Will Southern Miss baseball host super regional? What to know about the NCAA process

AUBURN, Ala. — Southern Miss baseball clinched a berth in an NCAA Tournament super regional with an 11-7 victory over Penn on Monday at Plainsman Park. 

But the Golden Eagles won’t find out until later whether they will have the advantage of playing that super regional against Tennessee at Pete Taylor Park. A call is scheduled for Monday night to discuss the bids. 

Southern Miss and Tennessee won their regionals as No. 2 seeds, and both submitted bids to host a regional to the NCAA Tournament committee before ultimately being sent on the road. Those bids apply to the super regional round as well. 

NCAA media representative Jeff Williams told the Knoxville News Sentinel prior to the onset of the tournament that the committee will weigh the “merits of the bids” should this situation play out. The committee does not seed No. 2 seeds in order in the original field of 64, with considerations such as regional locations taking priority over bracket integrity. 

The Golden Eagles entered the NCAA Tournament with an RPI of 21 – one place behind Tennessee. Before Monday’s action, USM’s RPI sat at 18 to Tennessee’s 12. 

Though it might be tempting for some to assume that Tennessee’s bigger brand offers a more significant ticket revenue opportunity, that may not be the case. The Golden Eagles averaged 5,472 fans at their two super regional games last season at Pete Taylor Park. The Vols drew 4,593 fans, on average, in their 2022 super-regional series against Notre Dame. 

David Eckert covers sports for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.