Keeping It Heel
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UNC Baseball: Will Diamond Heels earn national seed?

By Zack Pearson

Omaha, NE - JUNE 23: A general view of a bag of baseballs before the start of the game between the Virginia Cavaliers and the Vanderbilt Commodores during game two of the College World Series Championship Series on June 23, 2015 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) Omaha, NE - JUNE 23: A general view of the away jersey of the Vanderbilt Commodores and the home jersey of the Virginia Cavaliers before the start of game two of the College World Series Championship Series on June 23, 2015 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)
Omaha, NE - JUNE 23: A general view of a bag of baseballs before the start of the game between the Virginia Cavaliers and the Vanderbilt Commodores during game two of the College World Series Championship Series on June 23, 2015 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) Omaha, NE - JUNE 23: A general view of the away jersey of the Vanderbilt Commodores and the home jersey of the Virginia Cavaliers before the start of game two of the College World Series Championship Series on June 23, 2015 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) /
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Will the UNC Baseball program earn a national seed for the NCAA Tournament? The early loss in the ACC Tournament may have doomed them

After winning the No. 1 overall seed in the 2018 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Tournament, things didn’t go the way the North Carolina Tar Heels had hoped.

They dropped their opener to Pitt on Wednesday night, eliminating them from advancing in that ACC Tournament due to Pitt’s 2-0 record. UNC went to Durham and finished 1-1, salvaging a game with a win over Georgia Tech on Friday.

It wasn’t exactly how they planned it, coming off an impressive regular season.

Despite not advancing to the weekend rounds of the ACC Tournament, UNC is still in line to host an NCAA Super Regional in two weeks. Overall, the Tar Heels 2018 season has been very good and they even cracked the Top 5 in Baseball America’s weekly poll just a few weeks back.

After a 7-7 start, UNC went on to go 30-10 in their final 40 games to win the Coastal Division and lock up the No. 1 seed.

It’s safe to say that the Tar Heels will host a Regional this week, with the sites being announced on Sunday night. But hosting a Super Regional as a national seed would be the ultimate goal.

The SEC will likely get four national seeds, with two more coming out west and leaving two for the ACC. UNC and Clemson were the favorites to host a Super Regional going into the ACC Tournament.

But with Florida States’ win on Sunday, that could be in jeopardy for either team.

UNC’s regular season was really good and they did not go head-to-head with Clemson. The Tar Heels did lose two of three to FSU earlier in the year.

Even with their loss to Pitt, UNC’s RPI sits at No. 8 but they were jumped by Florida State who went up to No. 6.  The Seminoles win on Sunday did push UNC to the OUT line on the bubble in D1Baseball’s mock bracket.

The site has Florida, Stanford, Arkansas, Ole Miss and Oregon State as five locks for a national seed with FSU, Clemson and Georgia on the “IN” bubble line. That leaves UNC out.

Next: Diamond Heels fall to Pitt in ACC Tournament Opener

That mock isn’t official and it could certainly change in the coming hours. Whatever happens, it’s going to be an interesting end to Memorial Day Weekend as UNC finally finds out their path to Omaha.

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