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Four Atlantic Coast Conference schools were among the 16 selected as regional hosts for the 2009 NCAA baseball tournament, the NCAA announced.
Fourth-ranked North Carolina joined conference members Clemson, Florida State and Georgia Tech as ACC hosts.
Other conferences with multiple host schools are the Big 12 (Oklahoma, Texas); Big West (Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine); Conference USA (East Carolina, Rice); and SEC (Florida, LSU, Ole Miss).
Top-ranked UC Irvine has been selected to host a college baseball regional for the first time in school history.
The Anteaters, a College World Series participant two years ago, joined Louisville and TCU on Sunday as first-time hosts. Each of the 16 host schools are guaranteed berths in the 64-team tournament, which starts Friday.
Of the 64 spots, 30 are awarded as automatic berths to Division I conference tournament winners; 34 are at-large selections.
The complete pairings for the 2009 field will be announced during Monday's The Road to Omaha selection show (ESPN, 12:30 p.m. ET).
Each regional features four teams playing in a double-elimination format.
The road to Omaha begins with regional play at the following sites/hosts:
• Atlanta/Georgia Tech
• Austin, Texas/Texas
• Baton Rouge, La./LSU
• Chapel Hill, N.C./UNC
• Clemson, S.C./Clemson
• Fort Worth, Texas/TCU
• Fullerton, Calif./Cal State Fullerton
• Gainesville, Fla./Florida
• Greenville, N.C./East Carolina
• Houston/Rice
• Irvine, Calif./UC Irvine
• Louisville, Ky./Louisville
• Norman, Okla./Oklahoma
• Oxford, Miss./Mississippi
• Tallahassee, Fla./Florida State
• Tempe, Ariz./Arizona State
Florida State is hosting a regional for a record 28th time. Arizona State and LSU each are hosting for the 19th time.
The eight super regional hosts will be announced at 11 p.m. ET on June 1.
The College World Series begins June 13 at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb.
Fourth-ranked North Carolina joined conference members Clemson, Florida State and Georgia Tech as ACC hosts.
Other conferences with multiple host schools are the Big 12 (Oklahoma, Texas); Big West (Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine); Conference USA (East Carolina, Rice); and SEC (Florida, LSU, Ole Miss).
Top-ranked UC Irvine has been selected to host a college baseball regional for the first time in school history.
The Anteaters, a College World Series participant two years ago, joined Louisville and TCU on Sunday as first-time hosts. Each of the 16 host schools are guaranteed berths in the 64-team tournament, which starts Friday.
Of the 64 spots, 30 are awarded as automatic berths to Division I conference tournament winners; 34 are at-large selections.
The complete pairings for the 2009 field will be announced during Monday's The Road to Omaha selection show (ESPN, 12:30 p.m. ET).
Each regional features four teams playing in a double-elimination format.
The road to Omaha begins with regional play at the following sites/hosts:
• Atlanta/Georgia Tech
• Austin, Texas/Texas
• Baton Rouge, La./LSU
• Chapel Hill, N.C./UNC
• Clemson, S.C./Clemson
• Fort Worth, Texas/TCU
• Fullerton, Calif./Cal State Fullerton
• Gainesville, Fla./Florida
• Greenville, N.C./East Carolina
• Houston/Rice
• Irvine, Calif./UC Irvine
• Louisville, Ky./Louisville
• Norman, Okla./Oklahoma
• Oxford, Miss./Mississippi
• Tallahassee, Fla./Florida State
• Tempe, Ariz./Arizona State
Florida State is hosting a regional for a record 28th time. Arizona State and LSU each are hosting for the 19th time.
The eight super regional hosts will be announced at 11 p.m. ET on June 1.
The College World Series begins June 13 at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb.
