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C-USA Sends Four Teams to NCAA Regionals
ECU, Rice, UAB and UCF NCAA-Bound

	Tyler Duffey

May 28, 2012

2012NCAABaseballBracket

Conference USA has received four bids to the 2012 NCAA Baseball Championship, as announced by the Division I baseball committee on Monday. Regular season champion Rice will host the Houston Regional, while East Carolina, UAB and UCF will each play in regionals.

The four bids are the fourth-highest total of any conference. Only the SEC (8), ACC (7) and Pac-12 (5) had more bids than Conference USA.

Rice (40-17) won the regular season Conference USA title, extending its streak of consecutive conference regular season and/or tournament titles to 17. The Owls are hosting a regional for the 10th time in the last 12 seasons and are scheduled to meet Prairie View (28-23) at 6 p.m. CT in the first round of regional play on Friday, June 1. No. 2 seed Arkansas (39-19) and No. 3 seed Sam Houston State (38-20), who meet at 1 p.m. CT on Friday, complete the four-team Houston Regional field at Reckling Park.

For the Owls this is the baseball program's 17th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Baseball Championship, which ranks as the fourth-longest active streak in the country. Miami (Fla.) is in the field for the 40th consecutive year, extending its own record, followed by Florida State (35) and Cal State Fullerton (21).

C-USA Tournament Champion UAB (32-28) will play the No. 3 national seed Florida State (44-14) on Friday in the Tallahassee Regional. The Blazers are making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1991. Mississippi State (39-22) is the No. 2 seed in Tallahassee and will face the No. 3 seed Samford (39-21) on Friday.

For the second straight year, East Carolina (35-22-1) will open NCAA play against St. John's (37-22-1) when the teams meet on Friday in Chapel Hill at 1 p.m. ET. The Pirates will be making their 26th all-time NCAA appearance, including 12 in the past 14 years. Top-seeded North Carolina (44-14) will face the No. 4 seed Cornell (31-15-1) on Friday at 6 p.m. ET.

UCF (43-15) is back in the NCAA field for the second straight year and will open play against No. 3 seed Missouri State (39-20) on Friday at the Coral Gables Regional. Host Miami (36-21) will face Stony Brook (46-11) in the other game.

The national top eight seeds in the 64-team field in order are: Florida (42-18), UCLA (42-14), Florida St. (43-15), Baylor (44-14), Oregon (42-17), North Carolina (44-14), LSU (43-16) and South Carolina (40-17).

Each of the 16 regionals features four teams, playing a double-elimination format. The regionals are scheduled to be conducted from Friday, June 1, to Monday, June 4 (if necessary). Selection of the eight super regional hosts will be announced on www.NCAA.com/cws, Monday, June 4 at approximately 11 p.m. (ET).

The 65th Men's College World Series begins play Friday, June 15, at TD Ameritrade Stadium in downtown Omaha, Nebraska.

The four bids to the 2012 NCAA Championship gives Conference USA 57 NCAA appearances in its first 17 seasons. Ten of the last 12 years a C-USA team has advanced to a Super Regional and six of the last eight years a team has reached the College World Series.

Conference USA in the 2012 NCAA Championship

Houston Regional
Friday, June 1
No. 3 Sam Houston State (38-20) vs. No. 2 Arkansas (39-19)		1:00p CDT
No. 1 Rice (40-17) vs. No. 4 Prairie View (28-23)			6:00p CDT
Tallahassee Regional
Friday, June 1
No. 3 Mississippi State (39-22) vs. No. 3 Samford (39-21)		11:00a CDT
No. 1 Florida State (43-15) vs. No. 4 UAB (32-28)			5:00p CDT
Chapel Hill Regional

Friday, June 1
No. 3 St. John's (35-20) vs. No. 2 East Carolina (35-22-1)		Noon CDT
No. 4 Cornell (31-15-1) vs. No. 1 North Carolina (44-14)		5:00p CDT
Coral Gables Regional
Friday, June 1
No. 3 Missouri State (39-20) vs. No. 2 UCF (43-15)			1:00p CDT
No. 4 Stony Brook (46-11) vs. No. 1 Miami, Fla. (36-21)		        5:00p CDT