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Trey Beard (Photo courtesy Florida State)
The 2026 NCAA baseball tournament is set to get underway on Friday, May 29, with teams opening regional play across the nation.
To get ready, Baseball America presents the ultimate tournament guide with preview breakdowns of all 64 teams. Check out the full list of regional previews here.
No. 1 Florida State Seminoles
Florida State is built around one of the premier pitching collections in the country, and that reality will likely determine how far the Seminoles advance in June. The rotation combination of Wes Mendes, Bryson Moore and Trey Beard gives Florida State three starters capable of controlling games against elite competition, while John Abraham provides another dependable late-inning arm out of the bullpen. The staff misses bats at an elite rate, limits damage and has enough depth to navigate an entire regional.
The offense is a different story.
The loss of Myles Bailey fundamentally changed the shape of this lineup. Without his power presence, Florida State has struggled to consistently generate impact contact and no longer carries the same offensive intimidation factor typical of national seed-caliber teams. Brayden Dowd and Hunter Carns remain quality hitters, but this is not an explosive offense overall, and there are stretches where the Seminoles can look surprisingly ordinary at the plate. Compared to the elite offenses elsewhere in the field, Florida State leans far more heavily on its pitching to carry the load.
No. 2 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
Coastal Carolina enters the postseason with far more uncertainty than last year’s College World Series club, particularly offensively where the lineup feels solid without ever becoming especially imposing. Rex Watson, Walker Mitchell and Blake Barthol give the Chanticleers experience and are capable of producing quality at-bats, but this is not a group built around overwhelming power or constant offensive pressure.
Everything revolves around Cameron Flukey. If the righthander looks anything close to the version that dominated last year, Coastal immediately becomes more dangerous because there might not be a better individual arm in the country.
The issue is that he simply has not consistently looked like that pitcher yet after missing significant time this season with a rib injury. Ross Norman and the rest of the staff remain solid pieces, but without vintage Flukey, the overall margin narrows considerably.
No. 3 Northern Illinois Huskies
Northern Illinois has a few hitters capable of punishing mistakes, particularly Caden Robertson and Gavin Baldwin, but the overall offensive profile is fairly ordinary against the caliber of pitching it will see in this regional.
The larger issue is the lack of arm strength and depth on the mound. Max Vaisvila is competitive and throws strikes, but beyond him the Huskies simply do not have enough pure stuff to consistently navigate multiple postseason games against this field.
No. 4 St. John’s Red Storm
St. John’s has a couple of legitimate individual pieces in Adam Agresti and Shaun McMillan, both of whom can produce quality at-bats and occasionally change games with power. Liam O’Leary also gives the Red Storm a veteran starter capable of competing deep into outings through deception and strike-throwing rather than overpowering stuff.
Against the caliber of competition in this regional, it is difficult to see enough offensive impact or pitching depth for those individual strengths to consistently matter over multiple games.