The University of Florida baseball team learned on Monday afternoon that it was awarded the third national seed for the 2010 NCAA Baseball Tournament that begins on Friday at McKethan Stadium. Making their 26th Regional appearance, the top-seeded Gators (42-15) will face fourth-seeded Bethune-Cookman (35-20) at 7 p.m. Second-seeded Florida Atlantic (35-22) will meet third-seeded Oregon State (31-22) earlier in the day at 1 p.m.

"We are very excited for the start of Regional play," third-year head coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. "Playing at home should be a good opportunity for our fans to come and support us. It will be a challenging field and we are looking forward to facing a talented Bethune-Cookman team on Friday."

Video: Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan NCAA Reaction 5-31-10

The Regional continues through Sunday, with a final game to be played Monday night, if necessary. The Gainesville Regional winner will face the winner of the Coral Gables Regional in a Super Regional series next weekend. The eight Super Regional winners advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

UF is 67-53 (.558) all-time in NCAA Tournament action and has reached the CWS five times: 1988, 1991, 1996, 1998 and 2005. The Gators are 4-0 against Bethune-Cookman in NCAA play, most recently using a ninth-inning rally last May to edge the Wildcats, 8-7. Florida has not encountered Florida Atlantic in the postseason since splitting a pair of meetings with the Owls at the 2003 NCAA Coral Gables Regional. The Gators have never faced Oregon State on the diamond and have not encountered any teams from the Pac-10 since playing Arizona State twice at the 2005 NCAA College World Series.

The national top eight seeds are Arizona State (47-8), Texas (46-11), the Gators, Coastal Carolina (51-7), Virginia (47-11), UCLA (43-13), Louisville (48-12) and Georgia Tech (45-13).

The ACC, Pac-10 and the SEC led all conferences in the number of teams in the championship field with eight apiece. The marks for the ACC and the Pac-10 were conference all-time highs. The Big 12 had five and the Big East and Sun Belt had three teams.

Twenty-nine of the 64 teams were not in the field last year. Mercer, the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament champion, is making the championship for the first time. New Mexico last was in the field in 1962 and Oregon is in the field for the first time since 1964, and only two years after reinstating the baseball program.

Miami (Fla.) is in the field for the 38th-consecutive year, extending its own record. Florida State is making its 33rd-straight appearance, second all-time. Other long consecutive streaks: Cal State Fullerton (19), Rice (16), Oral Roberts (13) and Texas (12).

Of the 292 championship eligible Division I institutions that sponsor baseball, Coastal Carolina has the most Division I wins with 51.

Each of the 16 NCAA Regionals features four teams, playing a double-elimination format. The Regionals are scheduled to be conducted from Friday, June 4, to Monday, June 7 (if necessary). Selection of the eight Super Regional hosts will be announced on www.ncaa.com/cws, Monday, June 7, at approximately 11 p.m. The best two-of-three Super Regionals will be played from Friday, June 11, to Monday, June 14. The 64th College World Series begins play Saturday, June 19, at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb.