TCU Baseball's Road to the World Series Starts Now

Sunday night, it was confirmed that Lupton Stadium will host a regional, but questions abounded whether TCU would receive a National Seed. As of Monday morning, we have our answer; the Frogs saw their late-season swoon at the Big 12 tournament drop them to the #7 spot, but didn't cost them one of the all-important top eight. TCU is the only school from Texas to receive a National Seed (sorry, DBU!), but is one of four schools to host a regional in their home park (along with Texas A&M, Houston, and Dallas Baptist). From the Big 12, Oklahoma State will also host a regional, and Big 12 tournament champions Texas will play in the Dallas regional with DBU, VCU, and their opening opponent - Oregon State. The Beavers will have something to prove; they were considered a potential host team, but will now make the long journey to Texas. The Frogs get to avoid seeing any Big 12 opponents or their dangerous Metroplex partners until a potential CWS berth, as each fell on the other side of the bracket of TCU.

The Fort Worth Regional will see TCU open with #4 seed Sacred Heart, the surprise winners of the Northeast Conference Tournament, who sport a 23-30-1record on the year. The #3 seed is Stony Brook, the American East champs, who last played in the postseason in 2012 - a year in which they made it all the way to Omaha. NC State is the #2 seed after finishing as ACC tourney runners up. The Wolfpack certainly won't roll over in this regional; they are a very balanced team that has hit 49 homers on the year and fields at 97% clip as a team.

The Frogs will be paired with the College Station Regional and the Aggies, who many felt should have been a National Seed over TCU. The #2 seed in that bracket is Coastal Carolina, a mid-major power with an explosive offense; the #3 seed California Golden Bears - who saw their program almost cut in a budget crisis in 2010 before donors stepped up to save it. The Bears have a long history of success and are looking to put their program back on the map. The #4 seed is Texas Southern out of the SWAC.

Other interesting matchup include Arkansas and Oklahoma State - the Razorbacks might be the hottest team in the country and will give the Pokes all they can handle in Stillwater. Also of note, Houston will have to take two other local schools in their regional - Houston Baptist and Rice.

For Frog fans, who were disappointed with the Big 12 tourney showing, the focus turns solely on Omaha. This team was built for post-season play, and though that didn't ring true last week, the chance to rest their arms and refine their swings with a few extra days off could pay dividends towards the real prize - a second consecutive trip to the College World Series as a #7 seed.

You can view the entire bracket here. We will have MUCH more on TCU's match-ups as the week progresses - but for now, we can all WOO a little bit for the #ToadToOmaha!