Last updated: Monday, May 18
Welcome to Baseball America’s latest in-season projection of the 2026 college baseball NCAA Tournament bracket.
In the past, BA utilized our College Baseball Top 25 rankings to determine a projected national seed order. In an effort to avoid large swings, though, this year we are leaning on projection to determine what the field could look like on Selection Monday, rather than present a live snapshot of the current hierarchy.
Additionally, we are now showing our work on the two-seed line due to the NCAA selection committee’s updated seeding format. Beginning this season, the committee will rank the top 32 teams, not just the 16 regional hosts. Seeds 17-32 will be slotted into regionals based on that ranking: teams 29-32 will be paired with the top four national seeds, 25-28 with seeds 5-8, 21-24 with seeds 9-12 and 17-20 with seeds 13-16. The projected bracket below is designed to reflect how that structure will work, even if the committee ultimately does not make its full two-seed rankings public.
The SEC continues to lead our latest projection with 12 total bids followed by the ACC (9), Big 12 (7), Big Ten (4), the Sun Belt (4), Conference USA (3) and the American (2).
Projected Top National Seeds As Of May 18
1. UCLA
2. Georgia Tech
3. Georgia
4. Texas
5. North Carolina
6. Auburn
7. Alabama
8. Texas A&M
2026 NCAA Baseball Tournament Bracket Projection (May 18)
| Westwood, Calif. | Corvallis, Ore. | |
| 1. (1) UCLA^* (Big Ten) | 1. (16) Oregon State^ (Independent) | |
| 2. (32) Miami (ACC) | 2. (19) West Virginia (Big 12) | |
| 3. Kentucky (SEC) | 3. Gonzaga* (WCC) | |
| 4. Oral Roberts* (Summit) | 4. Cal Baptist* (WAC) | |
| Atlanta, Ga. | Eugene, Ore. | |
| 1. (2) Georgia Tech^* (ACC) | 1. (15) Oregon^ (Big Ten) | |
| 2. (31) Arizona State (Big 12) | 2. (18) Ole Miss (SEC) | |
| 3. UTSA (AAC) | 3. Virginia (ACC) | |
| 4. LIU* (NEC) | 4. Washington State* (Mountain West) | |
| Athens, Ga. | Lawrence, Kan. | |
| 1. (3) Georgia^* (SEC) | 1. (14) Kansas^* (Big 12) | |
| 2. (30) Boston College (ACC) | 2. (17) USC (Big Ten) | |
| 3. UCF (Big 12) | 3. Mercer* (Southern) | |
| 4. UConn* (Big East) | 4. Wright State* (Horizon) | |
| Austin, Texas. | Starkville, Miss. | |
| 1. (4) Texas^ (SEC) | 1. (13) Mississippi State^ (SEC) | |
| 2. (29) UC Santa Barbara* (Big West) | 2. (20) Wake Forest (ACC) | |
| 3. Liberty (CUSA) | 3. Southeast Missouri State* (OVC) | |
| 4. Binghamton* (America East) | 4. Lamar* (Southland) | |
| Chapel Hill, N.C. | Lincoln, Neb. | |
| 1. (5) North Carolina^ (ACC) | 1. (12) Nebraska^ (Big Ten) | |
| 2. (28) Tennessee (SEC) | 2. (21) Cincinnati (Big 12) | |
| 3. East Carolina* (AAC) | 3. Miami (OH)* (MAC) | |
| 4. Holy Cross* (Patriot) | 4. UIC* (MVC) | |
| Auburn, Ala. | Hattiesburg, Miss. | |
| 1. (6) Auburn^ (SEC) | 1. (11) Southern Miss^* (Sun Belt) | |
| 2. (27) Missouri State (CUSA) | 2. (22) Arkansas (SEC) | |
| 3. TCU (Big 12) | 3. High Point* (Big South) | |
| 4. Bethune-Cookman* (SWAC) | 4. Campbell* (CAA) | |
| Tuscaloosa, Ala. | Tallahassee, Fla. | |
| 1. (7) Alabama^ (SEC) | 1. (10) Florida State^ (ACC) | |
| 2. (26) Coastal Carolina (Sun Belt) | 2. (23) Oklahoma (SEC) | |
| 3. NC State (ACC) | 3. Troy (Sun Belt) | |
| 4. Yale* (Ivy) | 4. Rider* (MAAC) | |
| College Station, Texas. | Gainesville, Fla. | |
| 1. (8) Texas A&M^ (SEC) | 1. (9) Florida^ (SEC) | |
| 2. (25) Oklahoma State (Big 12) | 2. (24) Jacksonville State* (CUSA) | |
| 3. Louisiana (Sun Belt) | 3. Virginia Tech (ACC) | |
| 4. Saint Joseph’s* (A10) | 4. North Florida* (ASUN) |
* denotes automatic bid
^ denotes regional host
Bolded denotes team has clinched its leagues automatic bid
Last Four In
Troy (Sun Belt)
NC State (ACC)
Louisiana (Sun Belt)
UTSA (AAC)
First Four Out
Michigan (Big Ten)
Texas State (Sun Belt)
Purdue (Big Ten)
Kent State (MAC)
Next Four Out
Clemson (ACC)
Western Carolina (Southern)
UAB (AAC)
Pittsburgh (ACC)
