NCAA baseball regionals: Top players, underdogs to watch and the path to the MCWS - ESPN

Buckle up, baseball fans. We're in for one of the wildest NCAA regionals yet.

The 2025 NCAA baseball tournament begins on Friday, and the path to the Men's College World Series in Omaha is stacked with heavy favorites and potential upsets.

Vanderbilt secured the No. 1 overall seed with an emphatic SEC tournament win — its first top seed since 2007. Reigning national champ Tennessee is seeded at No. 14, while preseason No. 1 Texas A&M missed out entirely.

Outside the SEC and its record 13 berths to the national tournament, the ACC has three regional hosts, and a slew of MLB prospects are slated to take the field. Our experts break down the 64-team field and share their top teams and players to watch, as well as things to keep an eye on as the MCWS comes further into view.

Jump to: Toughest road | Players and teams to watch
Underdogs | Potential supers matchups | Bold predictions

Chris Burke: The Conway Regional feels wide open. Host Coastal Carolina rolled through the Sun Belt Conference this year and boasts one of the best pitching staffs in the country (No. 2 ERA). However, it drew No. 4 seed Fairfield, which is no stranger to regional play, and No. 2 and 3 seeds — Florida and ECU, respectively — which come in red hot. Florida has won its past six SEC series and is coming off a stretch where it has played some of the best baseball in the country, including series wins versus Arkansas and Texas. ECU has the most regional appearances ever to not play in the MCWS and is coming in fresh off running through the American Conference tournament. Watch out for the Conway Regional; it's gonna be a blast!

Mike Rooney: The Knoxville Regional should be a blast. The Vols may have the most talented roster in the country. The