Nebraska baseball seed projections in NCAA tournament 2024: Cornhuskers' seeding scenario before selection show
Nebraska baseball is bound for the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The 39-20 Cornhuskers held off a desperate Penn State team 2-1 in the Big Ten title game. Nebraska was probably the top team in the Big Ten all season despite finishing in second place, two games behind regular-season title winner Illinois.
The Huskers will try to parlay a solid resume and an excellent pitching staff, led by undefeated ace Brett Sears, into postseason success. By winning the league, Nebraska has put its best foot forward but will still likely not host any NCAA Tournament action.
Nebraska baseball seed projections in NCAA tournament 2024
Baseball America projects the Huskers as a No. 2 seed in the Norman, Oklahoma region.
BA has host Oklahoma as the No. 7 ranked overall seed, which means Nebraska essentially falls into the middle of the pack of No. 2 seeds. Oklahoma fell to Oklahoma State on Saturday in the Big 12 title game.
D1Baseball.com thinks less charitably of the Huskers' NCAA situation. The site projects Nebraska as the No. 2 seed in the Lexington, Kentucky region. Kentucky is D1Baseball's No. 2 overall seed, meaning that Nebraska would be the among the bottom of the No. 2 seeds in the field. Kentucky tied Tennessee for best SEC regular-season record.
How is NCAA baseball tournament seeded?
Sixty-four teams qualify for the NCAA Tournament, with the spots passed out to a mixture of league champions and at-large teams.
As the Big Ten winner, Nebraska is guaranteed a spot within the NCAA Tournament field. Championship foe Penn State likely would have made the field only as the conference winner.
The teams are divided into 16 four-team regions. The top seed in the region is generally the hosting team, making those top 16 spots coveted. Moreover, each region winner is connected to another region for the next round, super-regional play. The higher remaining seed is usually the super regional host, so those top eight spots in the field could carry both hosting duties.
Nebraksa is assured of a spot in the field and is virtually guaranteed to be outside the realm of hosting possibilities. Only if it wins the region and faces another upset-minded team in super regional play would the Huskers have a shot at hosting any more games. Winning the super regional sends eight fortunate teams to Omaha for the College World Series.
How many times has Nebraska been to the CWS?
Nebraska baseball has reached the College World Series three times - in 2001, 2002 and 2005. The first two of those trips came under Dave Van Horn, now the coach at Arkansas, while the most recent one was under Van Horn's successor, Mike Anderson.
Nebraska will be in its 18th NCAA Tournament field. It will be its ninth NCAA appearance since that 2005 trip to Omaha. Nebraska is 1-6 all-time in College World Series play. In 2005, the Huskers beat Arizona State 5-3 in first round play.
What do you think of Nebraska baseball's potential NCAA Tournament draw? We'd love to hear your thoughts below in the comments section: