ACC Baseball News & Notes: New Format for Postseason Tournament

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We are a couple of days away from the start of the college baseball season and some changes are being made in certain leagues to their postseason tournament. One of those leagues is the ACC. Since 2017, the tournament has been a pool play of the top 12 teams. This season, all 16 teams will be allowed to play in the event which is scheduled for May 20-25 at Durham Bulls Athletics Park.

Here is how the league will set up the new format. The single-elimination tournament featured four games on the first two days of the event. Two quarterfinals games will be played on both Thursday and Friday. On Saturday, both semifinal games will be played with Sunday being championship day. The winner gets the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

The top four seeds will be awarded on regular season performance. Those teams will receive a double bye into the Thursday-Friday quarterfinals. Teams that are seeded five through eight will earn a bye into the second round on Wednesday. The remaining teams will be seeded 9-16 and will start on the first day of the tournament on Tuesday.

The new format was introduced by the 16 head coaches in the league and was supported by the student-athletes playing in the conference. The hope here is that the new format will produce a more exciting and easier tournament to follow. In 2024, the league sent eight teams to the tournament with five heading to the super regionals. Four would find their way to the College World Series in Omaha.

This is the ninth time since 2009 and the 14th overall that the ACC tournament will be played in Durham NC. The Clemson Tigers won the event the last time it was played in Durham which was in 2023. Duke is the defending champion having won the tournament last season in Charlotte, NC. If you are interested in going to Durham to see the event, tickets are on sale now.