How does the NCAA Baseball Tournament work? Breaking down format, regionals and brackets

Miami v Clemson
How does the NCAA Baseball Tournament work?

The NCAA baseball tournament is here. How does it work? It's not like the NCAA Basketball tournament. It has adopted the 64-team model like basketball has done for years, but it's not in the same sense that 16 teams per bracket compete until one remains and then those four compete until one remains.

It is tournament style, but it's not the standard bracket format that fans of college sports might be accustomed to. For starters, it's double elimination.

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Here's how the format works for each regional. Below is the schedule for the first two games of each region. Once those are complete, these can commence:

  • Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
  • Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
  • Game 5: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3
  • Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5
  • Game 7 (if necessary): Rematch Game 6
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So the winner of game one and the loser of game two will face off and vice versa. The teams will swap and continue playing until the region is complete. The team left standing moves on.


Schedule and details for NCAA baseball tournament

Here is the list of currently scheduled games. Once these are complete, the ones that follow them will be put on the schedule with a date and time as well.

Winston SalemNortheastern vs. Maryland; 1 p.m. on ESPN+No. 1 Wake Forest vs. George Mason; 7 p.m. on ESPN+
TuscaloosaTroy vs. Boston College; 3 p.m. on ESPN+No. 16 Alabama vs. Nicholls State; 7 p.m. on ESPN+
Coral GablesLouisiana vs. Texas; 2 p.m. on LHNNo. 9 Miami vs. Maine; 7 p.m. on ESPN+
StanfordNo. 8 Stanford vs. San Jose State; 5 p.m. on ESPN+Cal State Fullerton vs. Texas A&M; 10 p.m. on ESPN2
Baton RougeNo. 5 LSU vs. Tulane; 3 p.m. on ESPNUSam Houston vs. Oregon State; 8 p.m. on ESPN+
LexingtonNo. 12 Kentucky vs. Ball State; noon on SECNIndiana vs. West Virginia; 7 p.m. on ESPN+
AuburnSanford vs. Southern Miss; 2 p.m. on ESPN+No. 13 Auburn vs. Penn; 7 p.m. on ESPN+
ClemsonNo. 4 Clemson vs. Lipscomb; 1 p.m. on ESPN+Charlotte vs. Tennessee; 6 p.m. on ESPNU
GainesvilleTexas Tech vs. UConn; noon on ESPNUNo. 2 Florida vs. Florida A&M; 5:30 p.m. on ESPN+
ColumbiaNC State vs. Campbell; 1 p.m. on ACCNNo. 15 South Carolina vs. Central Connecticut State; 7 p.m. on ESPN+
ConwayUNC Wilmington vs. Duke; 1 p.m. on ESPN+No. 10 Coastal Carolina vs. Rider; 7 p.m. on ESPN+
CharlottesvilleNo. 7 Virginia vs. Army; noon on ESPN+Oklahoma vs. East Carolina; 7 p.m. on ESPN2
NashvilleXavier vs. Oregon; 1 p.m. on ESPN+No. 6 Vanderbilt vs. Eastern Illinois; 8 p.m. SECN
StillwaterWashington vs. Dallas Baptist; 1 p.m. on ESPN+

No. 11 Oklahoma State vs. Oral Roberts; 7 p.m. on ESPN+

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Terre HauteNo. 14 Indiana State vs. Wright State; 1 p.m. on ESPN+North Carolina vs. Iowa; 7 p.m. on ACCN
FayettevilleNo. 3 Arkansas vs. Santa Clara; 3 p.m. on ESPN+

Arizona vs. TCU; 9 p.m. on ESPNU

Who will win the NCAA baseball tournament?
Who will win the NCAA baseball tournament?

After that, the NCAA baseball tournament moves to a super regional. Here's how that is scheduled:

  • Winston-Salem Regional winner vs. Tuscaloosa Regional winner
  • Coral-Gables Regional winner vs. Stanford Regional winner
  • Baton Rouge Regional winner vs. Lexington Regional winner
  • Auburn Regional winner vs. Clemson Regional winner
  • Gainesville Regional winner vs. Columbia Regional winner
  • Conway Regional winner vs. Charlottesville Regional winner
  • Nashville Regional winner vs. Stillwater Regional winner
  • Terre Haute Regional winner vs. Fayetteville Regional winner

The College World Series will also be held from Friday, June 16, to Monday, June 26.

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