Last weekend’s NCAA Baseball Regionals were the kind of chaotic, unpredictable fun that college baseball fans expect. Here are some of the big narratives from the Regionals action and a short preview of the field for the Super Regionals.
How the mighty have fallen
The top 16 teams in the country hosted the Regional tournaments, and a whopping seven of them lost out. The biggest shock (or joy if you were rooting against them) was that the top two seeds — UCLA and Georgia Tech — lost their tournaments. Most people saw those two teams as unstoppable. Florida State, Southern Mississippi, Nebraska, Texas A&M, and Oregon were the other host teams that got eliminated from the tournament.
“This outcome marked one of the more unpredictable regional rounds in recent history, with lower seeds (including multiple No. 3s and No. 4s) thriving and several prior College World Series participants struggling or missing out entirely,” Grok told me when I asked for a list of all the hosts who lost.
Gate-crashers
This year marked the first time that two fourth-seeded teams advanced to the Super Regionals. Little Rock knocked off host team Southern Mississippi in the Hattiesburg Regional, while Saint John’s defeated host Florida State to emerge triumphant in the Tallahassee Regional. Fourth-seed Saint Mary’s came close to winning the Los Angeles Regional before falling short to Cal Poly.
Here's a cute example of how college baseball is such a community sport. This is why college baseball is so wonderful.
Ridiculous ejections in Athens
Sunday’s game between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Liberty Flames began as a pitchers’ duel. Liberty hit two doubles in the top of the first to lead 1-0, but Georgia starter Caden Aoki and Liberty starter Cooper Harrington both kept their opponents from scoring. From a Georgia fan’s perspective, it was a frustrating game, but in general, the game had gotten a little boring.
That is, until the bottom of the sixth. After Harrington hit Georgia right fielder Ryan Black with a pitch, third baseman Tre Phelps hit a home run to put the Dawgs ahead. As Phelps trotted around the bases, showboating as many players do, Phelps pointed to his family, who were sitting above the Liberty dugout. Liberty players misconstrued the gesture as him taunting them. Liberty’s first and second basemen said something to Phelps, and he spoke back.
This moment just killed all momentum for growing College Baseball.
— The Battery Avenue Booer (@TrillWilsosa) June 1, 2026
You’ll never make College Baseball a watchable product if this is “too far”. pic.twitter.com/OHerkCLjQq
Liberty head coach Bradley LeCroy took umbrage, and the umpires tossed Phelps. Then Georgia head coach Wes Johnson objected, and the umpires threw him out. On Wednesday, Logan Booker and David Johnston (who is also part of the broadcast team for UGA’s baseball games) said on 960 the Ref’s morning show that umpire Javerro January was reportedly giving Phelps a hard time as soon as the bat hit the ball.
Side note: Say what you want about showboating and home run celebrations, but they’re part of the game nowadays. I don’t think we’ll ever be able to get that reined in, like it or not.
Assistant coach Will Coggin, who took over after Johnson’s ejection, put Michael O’Shaughnessy in Phelps’ place at third and leadoff. The next inning, O’Shaughnessy answered with a home run. O’Shaughnessy reportedly went straight from the dugout to the locker room to speak briefly to Phelps and Johnson before coming back to the dugout. The Bulldogs ended up winning 6-1 to advance to the Super Regionals undefeated.
In the postgame press conference, LeCroy tried to have it both ways by saying that Phelps said something to his players but also that the crowd noise was too loud to hear if Phelps had said anything. Then he made a catty comment about the size of Foley Field: “It’s 5,000 people — sorry [looks down at a paper] — 3,633 yelling at the top of their lungs.”
Under NCAA rules, Phelps also faces a suspension that takes him out of the first Super Regional game. Bulldog podcaster and influencer Hamilton Culpepper started a petition to have the NCAA reinstate Phelps for the first Super Regional game.
TRE MUST PLAY! Trees must be fed, but you can’t spell trees without TRE! #GoDawgs #FreeTre pic.twitter.com/oUjDdIeSQI
— Hamilton Culpepper (@thehammyshow) June 1, 2026
The field is set!
The teams that won their Regional tournaments serve as hosts for the Super Regionals. For added spice, two of the Super Regionals feature Southeastern Conference matchups. Here are the Super Regional matchups:
Athens Super Regional: Georgia vs. Mississippi State
Auburn Super Regional: Auburn vs. Ole Miss
Austin Super Regional: Texas vs. Oregon
Chapel Hill Super Regional: North Carolina vs. Southern California
Lawrence Super Regional: Kansas vs. Oklahoma
Morgantown Super Regional: West Virginia vs. Cal Poly
Troy Super Regional: Troy vs. Little Rock
Tuscaloosa Super Regional: Alabama vs. Saint John’s
🚨🚨🚨🚨
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 2, 2026
Super Regional hosts and game times have officially been announced!
📲 https://t.co/ZUEUkZyAP0
➡️ https://t.co/NdxRoTqbEk
🎟️ https://t.co/i73Q25MuVk#RoadToOmaha pic.twitter.com/khx9MdrpyI
The NCAA Tournament has already delivered busted brackets, ousted hosts, ridiculous ejections, and enough college baseball weirdness to make Omaha feel like destiny and fever dream all at once.
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