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The 2026 college baseball season is nearing, and that means it’s time for the preseason D1Baseball Field of 64 Projections.
One thing to keep in mind with the way NCAA tournament seedings now operate: The NCAA Baseball Selection Committee will now rank the top 32 teams, with 17-32 teams being grouped in pods as two seeds with the top 16 seeds. For instance, teams in the 29-32 range will go national seeds in the Nos. 1-4 range, teams in the 25-28 range will go to national seeds Nos. 5-8, teams in the 21-24 range will go to national seeds in the Nos. 9-12 range and teams in the 17-20 range will be two seeds at the Nos. 13-16 regionals. It is worth noting two things: geographical considerations still matter when applicable, and you still cannot have two teams from the same conference in the same regional. That will naturally cause some seeding manipulation during the process.
Mark Etheridge, Kendall Rogers and Aaron Fitt, who have a combined 60 years of experience covering college baseball, compile the projections.
Projected top 32 seeds for the 2026 NCAA baseball tournament
UCLA
LSU
Texas
Mississippi State
Georgia Tech
Coastal Carolina
Arkansas
Louisville
Auburn
TCU
North Carolina
Oregon State
Florida
Tennessee
Georgia
Florida State
NC State
Kentucky
Clemson
Southern Miss
Wake Forest
Miami
Vanderbilt
Arizona
Texas A&M
West Virginia
Virginia
Ole Miss
East Carolina
DBU
Oregon
UC Irvine
Projected 2026 NCAA baseball tournament bracket
Here’s the projected field of 64.
parentheses indicate national seed
asterisks indicate automatic qualifiers
Los Angeles Regional
1
UCLA* (1)
2
Dallas Baptist*
3
UC Santa Barbara*
4
California Baptist*
Tallahassee, Fla. Regional
1
Florida State (16)
2
Southern Miss
3
Kansas
4
Wright State*
Baton Rouge, La. Regional
1
LSU* (2)
2
UC Irvine
3
Oklahoma State
4
Bryant*
Athens, Ga. Regional
1
Georgia (15)
2
Clemson
3
Kansas State
4
Rhode Island*
Austin, Texas Regional
1
Texas (3)
2
Oregon
3
UTRGV*
4
Long Island*
Knoxville, Tenn. Regional
1
Tennessee (14)
2
NC State
3
Southern California
4
Nevada*
Starkville, Miss. Regional
1
Mississippi State (4)
2
Virginia
3
Arizona State
4
Fairfield*
Gainesville, Fla. Regional
1
Florida (13)
2
Miami
3
Florida Gulf Coast*
4
Yale*
Atlanta Regional
1
Georgia Tech (5)
2
East Carolina*
3
Alabama
4
Bethune-Cookman*
Corvallis, Ore. Regional
1
Oregon State (12)
2
Kentucky
3
Nebraska
4
Gonzaga*
Conway, S.C. Regional
1
Coastal Carolina* (6)
2
Ole Miss
3
Connecticut*
4
High Point*
Chapel Hill, N.C. Regional
1
North Carolina (11)
2
Vanderbilt
3
UNC Wilmington*
4
Navy*
Fayetteville, Ark. Regional
1
Arkansas (7)
2
Arizona
3
Notre Dame
4
Little Rock*
Fort Worth, Texas Regional
1
TCU* (10)
2
Texas A&M
3
Cal Poly
4
Oral Roberts*
Louisville, Ky. Regional
1
Louisville (8)
2
West Virginia
3
Murray State*
4
Kent State*
Auburn, Ala. Regional
1
Auburn (9)
2
Wake Forest
3
Troy
4
Samford*
Bids by conference: SEC (13), ACC (10), Big 12 (7), Big Ten (4), Sun Belt (3), Big West (3), American (2), Conference USA (1).
Last four in: UC Santa Barbara, Southern California, Nebraska, Kansas State
First four out: Oklahoma, UTSA, Cincinnati, Creighton
Four to watch: Virginia Tech, Xavier, Louisiana Tech, Charlotte