By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina is a season-high No. 3 in the D1 Baseball Top 25 poll, and multiple outlets project the Tar Heels as a national seed in the NCAA tournament.
The Tar Heels, who won two of three games at Florida State, moved up one spot in the poll after being ranked No. 4 the previous three weeks. It’s their highest ranking since they were No. 3 on March 4, 2019. The Seminoles slipped four spots to No. 6.
UNC moved up one spot in the Baseball America poll to a season-high No. 2. That’s the Tar Heels’ highest ranking in that poll since they were No. 1 on May 6, 2013. That team was the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament, made the College World Series and finished 59–12.
In NCAA tournament projections, UNC (39–12) is On3’s No. 3 seed, D1 Baseball’s No. 4 seed and USA Today’s No. 8 seed. That would make the Tar Heels a national seed, meaning that they would host regionals and, should they advance, Super Regionals. On3’s Chapel Hill Regional field includes Arizona, UConn and Long Island, while D1 Baseball projects the other teams to be Florida, Rhode Island and Rider and USA Today has Oklahoma, Kansas State and Yale headed to Chapel Hill.
Carolina, No. 7 in the RPI with a schedule strength ranked 41st, is 8–5 against teams in the RPI top 25, 15–7 against teams that are 26 to 50 in the RPI, and 16–0 against all other teams.
The ACC tournament opens Tuesday at Durham Bulls Athletic Park with UNC as the No. 3 seed after finishing a half-game back of the Yellow Jackets. UNC doesn’t play until the final quarterfinal game at 7 p.m. Friday, when it will face Virginia, Notre Dame or Boston College.
Other ACC teams in the D1 Baseball poll are No. 14 Clemson (up one spot), No. 16 Georgia Tech (wasn’t ranked the previous week), and No. 22 N.C. State (down nine spots after losing two of three at home last weekend against Stanford.
Duke, which was No. 20 last week, dropped out after losing two of three at home against the Yellow Jackets. Louisville was No. 21 last week but dropped out after losing to Ballarmine, then dropping two of three against Wake Forest.
D1 Baseball Top 25
| Rank | Team | Record | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LSU | 42-13 | 1 |
| 2 | Texas | 42-11 | 3 |
| 3 | North Carolina | 39-12 | 4 |
| 4 | Oregon | 41-13 | 5 |
| 5 | Arkansas | 43-12 | 8 |
| 6 | Florida State | 37-13 | 2 |
| 7 | Oregon State | 41-12-1 | 7 |
| 8 | Auburn | 38-17 | 6 |
| 9 | Vanderbilt | 39-16 | 9 |
| 10 | Georgia | 42-14 | 10 |
| 11 | Coastal Carolina | 44-11 | 11 |
| 12 | Southern Miss | 41-13 | 19 |
| 13 | UCLA | 39-15 | 14 |
| 14 | Clemson | 41-15 | 15 |
| 15 | Florida | 37-19 | 23 |
| 16 | Georgia Tech | 39-16 | NR |
| 17 | Ole Miss | 37-18 | NR |
| 18 | Dallas Baptist | 38-14 | 24 |
| 19 | Northeastern | 45-9 | 25 |
| 20 | UC Irvine | 39-13 | 12 |
| 21 | Tennessee | 41-15 | 17 |
| 22 | N.C. State | 33-18 | 13 |
| 23 | Alabama | 40-15 | 18 |
| 24 | TCU | 37-17 | NR |
| 25 | Kansas | 42-14 | NR |
ACC tournament
At Durham Bulls Athletic Park
Buy tickets at durhambulls.com or theacc.com/tickets
Tuesday’s first round
No. 16 California 12, No. 9 Miami 2, 8 innings
No. 12 Virginia Tech 7, No. 13 Stanford 4
No. 15 Pittsburgh 13, No. 10 Louisville 11
No. 14 Boston College 5, No. 11 Notre Dame 4, 10 innings
Wednesday’s second round
California 14, No. 8 seed Wake Forest 12
No. 5 Clemson 6, Virginia Tech 1
No. 7 Duke 4, Pittsburgh 3
Boston College 12, No. 6 Virginia 8
Quarterfinals
Thursday’s results
No. 1 seed Georgia Tech 10, California 3
Clemson 7, No. 4 seed N.C. State 6
Friday’s results
No. 2 seed Florida State 14, Duke 7
No. 3 seed North Carolina 7, Boston College 2
Saturday’s semifinals
Clemson 9, Georgia Tech 4
