NCAA baseball tournament preview: Regions to watch, national championship prediction and more

Michella Chester, Aaron Fitt and Kendall Rogers chatted on Instagram Live on Tuesday, May 28, to preview the 2024 DI baseball tournament.

With the first regional pitches being thrown this Friday, here are some key takeaways ahead of the 2024 DI baseball tournament:

Most intriguing regionals:

Aaron:

• Corvallis (Oregon State host) — UC Irvine has great pitching with Nick Pinto and a great bullpen. Tulane earned its way in as an auto-bid and is a strong No. 4 seed playing with house money.
• Tucson (Arizona host) — West Virginia and Cal Baptist are solid and will battle for the opportunity to move on in the region. This region also has Grand Canyon, which is the best No. 4 seed.

Michella:

• Stillwater (Oklahoma State host) — Jac Caglianone from Florida and Josh Caron from Nebraska are two great power hitters playing in a ballpark made for home runs. It won't be an easy road for Oklahoma State.

Kendall:

• College Station (Texas A&M host) — Louisiana vs Texas is a great 2 vs. 3 match-up. Louisiana has great pitching with Andrew Herrmann and LP Langevin.
• Chapel Hill (North Carolina host) — LSU vs. Wofford should be a great game. Wofford's ace Zac Cowan will likely pitch for against LSU. The right-handed sophomore will be a tough task for LSU's experienced line-up.
• Fayetteville (Arkansas host) — Louisiana Tech vs. Kansas State is an offensive showcase

Easiest region for a hosting team

Kendall:

• College Station: Texas A&M shouldn't struggle with Grambling, which should keep most of their arms fresh for a meeting with either Texas or Louisiana.

Michella:

• Athens: Georgia Tech has to be able to pitch to have a chance, and they have struggled on the mound

Toughest region for a hosting team:

• Knoxville: Southern Miss played Tennessee last year, they have a great pitching staff and an experienced line-up
• Clemson: The experience and depth of both Coastal Carolina and Vanderbilt make it tough for Erik Bakich's Tigers
• Stillwater: Offense, offense, offense in Stillwater. This region will provide some fireworks

Most exciting super regional potential:

• Georgia vs. NC State: Two of the best offenses and hottest teams in the country squaring off to get to Omaha.
• LSU vs. Arizona: The return of Jay Johnson. LSU's head coach took Arizona to the championship series in 2016.
• Kentucky vs. Oregon State: Blue blood vs. new blood. Kentucky has been outstanding this year, but would have to go through Travis Bazzana and the Beavers to get to Omaha for the first time.
• Tennessee vs. Wake Forest: Clear your schedule. Chase Burns returns to Knoxville in what would be an electric super regional.

National championship series predictions:

Kendall:

• Tennessee to beat Texas A&M

Four seeds to watch:

• Penn
• Army
• Tulane

Finally, Kendall and Michella gave their updated picks for national player of the year, national pitcher of the year and freshman of the year.

• National Player of the Year: Charlie Condon, OF, Georgia
• National Pitcher of the Year: Hagan Smith, LHP, Arkansas
• National Freshman of the Year: Drew Burress, OF, Georgia Tech