Advertisement

How many teams are in 2024 NCAA Baseball Tournament? Seeds, regions, more about bracket

ehsan kassim, usa today network
·4 min read

The 2024 NCAA Baseball Tournament is here.

The Road to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska has begun for 64 teams that qualified for the tournament. The regional round of the tournament starts on Friday with a double-elimination round across 16 regional sites, hosted by the top-seeded teams in the NCAA baseball tournament.

The format mirrors softball's postseason, and both differ from college basketball's March Madness model, which is single elimination on both the men's and women's side. In contrast, the NCAA baseball tournament alternates from double-elimination rounds (regionals) to best-of-three series (super regionals), back to double elimination (College World Series) and concludes with a three-game series for the national championship.

REQUIRED READING: NCAA Baseball Tournament seeding: Which teams will host regionals, supers before College World Series?

Here's everything you need to know about the NCAA baseball tournament bracket, including how many teams make it up and how teams are seeded:

How many teams will play in the NCAA baseball tournament?

The NCAA baseball tournament features 64 teams, with teams seeded No. 1 through 16 acting as hosts for the opening regional round. The field expanded from 48 teams to 64 in 1999, adding the super regional round. The format of a best-of-three-game series in the College World Series Championship series was added in 2003.

The tournament started in 1947 and featured just eight teams, divided into two four-team single-elimination brackets. In 1948, the first round was changed to a double-elimination format. It was in 1950 that the World Series was moved to Omaha. The field expanded to 23 teams in 1954, 34 in 1976, 36 in 1982, and 48 in 1987.

How do teams qualify for the NCAA baseball tournament?

Like its softball and basketball counterparts, the NCAA baseball tournament comprises two groups of teams: automatic qualifiers and at-large bids.

Of the 64-team field, 30 teams earn an automatic bid by winning their respective conference tournaments. Winning the conference tournament is more important for teams in smaller or one-bid leagues, as they are less likely to make the tournament without it.

The NCAA Division I Baseball Committee Selection Committee selects the 33 at-large teams using a range of metrics, including RPI, the new KPI, strength of schedule and others.

REQUIRED READING: Tennessee baseball didn’t need the SEC Tournament title. It needed what it found out.

How are teams seeded for the NCAA baseball tournament?

Teams that qualify for the NCAA Baseball Tournament are seeded 1-64, with the top 16 teams receiving a “national seed.” Those teams host sites for the regional round. After the national seeds are awarded, the remaining qualifying teams are placed into each regional. In the regional round, the top-seeded team will play the No. 4 team, while the Nos. 2 and 3 teams square off.

The regional round of the tournament will cut 48 teams from the field — 75% of the original 64-team field — with 16 regional champions advancing to the super regionals.

Based on their seeds, teams are then matched against opponents from another bracket. For example, the No. 16 will be paired with the No. 1 seed, with the higher-seeded team hosting. If chalk holds through the regional round (i.e., each of the nationally seeded teams win their respective regional) then the super regionals would look like this:

  • No. 1 national seed hosts No. 16 national seed

  • No. 2 hosts No. 15

  • No. 3 hosts No. 14

  • No. 4 hosts No. 13

  • No. 5 hosts No. 12

  • No. 6 hosts No. 11

  • No. 7 hosts No. 10

  • No. 8 hosts No. 9

College World Series format, explained

The super regional round will cut another eight teams from the field, with the eight super regional champions advancing to the College World Series in Omaha. From there, the field is divided into two double-elimination brackets consisting of four teams each.

To make the College World Series championship series, teams from each bracket must win a minimum of three games. That fewest number of wins needed to advance is three, a feat accomplished by advancing unscathed through the first two rounds and the CWS semifinals. If a team wins its first two games but loses in the semis, it will have to play a fourth and win game against the team that beat them to advance to the championship series.

If a team loses in the first or second round of the double-elimination portion, they must play five total games to advance to the CWS finals. Once the winner of each bracket has been determined, they will advance to a best-of-three national championship series.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: How many teams are in NCAA baseball tournament? Seeds, regionals, more for 2024