OMAHA, Neb. — The Vanderbilt baseball team, which gave up just three runs over three games in the SEC Tournament, was awarded the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament on Monday and was among a record 13 teams from the conference to be selected to the 64-team field.
The tournament opens Friday with 16 double-elimination regionals. Regional winners advance to eight best-of-three super regionals. Those winners move on to the College World Series in Omaha beginning June 13.
UCLA (42-16) was the highest seeded California team at No. 15. USC (35-21) was among the final four teams to receive at-large berths, making the field for the first time since 2015.
UCLA, which lost to Nebraska in the Big Ten Tournament final on Sunday, will host a regional that includes Big West regular-season champion UC Irvine (41-15), Arizona State (35-22) and Fresno State (31-27). UCLA plays Fresno State on Friday at 1 p.m. UC Irvine faces Arizona State at 6 p.m.
USC travels to Corvallis, Oregon, and opens against TCU (39-18) on Friday at noon. Cal Poly (SLO), the Big West Tournament winner, travels to Eugene, Oregon, and opens against Arizona on Friday at 1 p.m.
Vanderbilt has won eight straight games and 13 of its past 16 to earn the No. 1 seed for the second time, and first since 2007. The Commodores, who play Wright State in the opener of the Nashville Regional, are in the tournament for the 19th straight time for the longest active streak.
The national seeds following Vanderbilt (42-16) are Texas (42-12), Arkansas (43-13), Auburn (38-18), North Carolina (42-12), LSU (43-14), Georgia (42-15) and Oregon State (41-12-1). Those eight teams would be in line to host super regionals if they win their regionals.
Seeds Nos. 9 through 16: Florida State (38-14), Mississippi (40-19), Clemson (44-16), Oregon (42-14), Coastal Carolina (48-11), defending champions Tennessee (43-16), UCLA and Southern Mississippi (44-14).
The last four teams to get at-large bids, in alphabetical order, were Arizona State, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and USC.
The first four teams left out were Southeastern Louisiana, Troy, Connecticut and Virginia.
The SEC’s 13 teams in the tournament are two more than its record 11 that made it in 2024.
NCAA regional schedule (double elimination)
All first-round games are Friday. All times are PT
Los Angeles Regional (Jackie Robinson Stadium)
Game 1: No. 15 UCLA vs. Fresno State, 1 p.m.
Game 2: Arizona State vs. UC Irvine, 6 p.m.
Corvallis Regional (Corvallis, Ore.)
Game 1: USC vs. TCU, noon
Game 2: No. 8 Oregon State vs. Saint Mary’s, 5 p.m.
Eugene Regional (Eugene, Ore.)
Game 1: Cal Poly vs. Arizona, 1 p.m.
Game 2: No. 12 Oregon vs. Utah Valley, 6 p.m.
Nashville Regional
Game 1: East Tennessee State vs. Louisville, 11 a.m.
Game 2: No. 1 Vanderbilt vs. Wright State, 3 p.m.
Hattiesburg Regional (Hattiesburg, Miss.)
Game 1: Miami vs. Alabama, noon
Game 2: No. 16 Southern Miss vs. Columbia, 4 p.m.
Tallahassee Regional (Tallahassee, Fla.)
Game 1: No. 9 Florida State vs. Bethune-Cookman, noon
Game 2: Mississippi State vs. Northeastern, 4:30 p.m.
Chapel Hill Regional (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Game 1: No. 5 North Carolina vs. Holy Cross, 9 a.m.
Game 2: Nebraska vs. Oklahoma, 2 p.m.
Conway Regional (Conway, S.C.)
Game 1: East Carolina vs. Florida, 9 a.m.
Game 2: No. 13 Coastal Carolina vs. Fairfield, 3 p.m.
Auburn Regional (Auburn, Ala.)
Game 1: Stetson vs. North Carolina State, 11 a.m.
Game 2: No. 4 Auburn vs. Central Connecticut, 4 p.m.
Austin Regional (Austin, Texas)
Game 1: No. 2 Texas vs. Houston Christian, 11 a.m.
Game 2: Kansas State vs. UTSA, 4 p.m.
Oxford Regional (Oxford, Miss.)
Game 1: Western Kentucky vs. Georgia Tech, 1 p.m.
Game 2: No. 10 Ole Miss vs. Murray State, 5 p.m.
Athens Regional (Athens, Ga.)
Game 1: No. 7 Georgia vs. Binghamton, 9 a.m.
Game 2: Oklahoma State vs. Duke, 3 p.m.
Baton Rouge Regional (Baton Rouge, La.)
Game 1: No. 6 LSU vs. Little Rock, noon
Game 2: Rhode Island vs. Dallas Baptist, 4 :30 p.m.
Clemson Regional (Clemson, S.C.)
Game 1: Kentucky vs. West Virginia, 9 a.m.
Game 2: No. 11 Clemson vs. USC Upstate, 3 p.m.
Knoxville Regional (Knoxville, Tenn.)
Game 1: Cincinnati vs. Wake Forest, 10 a.m.
Game 2: No. 14 Tennessee vs. Miami (OH), 3 p.m.
Fayetteville Regional (Fayetteville, Ark.)
Game 1: No. 3 Arkansas vs. North Dakota State, noon
Game 2: Creighton vs. Kansas, 5 p.m.
