The Texas Longhorns are honored to be the No. 1 team in the country as the top seed in the NCAA tournament. They would rather hold that distinction — along with a championship trophy — a few weeks from now at the College World Series.

Texas (41-13-1), which won the Big 12 tournament for the fourth time, will host one of 16 four-team, double-elimination regionals that begin Friday. It's the second time Texas, coached by Division I career victories leader Augie Garrido, has been the No. 1 overall seed.

"We know all too well that being named No. 1 by someone doesn't get you anything," Garrido said yesterday. "You have to go play the games to earn the No. 1 that means something."

Defending national champion Fresno State, the first team to win it all as a No. 4 seed in a bracket, will play UC Irvine in the first round of the Irvine, Calif., regional. UC Irvine is ranked No. 1 in most national polls, but is in arguably the tournament's most difficult bracket. It includes ACC champion Virginia and coach Tony Gwynn's San Diego State squad, with ace right-hander Stephen Strasburg, the likely No. 1 overall draft pick.

Fresno State (32-28) won the Western Athletic Conference title at Les Murakami Stadium on Sunday.

Texas, second to Southern California with six national titles, has perhaps the deepest pitching staff with Chance Ruffin, Cole Green, Brandon Workman and closer Austin Wood. The Longhorns were also No. 1 overall in 2004, but the only top national seed to win the College World Series since the field was expanded to 64 teams was Miami in 1999. No top-eight seed has won it all since Rice in 2003.

The other national seeds, in order, are: Cal State Fullerton (42-14), LSU (46-16), North Carolina (42-16), Arizona State (44-12), UC Irvine (43-13), Oklahoma (41-18) and Florida (39-20).

The 16 regional winners move on to the best-of-three super regionals, beginning June 5. The eight super regional winners advance to the College World Series, which begins June 13 in Omaha, Neb.