Anyone else hate how the college baseball tournament is set up?

Rsbrsb1010 · May 11, 2026

Maybe unpopular opinion but it is rare that the best team wins the CWS or even that 6-8 of 8 best teams make it to Omaha. Baseball is just so random of a game.

You just play 50+ games, and then poof, you lose 2 games in a regional or super and you’re out. Personally I’d rather them do just like 16-24 teams in the entire postseason tournament. And play best 3 of 5 series and maybe 4 of 7 in the championship to determine a winner.

There’s a reasons the MLB has 7 game series (and even that might not be enough after a 162 game season). Baseball is too random of a game. Playing 50+ games in the regular season and then just throwing 64 teams in a double elimination tournament seems like a very inefficient way to determine the best team.

OG Goat Holder · May 11, 2026

Tournament play is more exciting, even if it doesn’t yield the ‘best’ champion. Travel ball proves that.

I do think baseball needs to find an identity. I also think MLB can learn a thing or three from the lower levels.

I’m not saying which is correct, I don’t know. It’s all just TV fodder. I like the college format so I disagree there. But maybe I’m just used to it?

Good questions.

Rsbrsb1010 · May 11, 2026

OG Goat Holder said:
Tournament play is more exciting, even if it doesn’t yield the ‘best’ champion.

Travel ball proves that.

It is exciting. Just FYI I also (somewhat) have this same opinion about March Madness. Playing 30 something games then throwing 68 teams into a gigantic single elimination bracket is probably not the best way to determine the best team. However it does make for exciting TV.

OG Goat Holder · May 11, 2026

Rsbrsb1010 said:
It is exciting. Just FYI I also (somewhat) have this same opinion about March Madness. Playing 30 something games then throwing 68 teams into a gigantic single elimination bracket is probably not the best way to determine the best team. However it does make for exciting TV.

Tv rules the roost and it’s hard to argue against the champion being the team that won the games.

That said, pro ball certainly takes a different approach in both basketball and baseball. At the end of the day I think it’s just for TV content thus my idealism disappears. Part of getting old I guess.

SoJxnVol · May 11, 2026

I love it. It’s a good life lesson to watch unfold and learn from it. It’s proof that nothing is given it’s earned and the outcome can sting for awhile.

Maroon13 · May 11, 2026

I like the sec tournament format of a traditional double elimination. Too bad most schools aren't going to try to win it.

I think it's goofy how the cws has two 4 team bracket tournaments and then a 3 game series.

Also The current set up, 4 teams won't play the other 4 teams under any circumstance. Then the 4 teams on the same side typically play the same opponent twice. Just odd set up.

Bulldog Bruce · May 11, 2026

I have never gotten "The Best Team" discussion or the desire for championships to determine that. In all sports through history there have been times when the best team has won the championship and plenty of times when that is not the case. There are times when "horses for courses" occurs in a season when team A can beat team B and team B can beat team C and team C can beat team A. There are the 1960 World Series where the team that ultimately wins more games gets outscored in the 7 games 55 to 27. In 1981 we beat the eventual champion of the CWS when we faced them. Or you can have the 1980 Olympics hockey outcome.

So no matter how a championship is set up the team that wins that process earns to be the most deserving and that's all you can ask for.

Rsbrsb1010 · May 11, 2026

Bulldog Bruce said:
I have never gotten "The Best Team" discussion or the desire for championships to determine that. In all sports through history there have been times when the best team has won the championship and plenty of times when that is not the case. There are times when "horses for courses" occurs in a season when team A can beat team B and team B can beat team C and team C can beat team A. There are the 1960 World Series where the team that ultimately wins more games gets outscored in the 7 games 55 to 27. In 1981 we beat the eventual champion of the CWS when we faced them. Or you can have the 1980 Olympics hockey outcome.

So no matter how a championship is set up the team that wins that process earns to be the most deserving and that's all you can ask for.

I mean I guess what I’m trying to say is that in the MLB the best team wins far more often than in college baseball. In the NBA the best team wins far more often than in college basketball. The more games you play in the postseason, just by simple statistics it’s more likely the best team is going to come out on top.

Bulldog45 · May 11, 2026

Rsbrsb1010 said:
Maybe unpopular opinion but it is rare that the best team wins the CWS or even that 6-8 of 8 best teams make it to Omaha. Baseball is just so random of a game.

