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In an effort to show a more in-depth selection process regarding regional postseason seeding, the NCAA's Division I Baseball Selection Committee will begin seeding invited teams Nos. 1 through 32 for the 2026 season, expanding on the 16-national seeds format, according to D1 Baseball's Kendall Rogers.

Teams outside of the top-16 national seeds will be group based on geographic significance and others factors, a process that already takes place in Division I soccer and volleyball postseason formats.

With this change comes added clarity for schools who were on the cusp of garnering a coveted top-16 seed and host bid during regional play. Last season's national seeds in baseball included a record-setting eight SEC teams, which hosted the first round of four-team regional bracket play.

The winners of regional play move on to Supers, with venue hosts sites determined by overall seeding or the selection committee based on factors like facilities, revenue and hotel accommodations. Teams with the strongest records and overall RPI are often chosen as national seeds. Alabama was one of the SEC teams which just missed out on hosting a regional during the spring despite a strong national RPI ranking (No. 13) and 33-22 overall record.

The Crimson Tide went 0-2 in the Hattiesburg Regional hosted by Southern Miss. Under the new seeding format, hypothetically Alabama would have had a No. 17 or No. 18 seed by its name to show where the selection committee slotted the Crimson Tide compared to others.

As it stands for the 2026 season, 64 teams are in 16 different four-team regions, then a double-elimination format follows until the College World Series' eight-team bracket is set during the summer. Super Regional play is a best-of-three format, while the teams who make it Omaha are placed, but not re-seeded, in two brackets with the winners of those meeting in the championship series.

The best-of-three format began at the CWS in 2003, while the tournament field expanded to 64 teams in 1999.