On Monday, the Selection Committee announced the field of 64 for the 2022 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, which we’ll reveal 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 submissions through conference championships and 33 entrants at large. The first round of play is known as Regional, and it is a double elimination format. Each of the 16 No. 1 seeds host their respective four-team region, when possible. Each of the 16 regionals is ranked from one to four. In each region, No. 1 faces No. 4 and No. 2 faces No. 3 on the first day of action. The winners of these two games then compete against each other, while the losers play a game of elimination.
- The winner of each regional advances to the super regional. The super regional, which features a total of 16 teams, is a best-of-three series format.
- The winners of the super regionals – eight teams in total – qualify for the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
- The College World Series is a double-elimination format until the last two teams remain standing. At that point, the 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 can consider pre-tournament favorites to reach Omaha. Here they are for this year, listed 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 their region, they host the super regional when possible. Otherwise, super regional venues will be announced after the regional round is over.
And now for the full field. Regional play begins Friday, June 3. Now here are the matchups for the 16 regionals – remember that each region is ranked from one to four and is hosted by one of the 16 national seeds.
Knoxville Regional
Hosted by National No. 1 seed Tennessee
- #1 Tennessee (53-7) vs. #4 Alabama State (34-23)
- #2 Georgia Tech (34-22) vs. #3 Campbell (40-17)
Stanford area
Hosted by National No. 2 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 Oregon State’s National #3 Seed
- #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 National Seed No. 4 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 National No. 5 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 National No. 6 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 Oklahoma State National Seed #7
- #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 national seed No. 8 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 area
Hosted by national seed No. 9 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 National No. 10 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 National Seed No. 11 of 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 National Seed No. 12 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 National No. 13 seed Florida
- #1 Florida (39-22) vs. #4 Central Michigan (42-17)
- #2 Oklahoma (37-20) vs. #3 Liberty (37-21)
Regional Auburn
Hosted by National Seed No. 14 Auburn
- #1 Auburn (37-19) vs. #4 Southeast Los Angeles (30-29)
- #2 UCLA (38-22) vs. #3 Florida St. (33-23)
Park Regional College
Hosted by National Seed #15 of Maryland
- #1 Maryland (45-12) vs. #4 Long Island (37-19)
- #2 Wake Forest (40-17-1) vs. #3 UConn (46-13)
Statesboro area
Hosted by National Seed #16 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 full NCAA.com support, which includes region-vs-region pairings for super regionals.
Now for some quick takeaways from the 64-team field featured above:
- There will be no repeat this year, as the defending national champion from Mississippi State (26-30) did not receive an offer. No team has repeated as a national champion at the Division I level since South Carolina in 2010 and 2011.
- Florida State is making its 44th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
- This year’s field includes two teams making their first ever tournament appearances – Coppin State and Hofstra.
- At the conference level, the SEC and ACC lead all comers with nine offers each.
- Next in line is the Big 12 and the Pac-12 with five offers each.
All of the above leads to the College World Series at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, which begins Friday, June 17. So who do you have?