On Monday, the selection committee announced the field of 64 for the 2022 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, which we’ll unveil in a moment.Before we jump in, you should know that the structure of the NCAA Baseball Tournament is a bit different from the more familiar hoops variant.
Here are a few takeaways on that front:
- The field this year includes 31 automatic bids via conference championships and 33 at-large entrants. The first round of play is known as the regional, and it’s double-elimination format. Each of the 16 No. 1 seeds hosts its respective four-team regional, when possible. Each of the 16 regionals are seeded one through four. In each region, No. 1 faces No. 4, and No. 2 faces No. 3 on the first day of action. The winners of those two games then play each other, while the losers play an elimination game.
- The winner of each regional advances to the super regional. The super regional, which includes a total of 16 teams, is a best-of-three series format.
- The winners of the super regionals — eight teams in all — advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
- The College World Series is a double-elimination format until the final two teams are left standing. At that point, slates are wiped clean, and it’s a best-of-three series to determine the national champion.
The field of 64 also includes eight national seeds, which you may consider the pre-tourney favorites to reach Omaha. Here they are for this year, ranked in order with their regular-season record:
- Tennessee, 53-7
- Stanford, 40-14
- Oregon State, 44-14
- Virginia Tech, 41-12
- Texas A&M, 37-18
- Miami-FL, 39-18
- Oklahoma State, 39-20
- East Carolina, 42-18
If a national seed wins its region, then it hosts the super regional when possible. Otherwise, the sites of the super regionals will be announced after the regional round concludes.
And now for the full field. Regional play gets underway on Friday, June 3. Now here are the match-ups for all 16 regionals — reminder that each region is seeded one through four and is hosted by one of the 16 national seeds.
Knoxville Regional
Hosted by No. 1 national seed Tennessee
- #1 Tennessee (53-7) vs. #4 Alabama State (34-23)
- #2 Georgia Tech (34-22) vs. #3 Campbell (40-17)
Stanford Regional
Hosted by No. 2 national seed Stanford
- #1 Stanford (41-14) vs. #4 Binghamton (22-28)
- #2 Texas State (45-12) vs. #3 UC-Santa Barbara (43-12)
Corvallis Regional
Hosted by No. 3 national seed Oregon State
- #1 Oregon St. (44-15) vs. #4 New Mexico State (24-32)
- #2 Vanderbilt (36-21) vs. #3 San Diego (36-18)
Blacksburg Regional
Hosted by No. 4 national seed Virginia Tech
- #1 Virginia Tech (41-12) vs. #4 Wright State (30-25)
- #2 Gonzaga (36-17) vs. #3 Columbia (30-16)
College Station Regional
Hosted by No. 5 national seed Texas A&M
- #1 Texas A&M (37-18) vs. #4 Oral Roberts (38-18)
- #2 TCU (36-20) vs. #3 Louisiana (36-21)
Coral Gables Regional
Hosted by No. 6 national seed Miami-FL
- #1 Miami (FL) (39-18) vs. #4 Canisius (29-23)
- #2 Arizona (37-23) vs. #3 Ole Miss (32-22)
Stillwater Regional
Hosted by No. 7 national seed Oklahoma State
- #1 Oklahoma State (39-20) vs. #4 Missouri State (30-27)
- #2 Arkansas (38-18) vs. #3 Grand Canyon (41-19)
Greenville Regional
Hosted by No. 8 national seed East Carolina
- #1 East Carolina (42-18) vs. #4 Coppin State (24-28)
- #2 Virginia (38-17) vs. #3 Coastal Carolina (36-18-1)
Austin Regional
Hosted by No. 9 national seed Texas
- #1 Texas (42-19) vs. #4 Air Force (30-27)
- #2 Louisiana Tech (42-19) vs. #3 Dallas Baptist (34-22-1),
Chapel Hill Regional
Hosted by No. 10 national seed North Carolina
- #1 North Carolina (38-19) vs. #4 Hofstra (30-21)
- #2 Georgia (35-21) vs. #3 VCU (40-18)
Hattiesburg Regional
Hosted by No. 11 national seed Southern Mississippi
- #1 Southern Miss. (43-16) vs. #4 Army (31-23)
- #2 LSU (38-20) vs. #3 Kennesaw State (35-26)
Louisville Regional
Hosted by No. 12 national seed Louisville
- #1 Louisville (38-18-1) vs. #4 Southeast Missouri State (37-20)
- #2 Oregon (35-23) vs. #3 Michigan (32-26)
Gainesville Regional
Hosted by No. 13 national seed Florida
- #1 Florida (39-22) vs. #4 Central Michigan (42-17)
- #2 Oklahoma (37-20) vs. #3 Liberty (37-21)
Auburn Regional
Hosted by No. 14 national seed Auburn
- #1 Auburn (37-19) vs. #4 Southeastern La. (30-29)
- #2 UCLA (38-22) vs. #3 Florida St. (33-23)
College Park Regional
Hosted by No. 15 national seed Maryland
- #1 Maryland (45-12) vs. #4 Long Island (37-19)
- #2 Wake Forest (40-17-1) vs. #3 UConn (46-13)
Statesboro Regional
Hosted by No. 16 national seed Georgia Southern
- #1 Georgia Southern (40-18) vs. #4 UNC-Greensboro (34-28)
- #2 Notre Dame (35-14) vs. #3 Texas Tech (37-20)
And here’s a link to NCAA.com’s full bracket, which includes region vs. region pairings for the super regionals.
Now for some quick-hit takeaways on the 64-team field laid out above:
- There will be no repeat this year, as reigning national champion Mississippi State (26-30) did not receive a bid. No team has repeated as national champions at the Division I level since South Carolina in 2010 and 2011.
- Florida State is making its record 44th straight appearance in the NCAA tournament.
- This year’s field includes two teams making first-ever tourney appearances — Coppin State and Hofstra.
- At the conference level, the SEC and ACC lead all comers with nine bids apiece.
- Next in line is the Big 12 and Pac-12 with five bids apiece.
All of the above leads up to the College World Series at Omaha’s Charles Schwab Field, which gets underway on Friday, June 17. So who ya got?
