OMAHA, Neb. - Seven of the eight national seeds in the NCAA baseball tournament have advanced to super regionals, with No. 1 UCLA playing Maryland in the regional finals late Monday.
No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Louisville, No. 4 Florida, No. 5 Miami, No. 6 Illinois, No. 7 TCU and No. 8 Missouri State all won regionals and moved to the round of 16.
Winners of the best-of-three super regionals go to the College World Series in Omaha, starting June 13.
Super-regional matchups Friday through Sunday are: Florida State at Florida, Virginia Commonwealth at Miami and Missouri State at Arkansas. Also on Friday, UCLA, with a win againt Maryland, would host Virginia; Maryland, with a win, would play at Virginia.
Matchups Saturday through Monday: Louisiana-Lafayette at LSU, Vanderbilt at Illinois, Cal State Fullerton at Louisville and Texas A&M at TCU.
National seeds typically are assured of being on their home field for super regionals, but Missouri State must play at Arkansas because of a scheduling conflict with the minor league team that shares the stadium with the Bears in Springfield.
The surprise team so far is Virginia Commonwealth, which became the fifth No. 4 regional seed to reach super regionals since the tournament went to its current format in 1999. The Rams (40-23) lost seven of their first 10 games and finished fourth in the Atlantic 10.
The Rams won the conference tournament to gain entry to regionals, where they beat Oregon State and won two of three against host Dallas Baptist. They are 14-1 in their last 15 games and are in their first super regional.
Virginia, the 2014 national runner-up, and Louisiana-Lafayette reached super regionals for the second straight year, this time as No. 3 regional seeds.
The Cavaliers (37-22) had lost three straight in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament before winning three in a row in the Lake Elsinore Regional. They have overcome a season-long run of injuries to make super regionals for the sixth time in seven years.
Lafayette (42-21) went 3-0 in the Houston Regional and has won eight straight.
Illinois (50-8-1) outscored Ohio, Notre Dame and Wright State by a combined 21-7 to make super regionals for the first time.
"I don't think people understand how difficult it is to, No. 1, make the NCAA Tournament, but then to be a national seed and now to win a regional, those are great accomplishments," Illini coach Dan Hartleb said. "This group has been outstanding because of what their vision is, and their vision is not just to win a regional."
Vanderbilt (45-19) is in the round of 16 for the third straight year and fifth time in six years. The Commodores finished an impressive run through the regional on their home field with a 21-0 victory Monday against Radford.