You just play 50+ games, and then poof, you lose 2 games in a regional or super and you’re out. Personally I’d rather them do just like 16-24 teams in the entire postseason tournament. And play best 3 of 5 series and maybe 4 of 7 in the championship to determine a winner.

Colleges don’t have the pitching depth to play those kinds of series. With travel days and rest you’d be talking a week for a 5 game series and potentially a week and a half for a 7. If you started with 16 that’s adding a month and a half to the season for the final 2.

If you’re one of the true top 8 then at a minimum you get a regional at home and likely a super. And you should be considerably better than the 4 in your regional and a good bit better than the 3. Of course the wild card is the 3 or 4 having a true ace and causing chaos, but that’s part of the fun of it and helps keep it interesting.

Willow Grove Dawg · May 11, 2026

They should add one weekend to the NCAA Baseball tournament & play 3 three game series to advance to the CWS.

Rsbrsb1010 · May 11, 2026

Bulldog45 said:
Colleges don’t have the pitching depth to play those kinds of series. With travel days and rest you’d be talking a week for a 5 game series and potentially a week and a half for a 7. If you started with 16 that’s adding a month and a half to the season for the final 2.

If you’re one of the true top 8 then at a minimum you get a regional at home and likely a super. And you should be considerably better than the 4 in your regional and a good bit better than the 3. Of course the wild card is the 3 or 4 having a true ace and causing chaos, but that’s part of the fun of it and helps keep it interesting.

I mean an MLB team is limited to 13 pitchers, 5 starters and 8 relievers, per team. We have 22 pitchers on our roster this year and most carry at least 20.

Your midweek guy would become the game 4 pitcher and then either the ace or another guy goes game 5. That would leave us 17 other guys to use in relief over 5 games.

I do understand college starting pitches are used to 6 days off instead of 4 in the MLB but it could be done.

Bulldog45 · May 11, 2026

I think it’s fine like it is. As important as it is being able to go 2-0 in the current CWS format, adding a best of 3 semi seems like it would throw the balance of the whole thing g off to me.

Bulldog45 · May 11, 2026

Rsbrsb1010 said:
I mean an MLB team is limited to 13 pitchers, 5 starters and 8 relievers, per term. We have 22 pitchers on our roster this year and most carry at least 20.

Your midweek guy would become the game 4 pitcher and then either the ace or another guy goes game 5. That would leave us 17 other guys to use in relief over 5 games.

I do understand college starting pitches are used to 6 days off instead of 4 in the MLB but it could be done.

How many of those pitchers see meaningful action during the season though? And it’s not like we can call a guy up from JSU or Pearl River or trade with USM for somebody any time we want like MLB. And don’t forget you’re talking about 18-20 year old arms in college.

Rsbrsb1010 · May 11, 2026

Bulldog45 said:
How many of those pitchers see meaningful action during the season though? And it’s not like we can call a guy up from JSU or Pearl River or trade with USM for somebody any time we want like MLB. And don’t forget you’re talking about 18-20 year old arms in college.

I would be a challenge and there would be a big emphasis on building depth in the bullpen, but you could easily get away with 4-5 starters in 5 game series and another 10-12 available for relief. I do understand the younger arms argument.

I just hate how the thing is set up where let’s say we host have an off game or two like we did against Tennessee and boom your whole seasons done. After playing 50+ game to get there.

GloryDawg · May 11, 2026

I think how they get to the field is ********.

OG Goat Holder · May 12, 2026

Maroon13 said:
I like the sec tournament format of a traditional double elimination. Too bad most schools aren't going to try to win it.

I think it's goofy how the cws has two 4 team bracket tournaments and then a 3 game series.

Also The current set up, 4 teams won't play the other 4 teams under any circumstance. Then the 4 teams on the same side typically play the same opponent twice. Just odd set up.

I mean it mirrors the regionals and super regionals. It's just more spread out (again, for TV). And to keep people spending money in Omaha.

Jack Klompus.sixpack · May 12, 2026

Needs to stay like it is, but NCAA will probably expand and screw it up like it did in basketball.

baddmann007 · May 12, 2026

Maroon13 said:
I like the sec tournament format of a traditional double elimination. Too bad most schools aren't going to try to win it.

