Nebraska baseball hasn’t hosted an NCAA Regional since 2008, but that drought could come to a close next month.
The Huskers are 31-9 on the year and coming off a sweep of then-No. 12 USC. Coach Will Bolt has his team surging after a 1-3 week, with all three of those losses coming to currently ranked teams by one score each.
Ty Horn pitches against USC. | Amarillo Mullen
So what does Nebraska need to do to stay in the conversation to host a regional?
Metrics
While the selection committee looks at strength of schedule and other components, and big indicator of being a top-16 national seed and hosting a regional is RPI, or Rating Percentage Index.
Over the last week, Nebraska jumped up 13 spots in the RPI. The Huskers now sit at 14, which is a good spot for hosting a regional.
Here are the current top 20 in RPI.
UCLATexasGeorgia TechAlabaAuburnOle MissNorth CarolinaTexas A&MFloridaFlorida StateOregon StateSouthern MissCoastal CarolinaNebraskaUSCMissouri StateOklahomaMississippi StateVirginiaGeorgiaFinal 15 Games
Nebraska has 15 games left before the Big Ten Conference Tournament. The Huskers host just four of those.
The home games remaining are a midweek against Kansas State (25-15, 9-9 Big 12) and a weekend series against Iowa (21-6, 7-11 B1G).
The Huskers celebrate a Rhett Stokes three-run homer. | Amarillo Mullen
The road contests are midweeks at Kansas (29-11, 14-4 Big 12) and Creighton (21-16, 7-2 BIG EAST) and weekend series at Illinois (20-18, 8-10 B1G), Ohio State (19-19, 9-9 B1G), and Minnesota (22-7, 5-13 B1G).
Only one of those 15 games will come against a top-25 RPI opponent: Kansas. As matter of fact, that is the only top-50 RPI contest remaining for Nebraska.
Kansas State is currently at 55, followed by Creighton at 79, Illinois at 83, Iowa at 88, Minnesota at 96, and Ohio State at 104.
Nebraska can’t afford to lose any of the Big Ten series remaining. Currently second in the league at 15-3, the only series loss came to Oregon a couple of weekends back.
J’Shawn Unger celebrates a strikeout against Creighton. | Amarillo Mullen
The Huskers likely need to go 2-1 or better every weekend. As for the midweeks, at top-20 battle at Kansas on Tuesday is the last big opportunity before the conference tournament to get a signature win. The rest of the regular season will primarily be about avoiding bad losses.
In the Big Ten Tournament, Nebraska could see Oregon again. The Ducks are currently 26th in the RPI. The Huskers could also see the USC Trojans (15) or UCLA (1). NU has won the Big Ten Tournament each of the last two seasons.
Past Hosts and RPI
This is who was a national seed and hosted a regional last year, including where they were in the RPI ahead of the tournament.
Vanderbilt, 1
Texas, 4
Arkansas, 5
Auburn, 3
North Carolina, 6
LSU, 10
Georgia, 2
Oregon State, 7
Florida State, 14
Ole Miss, 12
Clemson, 9
Oregon, 17
Coastal Carolina, 8
Tennessee, 11
UCLA, 15
Southern Miss, 19
The only teams to finish in the top 16 of the RPI and not host a regional were Alabama (13) and Florida (16).
Nebraska has made the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons via winning the Big Ten Tournament. | Nebraska Athletics
Here is what those national seeds and RPI rankings were going into the 2024 tournament.
Tennessee, 1
Kentucky, 3
Texas A&M, 2
North Carolina, 4
Arkansas, 5
Clemson, 7
Georgia, 6
Florida State, 8
Oklahoma, 14
NC State, 15
Oklahoma State, 11
Virginia, 12
Arizona, 31
UC Santa Barbara, 13
Oregon State, 18
East Carolina, 22
The only teams to finish in the top 16 of the RPI and not host a regional were Wake Forest (9), Indiana State (10), and Duke (16).
Lincoln Regional History2001
Nebraska entered the 2001 postseason as the No. 8 national seed. Hosting at Buck Beltzer Stadium, the Huskers dispatched of Northern Iowa, 16-6, before beating Rutgers twice to win the region.
in the Super Regional against Rice, Nebraska swept the affair, 7-0 and 9-6.
2002
Now at Haymarket Park, Nebraska again rolled through its regional. The Huskers beat Milwaukee, Marist, and Southwest Missouri State to take the regional.
In the Super Regional, Nebraska needed all three games to get by Richmond and advance to the College World Series for a second straight season.
2003
Hosting for a third year in a row, Nebraska opened with a 16-11 win over Eastern Michigan. But then Southwest Missouri State upended the Huskers 4-2, sending them to the losers’ bracket. After dismantling Eastern Michigan again, 18-2, Nebraska beat Southwest Missouri State 9-5.
