UNC, Duke and NC state all have dreams of a College World Series

Triangle schools are well-represented in another collegiate NCAA tournament.

State of play: UNC and N.C. State's baseball teams each earned No. 1 seeds and host nods in the regional round this weekend. Duke, which won the ACC tournament in Charlotte this past weekend, will be the No. 2 seed in the Norman, Oklahoma regional.

• UNC is seeded fourth overall in the 64-team field, while State is 10th.

Meanwhile, over in Greenville, ECU's squad secured the last regional hosting position as the 16th overall seed.

Three other North Carolina teams qualified : Wake Forest, UNC-Wilmington and High Point, which is playing in its first NCAA baseball tournament.

How it works: The regionals are a four-team, double-elimination, mini-tournament within the larger tournament. The winner advances to the Super Regionals, and the Super Regionals winners earn a spot in the coveted College World Series.

• Wake Forest, back in 1955, is the only North Carolina school to have won an NCAA Baseball Championship.
• UNC advanced to the title round in 2006 and 2007 but fell short.
• And N.C. State — ohh , N.C. State — was one step short of the championship round in 2021 when the NCAA suddenly declared their game against Vanderbilt a no-contest due to COVID-19 protocols, sending the Commodores to the final round and the Wolfpack home reeling and angry .

Watch: Duke will play Connecticut at 1pm Friday, N.C. State faces Bryant at 7 and the Tar Heels face Long Island at 6.

• Tickets in Chapel Hill are sold out, but some are available for the Raleigh regional.