I think it's goofy how the cws has two 4 team bracket tournaments and then a 3 game series.

Also The current set up, 4 teams won't play the other 4 teams under any circumstance. Then the 4 teams on the same side typically play the same opponent twice. Just odd set up.

SEC tournament changed to a single elimination format. All teams go to Hoover now. Top 4 get a double-bye and 5-8 get a bye until 2nd round.

John Deaux VII · May 12, 2026

Rsbrsb1010 said:
Maybe unpopular opinion but it is rare that the best team wins the CWS or even that 6-8 of 8 best teams make it to Omaha. Baseball is just so random of a game.

You just play 50+ games, and then poof, you lose 2 games in a regional or super and you’re out. Personally I’d rather them do just like 16-24 teams in the entire postseason tournament. And play best 3 of 5 series and maybe 4 of 7 in the championship to determine a winner.

There’s a reasons the MLB has 7 game series (and even that might not be enough after a 162 game season). Baseball is too random of a game. Playing 50+ games in the regular season and then just throwing 64 teams in a double elimination tournament seems like a very inefficient way to determine the best team.

I just think its why you play the game. If you want the team with the best regular season record to win the championship, why even bother with a playoff?

paindonthurt · May 12, 2026

Willow Grove Dawg said:
They should add one weekend to the NCAA Baseball tournament & play 3 three game series to advance to the CWS.

You mean like a 3 game super regional to get to the CWS?

WrightGuy821 · May 12, 2026

With the new change of seeding the top 32 teams it will be a little better about the best teams making it further. Now the 1 or 2 seed won't get screwed with a local school that narrowly missed their hosting chance

Dawgzilla2 · May 12, 2026

Maroon13 said:
I like the sec tournament format of a traditional double elimination. Too bad most schools aren't going to try to win it.

I think it's goofy how the cws has two 4 team bracket tournaments and then a 3 game series.

Also The current set up, 4 teams won't play the other 4 teams under any circumstance. Then the 4 teams on the same side typically play the same opponent twice. Just odd set up.

I hate 4 team double elimination tournaments. The team that goes 2-0 has way too much of an advantage in playing 1 less game.

6 team double elimination isnt bad, although its a little confusing.

8 team double elimination is a great set up to get things over with in under 2 weeks. The only advantage the 3-0 team gets is a guaranteed appearance in the championship game, even if they lose a game. The two halves of the field get to play each other, since you swap out the losers and they don't have to play the same team twice.

The disadvantage, of course, is television. The tournament can end a day early, and CBS/ESPN wanted to market a championship game.

Of course, now the championship is a 3 game series, so Im not sure how that is better for television.

The three game super regionals are nice, but my preference would be 8 double elimination tournaments with 8 teams, the winners going to Omaha for another double elimination tournament. That would be less baseball and less revenue, though, so it seems unlikely.

ronpolk · May 12, 2026

Bulldog Bruce said:
I have never gotten "The Best Team" discussion or the desire for championships to determine that. In all sports through history there have been times when the best team has won the championship and plenty of times when that is not the case. There are times when "horses for courses" occurs in a season when team A can beat team B and team B can beat team C and team C can beat team A. There are the 1960 World Series where the team that ultimately wins more games gets outscored in the 7 games 55 to 27. In 1981 we beat the eventual champion of the CWS when we faced them. Or you can have the 1980 Olympics hockey outcome.

So no matter how a championship is set up the team that wins that process earns to be the most deserving and that's all you can ask for.

Agreed. Surviving the postseason is part of being a champion. If you want the team with the best record to the champion then just let the polls decide it.

Willow Grove Dawg · May 12, 2026

paindonthurt said:
You mean like a 3 game super regional to get to the CWS?

I mean do away with 4 team double elimination Regionals and play two rounds of 2 out of 3 to advance to the Super Regional.

MSUDC11-2.0 · May 12, 2026

Willow Grove Dawg said:
They should add one weekend to the NCAA Baseball tournament & play 3 three game series to advance to the CWS.

That would be the only change I would make. The whole season is largely built on 3 game series and then you get to the Regional round and it’s a 3-4 day mad dash where you might have to play 4-5 games. The Super Regionals format is fine.