In the winner-take-all game, it was Southwest Missouri State, 7-0.
2005
The No. 3 national seed, Nebraska beat UIC before topping Creighton twice. In the Super Regional, the Huskers swept Miami (FL) to get back to the CWS
In Omaha, the Huskers notched their first-ever victory at the Greatest Show on Dirt, beating Arizona State 5-3.
2006
After arguably the greatest season in program history, Nebraska was back in the NCAA Tournament as the No. 6 national seed. This time, however, the Huskers were bounced right away with losses to Manhattan (4-1) and San Francisco (5-1).
2008
Now officially Hawks Field, Nebraska was back in the host position. The Huskers beat Eastern Illinois, 13-10, before falling to UC Irvine, 3-2. Oral Roberts then shut out Nebraska, 8-0, in the last regional game to be played in Lincoln to date.
Have a question or comment for Kaleb? Send an email to kalebhenry.huskermax@gmail.com.
Nebraska Baseball’s 2026 ScheduleFeb. 13 Nebraska 12, UConn 2 [7 inn.] (MLB Desert Invitational)Feb. 14 Nebraska 7, Northeastern 4 (MLB Desert Invitational)Feb. 15 Nebraska 9, Grand Canyon 1 (MLB Desert Invitational)Feb. 16 Stanford 11, Nebraska 6 (MLB Desert Invitational)Feb. 20 Louisville 4, Nebraska 2 (Amegy Bank College Baseball Series)Feb. 21 Kansas State 3, Nebraska 3 FloCollege (Amegy Bank College Baseball Series)Feb. 22 Nebraska 10, Florida State 1 (Amegy Bank College Baseball Series)Feb. 27 Nebraska 9, Auburn 8 [10 inn.]Feb. 28 Auburn 15, Nebraska 4 [7 inn.]Mar. 1 Auburn 12, Nebraska 3Mar. 3 Nebraska 8, Omaha 5Mar. 4 Nebraska 5, South Dakota State 4Mar. 6 Nebraska 5, Michigan State 4 [10 inn.]Mar. 7 Nebraska 3, Michigan State 1Mar. 8 Nebraska 12, Michigan State 2 [7 inn.]Mar. 11 Nebraska 11, North Dakota State 1 [7 inn.]Mar. 13 Nebraska 6, Maine 5Mar. 14 Nebraska 6, Maine 3Mar. 14 Nebraska 8, Maine 7Mar. 17 Nebraska 8, Wichita State 1Mar. 18 Nebraska 10, Wichita State 1Mar. 20 Michigan 2, Nebraska 1Mar. 21 Nebraska 10, Michigan 0 [7 inn.]Mar. 22 Nebraska 9, Michigan 5Mar. 24 Nebraska 14, Kansas State 9Mar. 27 Nebraska 6, Indiana 5Mar. 28 Nebraska 12, Indiana 7Mar. 29 Nebraska 12, Indiana 4Mar. 31 Nebraska 6, Creighton 5Apr. 4 Nebraska 8, Penn State 7Apr. 4 Nebraska 13, Penn State 1 [7 inn.]Apr. 5 Nebraska 8, Penn State 6Apr. 7 Kansas 5, Nebraska 3Apr. 10 Oregon 7, Nebraska 6Apr. 11 Nebraska 10, Oregon 8Apr. 12 Oregon 5, Nebraska 4Apr 14 Nebraska 5, Creighton 4Apr. 17 Nebraska 8, USC 7 [10 inn.]Apr. 18 Nebraska 12, USC 2 [7 inn.]Apr. 19 Nebraska 16, USC 6 [8 inn.]Apr. 21 at Kansas 6 p.m. ESPN+Apr. 24 at Illinois 6 p.m. B1G+Apr. 25 at Illinois 3 p.m. B1G+Apr. 26 at Illinois 1 p.m. B1G+Apr. 28 vs. Kansas State 6 p.m. B1G+May 1 at Ohio State 5 p.m. B1G+May 2 at Ohio State 6 p.m. BTNMay 3 at Ohio State 1 p.m. B1G+May 8 vs. Iowa 6 p.m. NPM/B1G+May 9 vs. Iowa 2 p.m. B1G+May 10 vs. Iowa 2 p.m. BTNMay 12 at Creighton 6 p.m. NPMMay 14 at Minnesota 6 p.m. B1G+May 15 at Minnesota 6 p.m. B1G+May 16 at Minnesota 1 p.m. B1G+May 19-24 Big Ten Tournament
Home games are bolded. All times central.
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