3 scariest SEC baseball teams to face in the 2025 conference tournament
The Montgomery Advertiser’s Adam Cole breaks down why Auburn, Tennessee and Vanderbilt are the toughest teams to play in the 2025 SEC baseball tournament.
The madness of the NCAA baseball tournament is almost here.
Come noon ET on Monday, the entire 64-team bracket will be unveiled. However, there have already been a handful of teams that have joined the field by way of the automatic bids that come with winning their respective conference championships — with more to come on Sunday.
Arizona became the first Power Four conference team to land an automatic bid by beating TCU in extra innings in the Big 12 championship game on Saturday. It’s the fifth consecutive postseason trip for the Wildcats, who won the Big 12 in their first year as a part of the conference.
The three remaining automatic bids from the Power Four level will be secured on Sunday. In the SEC, it will be either No. 9 Vanderbilt or Ole Miss; in the Big Ten, either Nebraska or UCLA; and in the ACC it will be either No. 3 North Carolina or No. 12 Clemson.
Northeastern came back from a four-run deficit to beat UNC-Wilmington in the Colonial Athletic Association championship for its 11th trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Huskies enter the postseason riding a 27-game win streak, which is the longest active win streak in the country.
Another automatic berth earned on Sunday will be a bid stealer, courtesy of Conference USA. Jacksonville State downed No. 19 Dallas Baptist in the semifinals on Saturday, meaning C-USA will have two teams in the field: the Patriots, and whichever team wins between Jacksonville State and Western Kentucky in Sunday’s conference title game.
Here’s what you need to know on who has locked up a spot in the NCAA baseball tournament ahead of Monday’s selection show, including what to know about the NCAA Tournament as a whole and more:
NCAA baseball tournament bracket: Automatic bids
Here’s a full list of automatic bids to the NCAA baseball tournament, per the NCAA website:
- American East: TBD
- AAC: TBD
- ASUN: TBD
- Atlantic 10: Rhode Island
- ACC: TBD
- Big 12: Arizona
- Big East: Creighton
- Big South: USC Upstate
- Big Ten: TBD
- Big West: TBD
- CAA: Northeastern
- Conference USA: TBD
- Horizon League: Wright State
- Ivy League: Columbia
- MAAC: TBD
- MAC: TBD
- Missouri Valley: Murray State
- Mountain West: Fresno State
- NEC: TBD
- Ohio Valley: Little Rock
- Patriot: Holy Cross
- SEC: TBD
- Southland: Houston Christian
- Southern: TBD
- SWAC: TBD
- Summit: North Dakota State
- Sun Belt: TBD
- WCC: Saint Mary’s
- WAC: Utah Valley
How many teams make the NCAA baseball tournament?
The NCAA baseball tournament is comprised of 64 Division I baseball programs. The 64-team field is broken down into 31 automatic bids and 33 at-large bids.
Like the NCAA softball tournament, the top 16 ranked teams in the NCAA baseball tournament will earn the right to host a regional, while the top eight seeds are in line to host super regionals. The eight teams remaining after the super regional round advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
From there, play reverts back to a regional-style format, with one team advancing from each side of the bracket to play in a three-game championship series.
When is the NCAA baseball tournament bracket revealed?
- Date: Monday, May 26
- Time: Noon ET
- TV channel: ESPN2
- Streaming options: ESPN app | Fubo (free trial)
The 2025 NCAA baseball tournament bracket will be revealed in its entirety at noon ET on Monday, May 26 on ESPN2. Streaming options for the NCAA baseball tournament bracket reveal show include the ESPN app (with a TV login) and Fubo, which carries the ESPN family of networks and offers a free trial to new subscribers.