I would add a sub-regional round where 1 hosts 4 and 2 hosts 3 in a best of 3. Then winners play in the Regional, same format. Then you proceed with Supers and Omaha as normal.

johnson86-1 · May 12, 2026

MSUDC11-2.0 said:
That would be the only change I would make. The whole season is largely built on 3 game series and then you get to the Regional round and it’s a 3-4 day mad dash where you might have to play 4-5 games. The Super Regionals format is fine.

I would add a sub-regional round where 1 hosts 4 and 2 hosts 3 in a best of 3. Then winners play in the Regional, same format. Then you proceed with Supers and Omaha as normal.

Yup. It's just odd to have a post season that doesn't some what match the regular season. The regular season is really determined by who can win three game series. Then you have a weird tournament format to get to the supers, where you're back to a regular season format. Then you have a tournament format, before going to something similar to the regular season again. As a fan, I like it. But it's an odd choice looking at it from a perspective of trying to crown a "best" team. But I'm not sure there is anything else like baseball though, where the number of good starters you have compared to the number of games you need to win in a week is so dominant. If you are playing playing 3 game series in the regular season and each round of the playoffs, the "best" team is probably different if you are 4 game series in the regular season and each round of the playoffs (ignoring the nonsense of having a "best of 4" setup in the post season). In the NBA, the best team likely doesn't change if you are basing it on best of 3, best of 5, or best of 7, just how often the randomness results in hte best team not winning (I guess depending on how close together you play the games, maybe which team is best is different based on depth and the ability to not get worn down over a series, but nothing like not having a good 3rd starter.

dickiedawg · May 12, 2026

Didn’t we just have this thread like a week ago?

The baseball postseason is perfect. 4 team regional, 3 game series, 4 team “regional”, 3 game series.

Regular season success is heavily rewarded, enough so that every game matters down the stretch.

I might consider compressing the timeframe of the CWS bracket a little. That’s about it.

Bulldog Bruce · May 12, 2026

Rsbrsb1010 said:
I mean I guess what I’m trying to say is that in the MLB the best team wins far more often than in college baseball. In the NBA the best team wins far more often than in college basketball. The more games you play in the postseason, just by simple statistics it’s more likely the best team is going to come out on top.

I understand what you are saying. I think the current format is a fair format. It's impossible to have a perfect format to whittle 304 teams in 60-65 games to figure out the best team. I don't think any format for a shortened series is perfect. Playing 162 games during the course of the year is actually the perfect format to determine the best team. However we just throw that away to have some sort short series to televise that totally disregards the perfect format. I'm no soccer expert but doesn't the champion get decided by the season record in English Football? What about the other soccer leagues? They seem to get away with the perfect format instead of creating this abridged format to crown a champion.

Bulldog Bruce · May 12, 2026

Rsbrsb1010 said:
I mean an MLB team is limited to 13 pitchers, 5 starters and 8 relievers, per team. We have 22 pitchers on our roster this year and most carry at least 20.

Your midweek guy would become the game 4 pitcher and then either the ace or another guy goes game 5. That would leave us 17 other guys to use in relief over 5 games.

I do understand college starting pitches are used to 6 days off instead of 4 in the MLB but it could be done.

Not totally true on pitchers counts. Those numbers might be true for a day but MLB teams bring up players from the farm systems, trades, etc. during the course of the season and can make adjustments for each series post season. The Mets in 2025 used 46 pitchers during the season.

patdog · May 12, 2026

Dawgzilla2 said:
I hate 4 team double elimination tournaments. The team that goes 2-0 has way too much of an advantage in playing 1 less game.

6 team double elimination isnt bad, although its a little confusing.

8 team double elimination is a great set up to get things over with in under 2 weeks. The only advantage the 3-0 team gets is a guaranteed appearance in the championship game, even if they lose a game. The two halves of the field get to play each other, since you swap out the losers and they don't have to play the same team twice.

The disadvantage, of course, is television. The tournament can end a day early, and CBS/ESPN wanted to market a championship game.

Of course, now the championship is a 3 game series, so Im not sure how that is better for television.

The three game super regionals are nice, but my preference would be 8 double elimination tournaments with 8 teams, the winners going to Omaha for another double elimination tournament. That would be less baseball and less revenue, though, so it seems unlikely.

