Conference regular season title vs. not having one is very important for the non elite conferences. The Cajuns had both the regular season title and the tournament title.
That said, I do not think it was down to UL and USM for the last host spot. I think it was between NC State, Coastal Carolina, and Southern Mississippi for the last #1 seed and host regional. You could also make an argument that Vanderbilt was next to last ... and then Louisiana. I think TCU was in before Louisiana.
Brian
This sounds accurate as it appears that NC State was given the toughest regional. They get the team they may have beaten out for a host spot as the #2 and 40+ win Navy team as the #4.