The race for the final few national seeds couldn't be more intense.
The landscape of the national seed picture has drastically changed over the course of the past few weeks. North Carolina was in terrific shape a couple of weeks ago before dropping a home series to Georgia Tech, while LSU and South Carolina continue to fight for one of the final top-eight seeds.
Then there are teams such as UCLA and Texas A&M. The Bruins would be a national seed with a very strong finish, while the Aggies are an extreme long shot and would need all the chips to fall perfectly in place to be a top-eight seed in June.
The situation isn't as intense when it comes to host sites, with Cal State Fullerton, Central Florida, Mississippi and Virginia all legitimately vying for one of the final sites, while Oregon State is the long shot team that could join the club with a strong finish.
Lastly, there are a lot of bubble teams with something to prove down the stretch. But in particular, Indiana State and Washington are teams that would be good bets to make the field of 64 with strong finishes.
With the postseason nearing, we once again take an inside look at those teams vying for national seeds, NCAA Regional hosts and at-large bids, and illustrate what likely needs to happen for each of the teams to meet their goals.
Our coverage leading up to the postseason continues.
NATIONAL SEED CONTENDERS
NORTH CAROLINA
Record: 30-13, RPI 6
Record vs. RPI Top 25: 6-4
Record vs. RPI Top 50: 17-8
Record vs. RPI Top 100: 20-10
What needs to happen: The Tar Heels were in terrific shape to earn one of the top eight national seeds before dropping a tough series at home to Georgia Tech a couple of weeks ago. However, things could really change in their favor with the return of stud third baseman Colin Moran on Wednesday night. UNC would be in very good shape for a national seed should it finish the regular season with a trio of series wins, something that's very likely with home bouts against Boston College (62) and Virginia Tech (28), and a "road" series against Duke (112). UNC should finish that stretch at 6-3, minimum.