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UTSA’s Braylon Owens (Photo by David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Two full days of the NCAA Tournament have already come and gone and 16 teams have officially been eliminated from the mix with at least 16 more set to make their exit throughout Day 3. You can follow along with results from every game here.
Here’s a quick snapshot of how No. 1 seeds have fared so far. We’ll cover Oregon’s surprising exit below. The following hosts all have one loss and must play their way through the elimination bracket:
- Clemson
- Georgia
- Texas
- Ole Miss
- Oregon State
- Vanderbilt
- Southern Miss
These hosts played their way into regional finals: Florida State, North Carolina, Coastal Carolina, Auburn, Arkansas, Tennessee, LSU, UCLA.
Here are 10 takeaways from Saturday’s action in the NCAA Baseball Tournament:
A host has fallen
We warned that this could be a chaotic start to the tournament. On Saturday, the Eugene Regional was first to fully deliver on that unpredictability as host Oregon fell 10-8 to three-seed Cal Poly, becoming the first nationally seeded team to be sent home empty-handed.
This was a true shock. The Ducks entered with a Player of the Year candidate in Mason Neville, a high-end ace in Grayson Grinsell and a veteran roster with deep postseason experience. But ultimately four-seed Utah Valley and Cal Poly sent Oregon packing before it ever found its footing.
For the Ducks and their fans, disappointment shouldn’t overshadow the program’s bright future. Head coach Mark Wasikowski has already delivered unprecedented success with back-to-back super regionals in 2023 and 2024 and Oregon just claimed a share of the Big Ten regular-season title.
The Ducks should remain contenders. Right now, though, the sting is sharp.
The SEC is playing well, but not great
The SEC shattered its own Selection Monday record this year, placing 13 of its 16 teams into the NCAA Tournament. None were even considered bubble teams, a surprise in itself. Through 26 tournament games involving SEC teams, the league holds a 16-10 record, with only Alabama already eliminated after a quick two-game exit.
There were nearly more. Florida, Ole Miss and Kentucky staved off elimination Saturday, while Mississippi State, Georgia, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt and Texas all lost their winner’s bracket games and will now join those three in Sunday’s elimination rounds.
Just four SEC…