The Big Ten tournament didn't go the way the Nebraska baseball team hoped. However, it's unlikely the Huskers' 8-0 loss to Oregon in the semifinal game had a significant impact on where NU was slated for the NCAA Tournament. While Big Red won't find out who else is in its regional bracket until Monday morning, the host cities for the tournament were announced on Sunday night. NU will indeed get to host a pocket of the tournament in Lincoln for the first time since 2008.
Unfortunately, while there was hope earlier in the season that the Huskers could also be a high enough seed to host both a regional and a super regional if they got that far, that dream died after a sweep at the hands of Ohio State and then Saturday's loss to Oregon not giving them a chance to knock off No. 1 RPI team, UCLA in the Big Ten Tournament final.
Now, Nebraska has to hope beyond hope, but it seems extremely unlikely they'll be a Top 8 seed. The Huskers also won't know if they do get that designation until Tuesday, June 2 by 10 a.m.
Nebraska baseball still gets its NCAA regional reward after Big Ten Tournament stumble
The 16 regional sites were released in regional order with no seeding revealed yet:
- Athens, Georgia – Georgia (46-12)
- Atlanta, Georgia – Georgia Tech (48-9)
- Auburn, Alabama – Auburn (38-19)
- Austin, Texas – Texas (40-13)
- Chapel Hill, North Carolina – North Carolina (45-11-1)
- College Station, Texas – Texas A&M (39-14)
- Eugene, Oregon – Oregon (40-16)
- Gainesville, Florida – Florida (39-19)
- Hattiesburg, Mississippi – Southern Mississippi (43-15)Â
- Lawrence, Kansas – Kansas (42-16)
- Lincoln, Nebraska – Nebraska (42-15)
- Los Angeles, California – UCLA (51-6)
- Morgantown, West Virginia – West Virginia (39-14)
- Starkville, Mississippi – Mississippi State (40-17)
- Tallahassee, Florida – Florida State (38-17)
- Tuscaloosa, Alabama – Alabama (37-19)
By being awarded a regional, all 16 host institutions have also been selected to the 64-team championship field. In other words, while they weren't an automatic qualifier, the Huskers got an at-large bid.
Nebraska is one of three Big Ten teams that will host a regional, joining UCLA and Oregon. Unsurprisingly, the SEC leads the pack in the number of host cities. The seven cities are Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi State, Texas, and Texas A&M.
The ACC has three host sites: Florida State, Georgia Tech, and North Carolina. The Big 12 has two sites in Kansas and West Virginia and then Southern Miss is the lone regional host not from a power conference.
Florida State is hosting a baseball regional for the 38th time in tournament history, the most by any school, and Texas is hosting for the 31st time. Kansas is hosting for the first time in tournament history, while West Virginia is hosting for only the second time and first since 2019. Oregon and Southern Mississippi are both hosting for the fifth time in their schools' histories.
Each regional field features four teams, playing in a double-elimination format. All 16 regionals are scheduled to be conducted from Friday, May 29 to Monday, June 1 (if necessary). The last time Nebraska hosted a regional, they were upset and knocked out of the playoffs. They'll try to change that starting on Friday.
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