Gators Earn No. 1 Overall Seed in NCAA Tournament

TICKET INFORMATION

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The University of Florida baseball team learned on Monday afternoon that it was awarded the No. 1 national seed for the 2016 NCAA Baseball Tournament that begins on Friday at McKethan Stadium.

Making their 32nd Regional appearance and school-record ninth in a row under head coach Kevin O'Sullivan, the top-seeded Gators (47-13) will face fourth-seeded Bethune-Cookman (29-25) Friday at 6 p.m. The Wildcats won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championship last week.

This marks the seventh time under O'Sullivan that UF has been a national seed (No. 8 in 2009, No. 3 in 2010, No. 2 in 2011, No. 1 in 2012, No. 2 in 2014, No. 4 in 2015) – the highest amount in the country in that time frame.

Second-seeded Georgia Tech (36-23) will meet third-seeded UConn (37-23) at 1 p.m. to kick off the Regional. The Yellow Jackets earned an at-large bid to the tournament while the Huskies won the American Athletic Conference Tournament to earn an automatic bid.

The Regional continues through Sunday, with a final game to be played Monday night, if necessary. The Gainesville Regional winner will face the winner of the Tallahassee Regional in a Super Regional series next weekend. The eight Super Regional winners advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

Florida is 90-64 (.584) all-time in NCAA Tournament action and has reached the CWS nine times: 1988, 1991, 1996, 1998, 2005, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015.

Four teams from the SEC - Florida, Texas A&M, Mississippi State and LSU - were selected as national seeds. This marks the first time any conference has earned four national seeds.

The top eight national seeds are Florida, Louisville, Miami, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Mississippi State, Clemson and LSU.

Each of the 16 Regionals features four teams, playing a double-elimination format. The Regionals are scheduled to be conducted from Friday, May 29, to Monday, June 1 (if necessary). Selection of the eight Super Regional Hosts will be announced on www.NCAA.com/cws, Monday, June 1 at approximately 11 p.m. (ET).

The 70th Men's College World Series begins play Saturday, June 18, at the TD Ameritrade Park Omaha in Omaha, Neb.

2016 NCAA Gainesville Regional Schedule

Friday, June 3
Game 1: 1 p.m. - No. 3 UConn vs. No. 2 Georgia Tech (ESPN3)
Game 2: 6 p.m. - No. 4 Bethune-Cookman vs. No. 1 FLORIDA (SEC Network)

Saturday, June 4
Game 3: 12 p.m. - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 (ESPN3)
Game 4: 6 p.m. - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 (ESPN3)

Sunday, June 5
Game 5: 12 p.m. - Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 (ESPN3)
Game 6: 6 p.m. - Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 (ESPN3)

Monday, June 6
Game 7: (if necessary) – 6 p.m. - Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 (ESPN3)

Gators Calendar