After spending most of the season atop the national rankings, it came as little surprise that the Florida Gators were selected as the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA baseball tournament.
The announcement came Monday as Florida was one of six schools from the Sunshine State to earn a bid to the tournament.
The Gators will host MEAC Tournament champion Bethune-Cookman Friday at 6 p.m.
“We're looking forward to next week. That's when the real stuff starts. We have had a good year up to this point. We won 47 games, and I think RPI is up to No. 1,” Gators coach Kevin O’Sullivan said following Sunday’s loss to Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament championship game.
“We have had a lot of expectations throughout the year. I think we have answered the bell so to speak.”
The tournament will feature a double-elimination format at all 16 regional sites this weekend.
Miami, the No. 3 national seed, faces surprise entry Stetson Friday night at 7. The Hatters were the last seed entering the Atlantic Sun Tournament but four straight games to earn an automatic berth to the NCAA tourney.
Florida State, which could match up with Florida in a Super Regional, opens Friday at 6 against Alabama State in Tallahassee.
The other Florida school to make the field was Florida Atlantic, which will take on Long Beach State Friday at 1 in the Coral Gables regional, hosted by Miami.