Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- The NCAA baseball tournament is set to begin, kicking off the path to the Men’s College World Series in Omaha.
- Predictions for the eight teams heading to Omaha highlight dominant performances and surprising upsets from the regular season.
- One veteran program and several surprise contenders could create an unforgettable showdown in the tournament’s final stage.
The NCAA baseball tournament is just about set to begin! Which means that the Men’s College World Series is going to be here before we know it. First there's the Regionals (16 double-elimination matchups with four teams at locations spread all across the country) and that's followed up by the Super Regionals (a best-of-three series between the winners of two paired regionals).
And of course, after that, the College World Series in Omaha. The remaining eight teams will get the chance to go compete for a shot at winning a national title.
This is one of the best times of the year and Omaha is a highly underrated town. If you’ve got the chance to get there, absolutely do it. And if you happen to be a fan of a team that’s got a shot at the College World Series, then you need to make the trip.
So, who’s actually making it to Omaha this season? Let’s make some predictions that are absolutely certain to be 100 percent correct. I think.
2026 College World Series bracket prediction: Which teams will make it to Omaha?
- UCLA Bruins
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
- North Carolina Tar Heels
- Southern Miss Golden Eagles
- Oregon Ducks
- Florida State Seminoles
- Nebraska Cornhuskers
- Mississippi State Bulldogs
With how dominant the Bruins have been all throughout the season, I don’t think anyone is going to be shocked that they’d make it to Omaha. 51-6 overall and 28-2 in Big Ten play. Plus a Big Ten championship trophy to brag about. Led by a pitching staff that has a 3.27 team ERA, UCLA is frighteningly good. They’re a dominant team that’s loaded with talent.
Same with Georgia Tech. Minus the Big Ten stuff, that is. The Yellow Jackets have been a monster all over the place and they’ve managed to hit 125 home runs this season, which is good for fourth best in the nation. The Yellow Jackets have a .358 batting average and a 4.66 team ERA. Don’t overlook them.
Southern Miss might be a bit of a shock to see here. The Golden Eagles haven’t made it to Omaha since 2009, but they’ve shown the ability to beat folks with bigger names and brands. Take the Oregon State Beavers, Ole Miss Rebels, Mississippi State Bulldogs, and Alabama Crimson Tide, for example.
It really is a shame that the old Pac-12 isn’t around anymore because the old Pac-12 baseball scene this season would have been a blast. In addition to UCLA at the top, I’ve got Oregon making it. That means that the Ducks would have to survive their own regional (with an interesting challenge from the Oregon State Beavers) and a Super Regional matchup that would likely be against Texas.
Florida State doesn’t have the best bats of any team that I’ve got listed. Their pitchers are really solid though. A 4.05 team ERA and the Seminoles have managed to keep opposing teams hitting with a .224 batting average against them. FSU has stumbled a bit down the stretch and the Seminoles did get swept by Georgia Tech early on. Still, this pitching staff is really talented.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers have been a blast to watch and it’d be such a fun story to see play out if they were actually able to make it to Omaha this season. Nebraska has been 23-1 at home this year and they’re 8-2 in their last 10 games. The Huskers don’t hit a ton of home runs, just 60 so far this year, but they’ve managed to string together a solid number of wins.
Remember when I said that Southern Miss beat Mississippi State? That was true, but the Bulldogs got revenge later in the season and ran right over the Golden Eagles, winning 12-0 in seven innings. Mississippi State has 106 home runs on the season, a .313 batting average, and a team ERA of 4.32. They’re a pretty well-rounded bunch.
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