BASEBALL: 3 Takeaways from the Field of 64

On Monday, Oregon State earned a #8 national seed and the right to host through the Super Regionals. That wasn’t the only surprise from Monday’s selection show!

Here are 3 takeaways from the 2025 NCAA Division I College Baseball bracket.

Oregon’s Non-Conference Schedule Cost Them a National Seed

It’s hard to feel sympathetic for Nike U, especially after bolting for the Big Ten and playing chicken with one of the most storied rivalries in college athletics. 

Still, Oregon’s baseball team was unquestionably one of the country’s best this season. They swept #8 Oregon State - three straight wins at PK Park in Eugene, then a turnaround Corvallis contest in late April - and won the Big Ten regular season title thanks to a series win at #15 UCLA, plus sweeps of Big Ten 3rd place Iowa and 4th place USC. Still, the Ducks will have to travel for the Super Regionals. 

Why did Oregon State earn a national seed? Why didn't Oregon? Scheduling. Much has already been written about the Beavers’ litmus tests against Virginia, Oklahoma, Auburn, Baylor, and others. Who did the Ducks battle before conference play? Toledo, Rhode Island, Columbia, and Utah Tech.

Oregon likely should have been placed ahead of Oregon State for the simple fact that they swept them when they played them, but the selection committee saw a bigger picture: the Beavers might have been worse for a weekend, but they were better over the course of the season.

Notably, they weren’t the only Big Ten team left with sour grapes.

The Big Ten Took a Big Hit

Iowa spent most of the season flirting with the top 25, sniffing a Big Ten title, and competing with some of the best teams in the country (including a rare 6-6 tie vs Oregon State). When it came time to play postseason musical chairs, the Hawkeyes were left scrambling. 

#12 Oregon, #15 UCLA, and Corvallis Regional 3 seed USC all advanced to the regional round. The rest of the Big Ten, including 3rd place finishers Iowa, can only watch from home.   

The SEC is a “Super Conference”

Conference realignment made the rich even richer. #1 overall seed Vanderbilt earned a national seed with home field advantage all the way to Omaha. The same honors went to #2 Texas, #3 Arkansas, #4 Auburn, #6 LSU, and #7 Georgia. #10 Ole Miss, and #14 Tennessee will have to travel if they advance to the super regionals, but they still earned regional host sites.

In addition, Alabama reached the Hattiesburg (Southern Miss) regional, and Mississippi State qualified for the Tallahassee (Florida State) regional, Oklahoma went to the Chapel Hill (North Carolina) regional, Kentucky slotted into the Clemson regional, and Florida packed bags for the Conway (Coastal Carolina) regional. 

In all, a staggering 13 of the league’s 16 members advanced to the postseason.