By: Colin Lacy

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Some (me included) would argue that Postseason Baseball is some of the best times of the year, and it begins this week.

This week the ACC flocks to Charlotte for the 2026 ACC Tournament at Truist Field, the home of the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox Charlotte Knights.

The 1-seed for the ACC is the back-to-back ACC Regular Season champions in the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. First-year Head Coach James Ramsey opened his head coaching career by bringing home the ACC Coach of the Year award and a 45-9 overall mark and 25-5 conference record.

Georgia Tech tied a program record with 5 First Team All-ACC selections when the postseason awards were handed out by the league office Monday afternoon including Ramsey as Coach of the Year along with catcher Vahn Lackey taking home the ACC Defensive Player of the Year.

The Jackets tied the ACC record with 25 conference wins after sweeping 6 ACC Series throughout the year.

The white and gold have been laser focused on team goals that they’ve written on the bathroom mirror in the clubhouse with the top reading the word “Omaha,” but the team-minded squad has raked in the individual accolades in 2026.

Shortstop Carson Kerce reset the GT record for single season doubles with 28. Second baseman Jarren Advincula recorded 100 base hits for the first Jacket since 2005 to do so. Drew Burress sits tied for the program record for career homers with Jason Varitek with 57 career long balls.

While the regular season has been historic for the Ramblin Wreck, the time this team has been waiting for is just beginning. The regular season title was just the first milestone to check off the to-do list, and now each weekend provides an opportunity for another which begins this week with the ACC Tournament.

With the single-elimination format for the bracket in the ACC, the top four teams in the tourney earning double-byes straight to the quarterfinals as 1-seed Georgia Tech, 2-seed North Carolina, 3-seed Florida State and 4-seed Boston College will watch the first two days of the action in Charlotte until Thursday and Friday for the quarters.

Of the teams not in the top four, in my mind, there are only 2 additional teams that could make a push for a title with the 7-seed Virginia Tech that won their final four ACC series to wrap the regular season. The other would be the 8-seed Virginia under first year Chris Pollard that comes over from Duke prior to the season and have looked good down the back stretch of the season.

Obviously, Georgia Tech and North Carolina are the two leaders in the clubhouse to leave Charlotte with a trophy, and it’s been those two that have stood above the rest by a considerable margin. Those two have jockeyed back and forth all season. Carolina was the only team to beat Georgia Tech in a series all season. That said Georgia Tech won the ACC regular season by three full games.

Charlotte is a phenomenal location for the ACC Tournament. Flawless ballpark, elite surroundings around the park all to go along with high level baseball all week.  While the SEC gets touted by the national media as the best league in the country, the ACC is very much in the conversation too.

Postseason baseball is the best. It’s the marathon from the beginning of February to now turning into a sprint for the next month for the lucky teams that make a run deep into June, but it begins with conference tournaments this week.