championship Site: Truist Point (home field of the High Point Rockers minor-league baseball team)
Championship Dates: May 23-25 (Thursday-Saturday)
Baseball-Playing Members: nine
NC-Based Teams: three (Gardner-Webb, High Point, UNC Asheville)
Tournament Invitations: top four regular-season finishers (#1 seed Presbyterian, #2 High Point, #3 USC Upstate, #4 Charleston Southern)
TV/Streaming Coverage: ESPN+
Official 2024 Bracket/Details: LINK
Atlantic-10 Conference
Championship City: Tysons, Va.
Championship Site: Capital One Park (home of the Potomac League, a college summer baseball league)
Championship Dates: May 21-25 (Tuesday-Saturday)
Baseball-Playing Members: 12
NC-Based Teams: one (Davidson)
Tournament Invitations: top seven regular-season finishers (#1 seed Saint Louis, #2 VCU, #3 Dayton, #4 Richmond, #5 George Washington, #6 UMass, #7 Saint Joseph’s)
TV/Streaming Coverage: ESPN+
Official 2024 Bracket/Details: LINK
Atlantic Sun Conference
Championship City: DeLand, Fla.
Championship Site: Melching Field at Conrad Park (Stetson’s home field)
Championship Dates: May 21-26 (Tuesday-Sunday)
Baseball-Playing Members: 12
NC-Based Teams: one (Queens)
Tournament Invitations: top eight regular-season finishers (#1 seed Austin Peay, #2 Kennesaw State, #3 Stetson, #4 Florida Gulf Coast, #5 Jacksonville, #6 Central Arkansas, #7 Lipscomb, #8 Eastern Kentucky)
TV/Streaming Coverage: ESPN+
Official 2024 Bracket/Details: LINK
Southern Conference
Championship City: Greenville, S.C.
Championship Site: Fluor Field (home field of the Greenville Drive minor-league baseball team)
Championship Dates: May 22-26 (Wednesday-Sunday)
Baseball-Playing Members: eight
NC-Based Teams: two (UNC Greensboro, Western Carolina)
Tournament Invitations: top eight regular-season finishers (#1 seed UNCG, #2 Samford, #3 ETSU, #4 Western Carolina, #5 Wofford, #6 VMI, #7 Mercer, #8 The Citadel)
TV/Streaming Coverage: ESPN+
Official 2024 Bracket/Details: LINK
Sun Belt Conference
Championship City: Montgomery, Ala.
Championship Site: Riverwalk Stadium (home field of the Montgomery Biscuits minor-league baseball team)
Championship Dates: May 21-26 (Tuesday-Sunday)
Baseball-Playing Members: 14
NC-Based Teams: one (Appalachian State)
Tournament Invitations: top 10 regular-season finishers (#1 seed Louisiana, #2 Southern Miss, #3 Troy, #4 James Madison, #5 Georgia Southern, #6 App State, #7 Coastal Carolina, #8 Old Dominion, #9 South Alabama, #10 Georgia State)
TV/Streaming Coverage: ESPN+
Official 2024 Bracket/Details: LINK