The NCAA Division-I men’s golf postseason is almost upon us.
The NCAA men’s regional round will be contested May 13-15 at six different sites with 13 or 14 teams at each site. The 81 teams consist of 30 automatic qualifiers that won their respective conference championships and 51 at-large bids. Five teams will advance out of each regional to the NCAA Championship at La Costa.
The selection show is scheduled for May 1 at 2 p.m. ET on Golf Channel.
How the NCAA committee selects the at-large bids and assigns regional seeding could be different this year. With Golfstat’s ranking no longer available, the committee’s main resource is Mark Broadie’s national collegiate golf ranking. The NCAA’s Competition Oversight Committee did update selection criteria for this season only, allowing the golf committees to use other established ranking systems in addition to Broadie’s ranking. However, the Golfweek/Sagarin ranking also is no longer published, so it’s unknown if any other ranking is established enough to be considered. Golf Channel has learned that teams have been asked to send in brag sheets, or resumés, to further assist the committee.
And while the women’s committee ended up going straight off the rankings last week, it’s possible the men’s committee moves some bubble teams (Nos. 60-80) in and out.
Currently, the at-large cutoff in Broadie’s ranking, referred to as the magic number, is No. 68, which is Michigan State. That also factors in four teams currently below .500 – No. 51 Pepperdine, No. 57 Oregon State, No. 61 North Carolina State and No. 64 Colorado. Florida Gulf Coast is projected as the first team out after being left out in 2021 despite being on the number.
• NCAA D-I men’s golf conference championship schedule, results
Here’s a projection of how this year’s six regionals will look when the fields are finalized:
(Note: Automatic qualifiers are listed with their conference in parentheses; projected conference champs are listed in parentheses as those tournaments have yet to be completed.)
(Updated on April 29.)
BATON ROUGE REGIONAL
1. Auburn (SEC)
2. Virginia
3. Texas Tech
4. Oregon
5. Duke
6. Ohio State
7. LSU (host)
8. Louisville
9. Houston
10. South Carolina
11. Lipscomb (ASUN)
12. Southern Illinois (Missouri Valley)
13. Loyola (Md.) (Patriot)
WEST LAFAYETTE REGIONAL
1. Vanderbilt
2. Arizona
3. Florida
4. New Mexico
5. Purdue (host)
6. San Diego State (Mountain West)
7. Mississippi State
8. Indiana
9. College of Charleston (Coastal)
10. Stetson
11. Colorado State
12. Wright State (Horizon)
13. Yale (Ivy)
RANCHO SANTA FE REGIONAL
1. Arizona State (Pac-12)
2. Washington
3. Oklahoma
4. Cal
5. Oklahoma State
6. North Florida
7. Chattanooga
8. South Florida (American)
9. San Diego (West Coast) (host)
10. San Jose State
11. Kansas
12. Oral Roberts (Summit)
13. Sacramento State (Big Sky)
CHAPEL HILL REGIONAL
1. North Carolina (ACC) (host)
2. Alabama
3. Georgia Tech
4. East Tennessee State (SoCon)
5. Northwestern (Big Ten)
6. Baylor
7. VCU (A-10)
8. Loyola Marymount
9. Utah
10. Clemson
11. Michigan State
12. Ball State (MAC)
13. Seton Hall (Big East)
14. Arkansas-Pine Bluff (SWAC)
AUSTIN REGIONAL
1. Tennessee
2. Arkansas
3. Texas (Big 12) (host)
4. Georgia
5. Wake Forest
6. Notre Dame
7. UNCG
8. BYU
9. Fresno State
10. West Virginia
11. Grand Canyon (WAC)
12. Arkansas State (Sun Belt)
13. Howard (Northeast)
14. Siena (MAAC)
STANFORD REGIONAL
1. Florida State
2. Ole Miss
3. Illinois
4. Texas A&M
5. Stanford (host)
6. UCLA
7. SMU
8. Missouri
9. Long Beach State (Big West)
10. UNLV
11. Augusta (Southland)
12. Liberty (C-USA)
13. Winthrop (Big South)
14. Tennessee Tech (Ohio Valley)
