Starting Friday, 64 schools across the country will compete for the Men's College World Series title. The month-long tournament wraps up in Omaha, Neb. with a best-of-three series to crown the 2024 champion.
Though the bracket looks similar to the NCAA men's college basketball tournament millions of people enjoy every March and April, there are some key differences. Here's everything you need to know ahead of the first pitches on Friday afternoon:
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2024 NCAA baseball tournament format
Regionals: The NCAA baseball tournament begins with this double-elimination group stage. Double-elimination means that a team must lose twice to be eliminated from the tournament. The 64-team field is split into 16 groups of four teams seeded Nos. 1-4. Here's how the game schedule goes:
- Game 1: No. 3 vs. No. 2
- Game 2: No. 1 vs. No. 4
- Game 3: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser
- Game 4: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner
- Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser
- Game 6: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner
- Game 7 (if necessary): Rematch of Game 6 to determine regional winner if two teams have one loss
Super regionals: The 16 regional-winning teams are then split into eight best-of-three series.
Men's College World Series: The eight remaining teams are split into two double-elimination brackets. The winners of each bracket meet for a best-of-three series to crown the NCAA champion in Omaha.
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2024 NCAA baseball tournament key dates
- Regionals: May 31-June 1
- Super Regionals: June 6-8 or June 7-9
- Men's College World Series: Begins June 14
- Men's College World Series finals: June 22-24
2024 NCAA baseball tournament host sites and top seeds
The top seeds are the hosts for each regional. The SEC and ACC lead the way in 2024 with five regional hosts from each conference. Here are the regional locations and their host teams:
- Knoxville Regional: Tennessee
- Lexington Regional: Kentucky
- Bryan-College Station Regional: Texas A&M
- Chapel Hill Regional: North Carolina
- Fayetteville Regional: Arkansas
- Clemson Regional: Clemson
- Athens Regional: Georgia
- Tallahassee Regional: Florida State
- Norman Regional: Oklahoma
- Raleigh Regional: NC State
- Stillwater Regional: Oklahoma State
- Charlottesville Regional: Virginia
- Tucson Regional: Arizona
- Santa Barbara: UC-Santa Barbara
- Corvallis Regional: Oregon State
- Greenville Regional: East Carolina
2024 NCAA baseball tournament: National seeds
These are the top eight national seeds. If they win their respective regionals, they will be the host site for the super regional games.
- Tennessee
- Kentucky
- Texas A&M
- North Carolina
- Arkansas
- Clemson
- Georgia
- Florida State
If any of these top eight teams lose their regional, organizers will announce a new location for the super regional round.
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2024 NCAA baseball tournament regional seeds
Knoxville Regional
- Tennessee
- Southern Mississippi
- Indiana
- Northern Kentucky
Lexington Regional
- Kentucky
- Indiana State
- Illinois
- Western Michigan
Bryan-College Station Regional
- Texas A&M
- Louisiana
- Texas
- Grambling
Chapel Hill Regional
- North Carolina
- LSU
- Wofford
- Long Island
Fayetteville Regional
- Arkansas
- Louisiana Tech
- Kansas State
- Southeast Missouri State
Clemson Regional
- Clemson
- Vanderbilt
- Coastal Carolina
- High Point
Athens Regional
- Georgia
- UNC-Wilmington
- Georgia Tech
- Army
Tallahassee Regional
- Florida State
- Alabama
- Central Florida
- Stetson
Norman Regional
- Oklahoma
- Duke
- UConn
- Oral Roberts
Raleigh Regional
- NC State
- South Carolina
- James Madison
- Bryant
Stillwater Regional
- Oklahoma State
- Nebraska
- Florida
- Niagara
Charlottesville Regional
- Virginia
- Mississippi State
- St. John's
- Penn
Tucson Regional
- Arizona
- Dallas Baptist
- West Virginia
- Grand Canyon
Santa Barbara Regional
- UC-Santa Barbara
- San Diego
- Oregon
- Fresno State
Corvallis Regional
- Oregon State
- UC-Irvine
- Nicholls
- Tulane
Greenville Regional
- East Carolina
- Wake Forest
- VCU
- Evansville
