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2026 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament Field Set; LSU Defending Champion

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2026 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament: Everything You Need to Know

The 64-team field for the 2026 NCAA Division I baseball tournament will be announced on Monday, May 25, at noon ET on ESPN.

The tournament begins with regionals on Friday, May 29, and concludes with the Men's College World Series (MCWS) at Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska, from June 12 to June 22. LSU is the defending national champion, having won the 2025 title.

Tournament Format

Regionals: Four teams will compete at 16 host sites from Friday, May 29, to Monday, June 1. The winner of each regional advances.

Super Regionals: Best-of-three series will be held from Friday, June 5, to Monday, June 8, at the home sites of the higher-seeded teams.

Men's College World Series: The final eight teams will compete in a double-elimination bracket, culminating in a best-of-three championship series.

Selection Process

  • Automatic Berths: 29 conference champions receive automatic bids.
  • At-Large Berths: 35 teams are selected by the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee.
  • Eligibility: Teams must have a winning record against Division I opponents to be considered for at-large selection.

Key Events and Storylines

Seeding and Rankings

  • UCLA is the No. 1 national seed. The team was ranked No. 1 throughout the regular season in polls by D1Baseball and Baseball America.

Notable Absences

  • LSU, Vanderbilt, and Dallas Baptist did not qualify for the tournament, ending their respective streaks of consecutive appearances: LSU (since 2011), Dallas Baptist (since 2013), and Vanderbilt (since 2005).

Team and Player Achievements

  • Georgia catcher Daniel Jackson has 27 home runs and 25 stolen bases, approaching a 30-30 season. Only one Division I player (J.D. Drew of Florida State in 1997) has achieved this.

Conference Dominance

  • The Southeastern Conference (SEC) has won the last six MCWS titles. Twelve SEC teams are in the tournament field, with seven of those teams selected as national seeds.

Coach Retirement

  • Elliott Avent, head coach of NC State, announced his retirement after 30 seasons. NC State is a No. 3 seed in the Auburn Regional.

Competitive Balance

  • Potential regional matchups include rivalries such as Oregon vs. Oregon State, Florida vs. Miami (FL), North Carolina vs. East Carolina, Texas vs. Texas State, and UCLA vs. Cal Poly.
  • Cincinnati, UC Santa Barbara, and Jacksonville State have been identified as potential dark horses by the NCAA.
  • The Lincoln Regional and the Chapel Hill Regional have been cited as the most difficult paths to the MCWS.

Site and Venue

Charles Schwab Field Omaha, with a capacity of approximately 35,000, has hosted the MCWS since 2011, replacing Rosenblatt Stadium. Omaha has been the host city for the MCWS since 1950.

Schedule (All Times Eastern)

  • Selection Show: Monday, May 25 at noon | ESPN
  • Regionals: Friday, May 29 to Monday, June 1
  • Super Regionals: Friday, June 5 to Monday, June 8
  • Men's College World Series: Friday, June 12 to Monday, June 22 | Charles Schwab Field Omaha
    • Game times: 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on various days; Championship Series Game 2 on Sunday, June 21 at 2:30 p.m. on ABC

Recent Championship Results

  • 2025: LSU (53-15) def. Coastal Carolina
  • 2024: Tennessee (60-13) def. Texas A&M
  • 2023: LSU (54-17) def. Florida
  • 2022: Ole Miss (42-23) def. Oklahoma
  • 2021: Mississippi State (50-18) def. Vanderbilt
  • 2020: Canceled due to COVID-19
  • 2019: Vanderbilt (59-12) def. Michigan
  • 2018: Oregon State (55-12-1) def. Arkansas