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ROUND ROCK, TX - FEBRUARY 24: Washington State Cougars pitcher Connor Wilford (20) throws a pitch during game between the Washington State Wildcats and the Kansas Jayhawks on February 24, 2024 at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock, TX. (Photo by Jo throws a pitchhn Rivera/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
College Baseball wrapped up their own “Selection Monday” on Memorial Day, laying out the Field of 64 as the postseason tournament is set to begin.
Once again, for those who are new to following college baseball, 64 teams make the “Road to Omaha”, which is the nickname for the NCAA Baseball Tournament that is set to begin on Friday, May 29 and run through the College World Series, which will wrap up on Father’s Day or the following day.
Games will start with the regional rounds, with four teams in each of the sixteen regions. They play a double-elimination mini-tournament to advance to the next round. The next round is the super regionals, where the sixteen teams play a best-of-three series, with eight advancing to the College World Series in Omaha. Those teams are once again put into a double-elimination bracket to determine a champion.
The 64 teams are selected in a manner similar to the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Each conference tournament champion automatically qualifies, accounting for 29 bids, leaving room for 35 at-large bids. It appears there was a change in how the 64 teams are seeded, with a committee ranking the top 32 teams. Numbers 1-16 all get 1-seeds, 17-32 get 2-seeds, but two teams from the same conference can’t be in the same region.
For 2026, three teams that are under the Mountain West and future Pac-12 umbrellas made the Field of 64. Although all three will play in the Pac-12 starting next season.
Eugene Regional
Mountain West tournament champion and former/current/future Pac-12 member Washington State won’t have to travel far, playing in Eugene as the three-seed. It’s a tough draw, as they are paired up with Oregon, which is the 11th overall team, and fellow conference-mate Oregon State as the second seed. The Beavers are one of the premier college baseball programs, opting to compete as an independent the last two seasons. Oregon State ended the year on a downslide, but is just as likely to emerge as the winner of this region as Oregon.
College Station Regional
Future Pac-12 program Texas State is the other school worth mentioning on our site to make the postseason. The Bobcats actually made the tournament as an at-large team after failing to win the Sun Belt this year. They were the second-to-last team in the field, or the 63rd-ranked team out of 64th. Again, it’s going to be tough for Texas State to find wins, as USC was ranked 25th heading into the conference tournament weekend and Texas A&M was 10th.
Regardless, three tournament teams for the future Pac-12 conference is a good sign for them going forward.
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