North Carolina 7, Florida State 5
Sunday’s championship
North Carolina 14, Clemson 4
ACC standings
| League | GB | Overall | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 16 Georgia Tech | 19–11 | — | 39–16 |
| No. 6 Florida State | 17–10 | ½ | 37–13 |
| No. 3 North Carolina | 18–11 | ½ | 39–12 |
| No. 22 N.C. State | 17–11 | 1 | 33–18 |
| No. 14 Clemson | 18–12 | 1 | 41–15 |
| Virginia | 16–11 | 1½ | 32–17 |
| Duke | 17–13 | 2 | 36–18 |
| Wake Forest | 16–14 | 3 | 36–19 |
| Miami | 15–14 | 3½ | 31–23 |
| No. 21 Louisville | 15–15 | 4 | 35–20 |
| Notre Dame | 14–16 | 5 | 32–20 |
| Virginia Tech | 12–18 | 7 | 30–24 |
| Boston College | 11–19 | 8 | 26–28 |
| Stanford | 11–19 | 8 | 27–24 |
| Pittsburgh | 10–20 | 9 | 27–26 |
| California | 9–21 | 10½ | 22–30 |
Thursday-Saturday series
No. 16 Georgia Tech at Duke: Thursday: GT 7–6; Friday: Duke 14–4 (7 innings); Saturday: GT 8–2
No. 14 Clemson at Pittsburgh: Clemson swept 6–1, 11–2 and 13–6
Virginia at Virginia Tech: Thursday: Va. 12–2; Friday: VT 5–4; Saturday: Va. 3–1
Stanford at No. 22 N.C. State: Thursday: State 7–2: Friday: Stanford 4–3, 10 innings; Saturday: Stanford 6–3
Wake Forest at Louisville: Thursday: WF 14–4; Friday: WF 5–4; Saturday: UL 14–9
No. 3 North Carolina at No. 6 Florida State: Thursday: UNC 8–3: Friday: UNC 11–1, 7 innings; Saturday: FSU 5–4
Notre Dame at Miami: Thursday: ND 3–2; Friday: Miami 15–1, 7 innings: Saturday: ND 12–2
Boston College at California: Thursday: Cal 8–6; Friday: BC 10–9; Saturday: Cal 4–3, 10 innings
UNC scores
| Date(s) | Day/ month | Times | Opponent (current rank) |
|---|---|---|---|
| February | |||
| 13–15 | Fri.-Sat. | 4, noon, 1 | vs. Indiana |
| 17 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Richmond |
| 18 | Wednesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Longwood |
| 20–22 | Fri.-Sun. | 4 (Greenville), 2 (DBAP), 2 (CH) | vs. East Carolina |
| 24 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. N.C. A&T |
| 25 | Wednesday | 4 p.m. | vs. VCU |
| 27–28 | Fri., Sat. | 4 p.m., 2 p.m. | vs. Le Moyne |
| March | |||
| 1 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | vs. Le Moyne |
| 3 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Elon |
| 6–8 | Fri.-Sun. | 4, 2, 1 | vs. Virginia |
| 10 | Tuesday | 4 p.m. | vs. Bucknell |
| 13–15 | Fri.-Sun. | 9, 5, 4 | at California |
| 18 | Wednesday | 4 p.m. | vs. UNCG |
| 20–22 | Fri.-Sun. | 8, 2, 1 | vs. No. 8 Louisville |
| 24 | Tuesday | 6:30 | vs. South Carolina in Charlotte |
| 27–29 | Fri.-Sun. | 6:30, 3, 1 | at Notre Dame |
| 31 | Tuesday | 8 p.m. | vs. Campbell |
| April | |||
| 2–4 | Thur.-Sat. | 6, 6, 2 | vs. Boston College |
| 7 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Charlotte |
| 10–12 | Fri.-Sun. | 6, 2, 12:30 | at No. 19 Clemson |
| 14 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. UNCW |
| 17–19 | Fri-Sun. | 6, noon, 1 | vs. No. 5 Georgia Tech |
| 21 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | vs. High Point |
| 23–25 | Fri.-Sun. | 7, 6, 3 | at Duke |
| 28 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 6 Coastal Carolina |
| 29 | Wednesday | 6 p.m. | vs. Queens |
| May | |||
| 3 | Sunday | 2 p.m. (non-conference game) | vs. Duke |
| 6 | Wednesday | 6 p.m. | vs. Winthrop |
| 8–10 | Fri.-Sun. | 6, noon, 1 | vs. Pittsburgh |
| 12 | Tuesday | 6 p.m. | at UNCW |
| 14–16 | Thurs.-Sat. | 7, 6, 1 | at No. 17 N.C. State |
| 19–24 | Tues.-Sun. | ACC tournament | Charlotte |
| 29–31 | Fri.-Sun. | NCAA Regionals | Campus sites |
| June | |||
| 5–7 | Fri.-Sun. | NCAA Super Regionals | Campus sites |
| 12–22 | Fri.-Mon | College World Series | Omaha, Neb. |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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