By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina is No. 1 in the latest D1 Baseball Top 25 after winning the ACC championship last weekend, the Tar Heels’ highest ranking in the history of that poll.
The Tar Heels (42–16) jumped two spots while Vanderbilt (42–16), the No. 1 overall NCAA tournament seed, shot up seven spots to No. 2 after winning the SEC title.
UNC, the No. 5 overall seed, is also No. 1 in the USA Today coaches poll. The Tar Heels open Chapel Hill Regional play at noon Friday (ACC Network) against Holy Cross.
LSU (43–14) fell from No. 1 to No. 3 in the D1 Baseball poll and is the No. 6 overall seed. No. 4-ranked Texas (42–12; down two spots) is the No. 2 overall seed, and No. 5-ranked Oregon (42–14; down one spot) is the No. 12 overall seed.
Florida State (38–14), which the Tar Heels defeated 7–5 in the ACC tournament semifinals on Saturday, dropped one spot to No. 7. Clemson (44–16), which lost to UNC 14–4 in the ACC tournament championship game, remained at No. 14.
The only other ACC team in the poll is Georgia Tech (40–17), which fell two spots to No. 18. N.C. State was No. 22 last week but fell out of the poll.
D1 Baseball Top 25
| Rank | Team | Record | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Carolina | 42–12 | 3 |
| 2 | Vanderbilt | 42–16 | 9 |
| 3 | LSU | 43–14 | 1 |
| 4 | Texas | 42–12 | 2 |
| 5 | Oregon | 42–14 | 4 |
| 6 | Arkansas | 43–13 | 5 |
| 7 | Florida State | 38–14 | 6 |
| 8 | Oregon State | 41–12–1 | 7 |
| 9 | Auburn | 38–18 | 8 |
| 10 | Georgia | 42–15 | 10 |
| 11 | Coastal Carolina | 48–11 | 11 |
| 12 | Southern Miss | 44–14 | 12 |
| 13 | UCLA | 42–16 | 13 |
| 14 | Clemson | 44–16 | 14 |
| 15 | Ole Miss | 40–19 | 17 |
| 16 | Tennessee | 43–16 | 21 |
| 17 | Florida | 38–20 | 15 |
| 18 | Georgia Tech | 40–17 | 16 |
| 19 | Northeastern | 48–9 | 19 |
| 20 | Dallas Baptist | 40–16 | 18 |
| 21 | Arizona | 39–18 | NR |
| 22 | TCU | 39–18 | 24 |
| 23 | UC Irvine | 41–15 | 20 |
| 24 | Alabama | 41–16 | 23 |
| 25 | Kansas | 43–15 | 25 |
Chapel Hill Regional
At Boshamer Stadium
Friday’s game
No. 1 North Carolina (42–12) vs. No. 4 Holy Cross (31–25), noon, ACC Network
No. 2 Nebraska (32–27) vs. No. 3 Oklahoma (35–20), 5 p.m., ESPN+
Saturday’s games
UNC-Holy Cross loser vs. Nebraska-Oklahoma loser, noon, TV TBD
UNC-Holy Cross winner vs. Nebraska-Oklahoma winner, 6 p.m., TV TBD
Sunday’s games
Loser of Saturday’s second game vs. winner of Saturday’s first game, noon, TV TBD (loser eliminated)
Winner of Saturday’s second game vs. winner of Sunday’s first game, 6 p.m., TV TBD
Monday’s game
Deciding game, if needed, time TBD
Winner advances to Super Regional against winner of the Eugene Regional that includes No. 12 overall seed Oregon (42–14), Utah Valley (32–27), Cal Poly (41–17) and Arizona (39–18). UNC would host should it advance.
| Date(s) | Day/ month | Time/ score | Opponent (current rank) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February | ||||
| 14–15 | Fri.-Sat. | W, 5–1; W, 8–3; W, 4–2 | vs. Texas Tech | 3–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 12–9 | vs. Kansas State | 4–0 |
| 22–24 | Sat.-Mon. | W, 2–0; W, 11–6; W, 6–4 | vs. East Carolina (DBAP, CH, G’ville) | 7–0 |
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 7–4 | vs. VCU | 8–0 |
| 26 | Wednesday | W, 13–4 | vs. N.C. A&T | 9–0 |
| 28 | Friday | W, 16–2 | vs. Stony Brook | 10–0 |
| March | ||||
| 1–2 | Sat.-Sun. | W, 6–1; W, 9–5 | vs. Stony Brook | 12–0 |
| 4 | Tuesday | W, 6–4 (11) | vs. No. 11 Coastal Carolina | 13–0 |
| 7–9 | Fri.-Sun. | L, 13–9; W, 11–1 (7); L, 7–0 | vs. Stanford | 14–2, 1–2 ACC |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 7–3 (10) | at UNCW | 15–2 |
| 14, 16 | Fri., Sun. | L, 8–7; W, 6–4; L, 5–0 | at Louisville | 16–4, 2–4 |
| 19 | Wednesday | L, 5–1 | vs. UConn | 16–5 |
| 21–23 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 5–1; L, 3–2; W, 10–0 (7) | at Boston College | 18–6, 4–5 |
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 13–8 | vs. South Carolina in Charlotte | 19–7 |
| 28–30 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 2–0; W, 4–2; L, 4–2 | vs. Miami | 21–7, 6–6 |
| April | ||||
| 1 | Tuesday | W, 11–1 (7) | vs. Gardner-Webb | 22–7 |
| 3–5 | Thur.-Sat. | W, 4–3; L, 9–5; W, 8–7 (14) | vs. Duke | 24–8, 8–7 |
| 8 | Tuesday | W, 12–10 | at Elon | 25–8 |
| 11–13 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 11–1 (7); W, 17–1 (7); W, 3–2 | vs. Wake Forest | 28–8, 11–7 |
| 15 | Tuesday | W, 14–4 (8) | vs. Charlotte | 29–8 |
| 18–20 | Fri-Sun. | W, 9–6; L, 10–6: W, 7–5 | at Virginia Tech | 31–9, 13–8 |
| 25–27 | Fri.-Sun. | W, 15–5; L, 4–2; W, 6–0 | at Pittsburgh | 33–10, 15–9 |
| 29 | Tuesday | W, 13–4 | vs. George Mason | 34–10 |
| 30 | Wednesday | W, 14–3 | vs. Queens | 35–10 |
| May | ||||
| 6 | Tuesday | W, 10–1 | vs. Campbell | 36–10 |
| 8–9 | Thurs.-Fri. | W, 8–1; L 8–5 | vs. N.C. State | 37–11, 16–10 |
| 15–17 | Thurs.-Sat. | W, 8–3; W, 11–1 (7); L, 5–4 | at No. 7 Florida State | 39–12, 18–11 |
| ACC tournament | Durham Bulls Athletic Park | |||
| 23 | Friday | Quarterfinal: W, 7–3 | Boston College | 40–12 |
| 24 | Saturday | Semifinal: W, 7–5 | No. 7 Florida State | 41–12 |
| 25 | Sunday | Final: W, 14–4 | No. 14 Clemson | 42–12 |
| Chapel Hill Regional | ||||
| 30 | Friday | Noon | Holy Cross | ACCN |
| 31 | Saturday | Noon (with Fri. loss) 6 p.m. (with Fri. win) | Nebraska or Oklahoma | TBA |
| June | ||||
| 1 | Sunday | Noon or 6 p.m. | TBA | TBA |
| 6–8 | Fri.–Sun. | Super Regionals | Chapel Hill (if UNC advances) | |
| 18–30 | Wed.–Mon. | College World Series | Omaha, Neb. |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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