All articles tagged with #ncaa tournament
Wichita, Kansas, was selected to host six opening-round games in 2027 and 2028 alongside Dayton as part of the NCAA’s 76-team expansion; the events will be at InTrust Bank Arena, highlighting Wichita’s central location and strong fan base, with Dayton continuing its long-running role hosting opening rounds. The expansion also brings scheduling changes and metric recalibrations for bid decisions.
A path-focused preview ranking the 16 teams in the NCAA baseball Super Regionals by their likelihood of reaching Omaha, not a title winner projection. Alabama is depicted as the favorite in a favorable St. John’s draw, with the remaining teams—West Virginia, Troy, Georgia, North Carolina, Kansas, Texas, Auburn, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oklahoma, USC, Mississippi State, Little Rock, Cal Poly, and St. John’s—mapped to hosting duties and key strengths that could shape who advances to the College World Series.
Georgia advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals after beating Liberty; meanwhile Oklahoma rallied past Georgia Tech, with Kyle Branch (Kolby Branch’s brother) contributing, prompting Tre Phelps and Kolby Branch to attend Tech’s loss. Phelps was ejected in the Liberty game and will miss the first Super Regional game. Georgia, the highest remaining seed, will face Mississippi State in the Super Regionals, a matchup Georgia has already dominated 4-0 this season. Tech’s season ended with the loss to Oklahoma. Times for the series hadn’t been announced.
Florida State must win twice against St. John’s in the Tallahassee Regional final to advance to the NCAA super regional, after surviving a loser's bracket run with Coastal Carolina and Northern Illinois. The first game is at 12 p.m. on ESPNU, and a potential second game would be at 4 p.m. on ESPN+, with Peyton Manca facing Evan Hoeckele.
Auburn rolled past Milwaukee 8-1 to force a winner-take-all regional final Monday at Plainsman Park, as Chase Fralick belted a three-run homer, LJ Cormier pitched five scoreless innings with eight strikeouts to earn the win, and Auburn used a five-run second inning plus key bullpen work by Ryan Hetzler to pull away.
Saint Mary’s shocked UCLA 6-5 in 10 innings at Jackie Robinson Stadium to end the Bruins’ season as the NCAA baseball tournament’s No. 1 overall seed, after UCLA squandered 3-0 and 5-2 leads. Makoa Sniffen lined a single to score the winning run in the 10th, capping a regional that highlighted UCLA’s late struggles and bullpen issues, including closer Easton Hawk’s tough outings and the loss of ace Logan Reddemann. The Bruins were knocked out in a dramatic walk-off, leaving coach John Savage to reflect on a disappointing culmination to a storied era.
No. 1 UCLA, after a historic regular season, was eliminated from the NCAA Baseball Tournament in its own regional, losing 6-5 in 10 innings to Saint Mary’s and ending a season that had looked unbeatable. The Bruins’ late-season offensive slump, injuries, and the regional heartbreak capped a dramatic fall for a team that had begun and ended the year at No. 1 in the Baseball America rankings.
North Carolina baseball defeated East Carolina 9-3 in the Chapel Hill Regional final to advance to the NCAA Super Regionals. The Tar Heels leaned on timely hitting, strong pitching, and a bullpen sequence that included Folger Boaz, Walker McDuffie, and Jackson Rose to preserve an 8-1 lead. ECU starter Ryan Towers exited early and UNC stretched the advantage, while UNC’s bench—Carter French and Rom Kellis V—also contributed. UNC now awaits the winner of the Texas A&M College Station regional for a super-regional series; the Tar Heels are 41-8 in Chapel Hill regional play, and UCLA’s upset of top seeds is part of a shifting postseason landscape.
Sunday’s NCAA Division I baseball regionals produced drama and bracket-shaping results, including No. 4 Saint Mary’s walking off No. 1 UCLA 6-5 to force a regional final, West Virginia’s 10-5 win over Wake Forest, Jacksonville State’s 7-6 upset of Virginia, and Troy sweeping Miami 9-6 before beating Florida 16-11. East Carolina beat VCU 10-0 but was eliminated by North Carolina (9-3), while USC defeated Texas State 15-4; Ole Miss topped Nebraska 6-3 and Arizona State defeated Nebraska 11-8, moving several teams toward Monday’s play and the path to super regionals.
Virginia outslugged No. 9 Southern Miss 15-11 in 10 innings at the Hattiesburg Regional, led by AJ Gracia’s 5-for-6 day with five RBIs, and in extras Zach Jackson delivered a go-ahead two-run single followed by Kyle Johnson’s two-run homer as Max Stammel earned the win; UVA advances to Sunday’s elimination game.
Saturday’s NCAA Division I baseball regionals intensified the double-elimination chase with notable upsets and late-inning drama across sites. Milwaukee upset Auburn on the weekend’s start, Saint Mary’s had pulled an upset of UCLA on Friday, and UCLA fought back to beat Virginia Tech 6-5 to stay alive. Other big results included Florida’s 22-10 thumping of Miami and Auburn’s 17-13 win over NC State, with UCF, Oklahoma, Georgia and Texas A&M posting wins as teams jockey for bracket positioning ahead of the next round.
Northern Illinois University defeated Coastal Carolina 12-10 to earn the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament win in school history.
Saint Mary's pulled off a 3-2 upset over No. 1 UCLA in the Los Angeles Regional opener, as Jacob Johnson hit a go-ahead solo homer in the ninth. Cam Staton earned the win for Saint Mary's after UCLA's late rally fizzled, with Johnson also homering earlier. UCLA, despite strong pitching and two homers from Johnson, could not mount a comeback. Saint Mary's advances to face Cal Poly in the winner's bracket, while UCLA must beat Virginia Tech to stay alive.
Florida’s Gainesville Regional schedule was adjusted: No. 4 Florida will face No. 2 Miami in the nightcap at 8 p.m. Saturday after the preceding Miami–Troy game ran late; Rider vs. Troy opens at 3 p.m.; Florida opened the regional with an 8–7 win over Rider, and tickets are available.
UNC opened the Chapel Hill Regional with an 8-0 win over VCU behind seven strong innings from Ryan Lynch (two hits, five strikeouts) and solid relief from Walker McDuffie and Matthew Matthijs, marking just the Tar Heels’ third NCAA Tournament shutout of the Scott Forbes era. Two-out runs in the first sparked the offense, Cooper Nicholson sparked a key 5-3 double play in the sixth, and Owen Hull’s eighth-inning RBI triple helped seal it. UNC advances to face East Carolina at Boshamer Stadium on Saturday; bullpen plans and ECU’s pitching could shape the next game. The crowd helped fuel UNC’s continued regional success (39-8 since 2006).