NCAA Division 1 baseball tournament format & rules: How does elimination work?

We are several days out from the first pitch in the 2024 NCAA Baseball Tournament. The selection show on Monday, May 27, is the first step in determining the 64 teams competing in the tournament.

All 64 teams aim to navigate the bracket and be one of the final two teams competing for the Men's College World Series. The three teams at the top of the betting market are all SEC teams, led by Texas A&M.

The selection team will first choose the top 16 overall seeds, who will be rewarded with hosting their four-team regionals. The committee will select the rest of the teams to fill out the rest of the bracket.

What is the format for the NCAA Division I baseball tournament?

The tournament is broken down into four competition stages.

The regionals consists of 64 teams split into 16 brackets for the first round. Each is a double-elimination bracket with four teams, seeded 1-4. Double-elimination means that a team isn’t eliminated from the bracket until they lose two games.

16 winners from the first round then compete in the super regionals. These teams are split into eight pairings. These pairings play in a best-of-three series.

The eight winners then head to the College World Series. Teams are split into two double-elimination brackets, consisting of four teams each. The winner of the two brackets then compete in a best of three series to decide the NCAA Tournament champion.

When does the NCAA Division 1 baseball tournament start?

After the selection show on Monday, May 25, the first regional game will occur on May 31, finishing on June 3. The 16 top seeds will host these. The super regionals will take place between June 7 and 10.

The World Series will begin on Friday, June 14, with all games in Omaha, Nebraska. The finals will be played on June 22-23 and June 24 if a third game is required.