South Carolina baseball was selected as a top-16 regional host heading into the 2023 NCAA Tournament, but there were many critics of the move who believed the Gamecocks were undeserving of the honor.
Frankly, good arguments existed either way for the Gamecocks as Carolina had a host-worthy resume but played extremely poorly down the stretch of the season. South Carolina baseball dropped 11 of their final regular season games and only picked up one victory in the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Alabama.
Fast forward to regional week, and things started to seem a little bit different around the team than the downtrodden vibes that clouded the YardCocks over the previous month.