I do too. Just play 3 best 2-of-3 series to get to Omaha. Then 3 best 2-of-3 series there. Could easily be done in not much more time than it takes now.

paindonthurt · May 12, 2026

Willow Grove Dawg said:
I mean do away with 4 team double elimination Regionals and play two rounds of 2 out of 3 to advance to the Super Regional.

So you are essentially adding 2 more weeks to the length?

patdog · May 12, 2026

johnson86-1 said:
Yup. It's just odd to have a post season that doesn't some what match the regular season. The regular season is really determined by who can win three game series. Then you have a weird tournament format to get to the supers, where you're back to a regular season format. Then you have a tournament format, before going to something similar to the regular season again. As a fan, I like it. But it's an odd choice looking at it from a perspective of trying to crown a "best" team. But I'm not sure there is anything else like baseball though, where the number of good starters you have compared to the number of games you need to win in a week is so dominant. If you are playing playing 3 game series in the regular season and each round of the playoffs, the "best" team is probably different if you are 4 game series in the regular season and each round of the playoffs (ignoring the nonsense of having a "best of 4" setup in the post season). In the NBA, the best team likely doesn't change if you are basing it on best of 3, best of 5, or best of 7, just how often the randomness results in hte best team not winning (I guess depending on how close together you play the games, maybe which team is best is different based on depth and the ability to not get worn down over a series, but nothing like not having a good 3rd starter.

As a fan I hate it. Far too often you wind up with a midweek starter & some random guy who has 12 innings pitched all year (or a guy on 2days rest) pitching in regional championship games. Ridiculous. And dangerous.

OG Goat Holder · May 12, 2026

patdog said:
I do too. Just play 3 best 2-of-3 series to get to Omaha. Then 3 best 2-of-3 series there. Could easily be done in not much more time than it takes now.

High school does that, or did. I think they went back to it. I know they tried the regional/tournament format for a few years but ultimately decided to go back to the best of 3.

I do agree that's better but I also just like the college format. Again probably just nostalgia.

Willow Grove Dawg · May 12, 2026

paindonthurt said:
So you are essentially adding 2 more weeks to the length?

It should only add one week to the postseason. Current Regional round takes one weekend. My proposal would take two weekends for 2 out of 3 Round of 64 and Round of 32.

OG Goat Holder · May 12, 2026

Willow Grove Dawg said:
It should only add one week to the postseason. Current Regional round takes one weekend. My proposal would take two weekends for 2 out of 3 Round of 64 and Round of 32.

You'd have to add another weekend in Omaha too. 3 total weekends up there.

Can't do best of 3 until Omaha then do it different there.

Willow Grove Dawg · May 12, 2026

OG Goat Holder said:
You'd have to add another weekend in Omaha too. 3 total weekends up there.

Can't do best of 3 until Omaha then do it different there.

I had not considered changing the format in Omaha.

Maroon13 · May 12, 2026

baddmann007 said:
SEC tournament changed to a single elimination format. All teams go to Hoover now. Top 4 get a double-bye and 5-8 get a bye until 2nd round.

Ok thanks for the update. I saw the bracket for this year and just assumed they didn't post the loser bracket. But that's a good change. Because the schools don't care about the sec tournament .

patdog · May 12, 2026

OG Goat Holder said:
You'd have to add another weekend in Omaha too. 3 total weekends up there.

Can't do best of 3 until Omaha then do it different there.

3 rounds of best 2-of-3 in Omaha would take 14 days. 4 days of 3 games per day for quarterfinals. 2 days off. 3 days for semifinals. 2 days off. 3 days for finals.

paindonthurt · May 12, 2026

patdog said:
3 rounds of best 2-of-3 in Omaha would take 14 days. 4 days of 3 games per day for quarterfinals. 2 days off. 3 days for semifinals. 2 days off. 3 days for finals.

2 days off?

johnson86-1 · May 12, 2026

patdog said:
3 rounds of best 2-of-3 in Omaha would take 14 days. 4 days of 3 games per day for quarterfinals. 2 days off. 3 days for semifinals. 2 days off. 3 days for finals.

If the logic is to match what teams have to do to get to the post season, then it doesn't seem like 2 days off works. Seems like it needs to be one 3 game series a week.

Anyone else hate how the college baseball tournament is set up?

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