When is the NCAA baseball selection show? Time, TV channel for 2026 Road to College World Series bracket reveal

UCLA has been the top college baseball team in the country the entire season. Now it's time to see who the Bruins will have to go through to cap their wire-to-wire run with a national championship.

The final conference championship games wrap up Sunday, setting the stage for the field of 64 in this year's NCAA baseball tournament to be revealed. UCLA should be a lock as the top overall seed, while Georgia Tech and North Carolina figure to get favorable seeds along with a slew of SEC contenders. 

Though the Bruins, Yellow Jackets and Tar Heels have topped the national rankings lately, the SEC reigns supreme at the College World Series until an outsider breaks through. Five different SEC schools have combined to win the last six national titles, and Coastal Carolina's run to the CWS finals last year made it the first championship series since 2019 didn't feature two current SEC teams.

How will the regional brackets line up this year? The wait is almost over. Here's when and where to tune in to the selection show.

When is the NCAA baseball selection show?

• Date: Monday, May 25
• Time: 12 p.m. ET

The road to the 2026 College World Series will be unveiled beginning Monday at noon ET, which has become the traditional Memorial Day time slot for the annual bracket reveal. 

Where to watch NCAA baseball selection show

• TV channel: ESPN2
• Live stream: fubo, ESPN app

The 2026 NCAA baseball selection show will be broadcast on ESPN2 and can be streamed live via the ESPN app or fubo. 

Fubo offers a free trial for new subscribers, so you can try the service before you buy. Stream ESPN, ABC, CBS, Fox and 100+ top channels of live TV and sports without cable. (Participating plans only. Taxes and fees may apply.)

NCAA baseball tournament bracket, seeding format

The tournament will look different this year than it has in years past, as the NCAA selection committee will seed the top 32 teams nationally. The top 16 national seeds will continue to host regionals, with the top eight from that group in line to host super regionals should they advance. 

However, the seeds seeded from 17-32 nationally will be grouped into "pods" of four that will align with the top 16 seeds and help determine regional assignments. Geography and conference affiliation will still play a role in those determinations, as two teams from the same conference cannot be in the same regional, but the additional seeds are designed to ensure more balance across the regionals. 

With that in mind, the regional matchups will break down like this in terms of national seeds: 

• No. 1-4 vs. No. 29-32
• No. 5-8 vs. No. 25-28
• No. 9-12 vs. No. 21-24
• No. 13-16 vs. No. 17-20

The bracket itself also will be notated differently, with teams seeded 1-8 in each quadrant, bringing it closer to an NCAA basketball-type look without going all the way to 16 in each quad like the basketball tournament does. That means each of the 16 regionals will feature quadrant seeds — so, No. 1 and No. 8 in one region, then No. 2 and No. 7, No. 3 and No. 6, and No. 4 and No. 5. 

Those numbers will make the bracket look different, but the goal remains the same: win the regional, then the best-of-three super regional, then move on to Omaha and the College World Series. 

NCAA baseball tournament schedule 2026

Here are the key dates for this year's NCAA baseball tournament: 

• Selection show: May 25, 12 p.m. ET
• Regionals: May 29-June 1
• Super regionals: June 5-8
• College World Series: June 12-21 or 22
• College World Series finals: June 20-21 or 22

College World Series champions list

Here are the last 10 College World Series winners and runners-up. There was no tournament in 2020 due to COVID-19.