2026 NCAA Baseball Tournament: CBS Sports tabs biggest winners, losers from Regional play

The 2026 NCAA Baseball Tournament Regionals were, in one word, cinema. Seven of the top 16 national seeds failed to advance to Super Regional play, including the top-two national seeds (No. 1 UCLA and No. 2 Georgia Tech).

Along with these shocking results, the games delivered big-time. Multiple all-time classics were played in Regionals, including two amazing Regional Final games between West Virginia and Kentucky, the Atlanta Regional Final between Georgia Tech and Oklahoma, which ended with a walk-off Sooner bomb, and Troy‘s stunning 10-2 win over No. 8 Florida in the Gainesville Regional Final.

Just hours after USA Today published its biggest winners and losers from NCAA Tournament Regional play, CBS Sports has given us its own winners and losers. The list is below.

$19.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage

Winner: Little Rock and St. John’s

Give it up for the No. 4 seeds. Little Rock and St. John’s shocked the college baseball world by winning their respective Regionals from the bottom of the bracket. The Trojans went 3-0 in the Hattiesburg Regional, running through No. 1 Southern Miss and No. 3 Jacksonville State twice to clinch the first Super Regional berth in program history. 

St. John’s, meanwhile, downed No. 1 seed Florida State twice and put up 21 runs on No. 3 Northern Illinois en route to its first Super Regional appearance since 2012. Little Rock has never reached the Men’s College World Series, while St. John’s hasn’t advanced to Omaha in 46 years (1980).

Loser: UCLA

For the second consecutive season, the No. 1 overall national seed failed to reach Super Regional play. The Bruins entered the Los Angeles Regional with six losses in 57 total games this season. In that Regional, however, they lost two of their three games and saw their season come to an extremely disappointing end.

They boasted the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft (Roch Cholowsky), but it wasn’t good enough to reach a Super Regional for the second consecutive season. No. 3 seed Cal Poly, instead, came out on top in the Regional and will face No. 16 national seed West Virginia in Morgantown for a spot in the Men’s College World Series.

Winner: Lower-seeded teams

Regional weekend was defined by the success of lower-seeded teams. In total, 12 three or lower seeds advanced to the Regional Finals. This resulted in Super Regional appearances for two three seeds (Cal Poly and Troy) and two four seeds (Little Rock and St. John’s).

Three of these four programs are seeking an appearance in the College World Series for the first time ever. St. John’s is seeking its first appearance in Omaha since 1980.

Loser: Georgia Tech

Through two games of the Atlanta Regional, it seemed that the Jackets were going to cruise to a Super Regional appearance. They dominated No. 4 seed UIC 22-5 in game one, and downed No. 2 seed Oklahoma 9-3 in game two.

The two Atlanta Regional Final games were disastrous for Georgia Tech, however, as it fell to Oklahoma in both games. By failing to reach the Super as the No. 2 overall national seed, it marked the second consecutive season that the No. 1 and No. 2 national seeds failed to reach the Super Regional.

Winner: The SEC

The SEC had a remarkable run in Regional play, as 11 teams reached a Regional Final, and seven teams are playing in the Super Regional. Four of the five highest remaining seeds in the Tournament hail from the Southeastern Conference (No. 3 Georgia, No. 4 Auburn, No. 6 Texas, and No. 7 Alabama) as it seeks its eighth National Championship in the last nine seasons.

Loser: 2025 Men’s College World Series field

For the first time ever in the history of the Men’s College World Series, all eight teams from last year’s event failed to advance to the Super Regionals this season. Four of the eight participants failed to even reach the Tournament this year (Arizona, Louisville, LSU, and Murray State), while the other four fell in Regional play (Arkansas, Coastal Carolina, Oregon State, and UCLA). Of the 16 teams remaining in this year’s NCAA Tournament, four are seeking their first-ever Men’s College World Series appearance (Cal Poly, Little Rock, Troy, and West Virginia).