The 2021 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was the 74th edition of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship. The 64-team tournament began on Friday, June 4, 2021, as part of the

2021 NCAA Division I baseball season The 2021 NCAA Division I baseball season play of college baseball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I (NCAA), Division I level, began on February 19, 2021. The season progressed ...

and concluded with the 2021 College World Series in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

, which started on June 19 and ended on June 30. Mississippi State defeated Vanderbilt in the best-of-three final series to win their first national championship in program history. The 64 participating NCAA Division I college baseball teams were selected out of an eligible 299 teams. There were 30 teams awarded an automatic bid as champions of their conferences, and 34 teams were selected at-large by the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee. Teams were divided into sixteen regionals of four teams, each of which conducted a double-elimination tournament. Regional champions then faced each other in Super Regionals, a best-of-three game series, to determine the eight participants in the College World Series.

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a mile (). The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon Nati ...

, NJIT, Norfolk State and

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

made their NCAA tournament debuts after winning their first conference tournaments in program history.

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

qualified for the tournament for the first time since

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, Rider qualified for the first time since

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

and Charlotte qualified for the first time since

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

. Auburn and

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

were the lone teams from the 2019 College World Series field to fail to qualify.

Tournament procedure

A total of 64 teams entered the tournament, with 30 of them (down from 31, due to the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

having cancelled all spring sports due to COVID-19) receiving an automatic bid by winning their conference's tournament. The remaining 34 bids were at-large", with selections extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. On Friday, May 14, the NCAA Selection Committee announced 20 potential sites for the first round regionals due to necessary coronavirus precautions, which were reduced to 16 on May 30. Typically, the top sixteen teams receive national seeds and host their respective regional tournaments. However, since the committee determined only twenty potential sites, if a team outside that list of twenty were to receive a national seed, they would play their regional on the road. This had not occurred since

when No. 1 seed Florida State Seminoles traveled to the

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

Regional hosted by UConn at Dodd Memorial Stadium. Despite receiving a national seed, Old Dominion travelled to

Founders Park Founders Park, formerly known as Carolina Stadium, is a ballpark in Columbia, South Carolina on the banks of the Congaree River. The facility cost $35.6 million to build and is the home stadium for the South Carolina Gamecocks baseball, South Car ...

at the Columbia Regional hosted by the

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

Schedule and venues

On May 30, the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee announced the sixteen regional host sites. The

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

led the way with seven hosts. The

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

and

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

each had three regional hosts, while

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

, and

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

each had one regional host.

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

led all institutions as they hosted for the 28th time. Louisiana Tech hosted for the first time in program history. The Super Regional sites were announced on the morning of Tuesday, June 8, after the completion of the regional round. Regionals *June 4–7 ** UFCU Disch–Falk Field,

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, (Host:

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

) **

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-mo ...

, (Host:

) ** PK Park,

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

(Host:

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

) ** Baum–Walker Stadium,

Fayetteville, Arkansas Fayetteville ( ) is the List of cities and towns in Arkansas, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Arkansas, the county seat of Washington County, Arkansas, Washington County, and the most populous city in Northwest Arkansas. The city ...

(Host:

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

) ** Lupton Stadium,

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

, (Host: Texas Christian University) ** Florida Ballpark,

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, United States, and the most populous city in North Central Florida, with a population of 145,212 in 2022. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gainesv ...

, (Host:

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

) ** Clark–LeClair Stadium,

Greenville, North Carolina Greenville ( ; ) is the county seat of and the most populous city in Pitt County, North Carolina, United States. It is the principal city of the Greenville, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, and the List of municipalities in North Carolina, 12t ...

, (Host:

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of universities in North Carolina by enrollment, fourth largest university in North Carolina and the only one in the state with s ...

) ** Lindsey Nelson Stadium,

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

, (Host:

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

) ** Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park,

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Lubbock County. With a population of 272,086 in 2024, Lubbock is the 10th-most populous city in Texas and the 84th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the ...

, (Host:

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

) ** Hawkins Field,

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, (Host:

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

) ** Swayze Field,

Oxford, Mississippi Oxford is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, 14th most populous city in Mississippi, United States, and the county seat of Lafayette County, Mississippi, Lafayette County, southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis. A college town, Oxford ...

, (Host:

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...

) ** J. C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park,

Ruston, Louisiana Ruston is a small city in and the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. The 2020 population was 22,166. Ruston is near the eastern border of the Ark-La-Tex region and is the home of Louisiana Tech University. Ruston is the prin ...

, (Host:

Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public university, public research university in Ruston, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and Carnegie Classification of Institu ...

) ** Frank Eck Stadium,

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...

(Host:

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

) ** Klein Field at Sunken Diamond,

Stanford, California Stanford is a census-designated place (CDP) in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is the home of Stanford University, after which it was named. The CDP's population was 21,150 at the United States Census, ...

(Host:

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

) ** Dudy Noble Field, Polk–DeMent Stadium,

Starkville, Mississippi Starkville is a city in and the county seat of Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, Starkville's population is 24,360, making it the 16th-most populated city in Mississippi. Starkville is the largest ...

, (Host:

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

) ** Hi Corbett Field,

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

(Host:

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

) Super Regionals *June 11–13 **Baum–Walker Stadium, Fayetteville, Arkansas (Host: University of Arkansas) **Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park, Lubbock, Texas (Host: Texas Tech University) **Hi Corbett Field, Tucson, Arizona (Host: University of Arizona) **Hawkins Field, Nashville, Tennessee (Host: Vanderbilt University) *June 12–14 **UFCU Disch–Falk Field, Austin, Texas (Host: University of Texas at Austin) **Dudy Noble Field, Polk–DeMent Stadium, Starkville, Mississippi (Host: Mississippi State University) **Founders Park, Columbia, South Carolina (Host: University of South Carolina) **Lindsey Nelson Stadium, Knoxville, Tennessee (Host: University of Tennessee)

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is a baseball tournament held each June in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the culmination of the NCAA Division I baseball tournament—featuring 64 teams in the ...

*June 19–30 ** TD Ameritrade Park Omaha,

, (Host: Creighton University)

Bids

Of the 64 qualified to play in the 2021 NCAA Division I baseball tournament, 35 competed in the previous tournament in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, NJIT, Norfolk State and

all made their NCAA tournament debuts after winning their first conference tournaments in program history.

qualified for the tournament for the first time since

, Rider qualified for the first time since

and Charlotte qualified for the first time since

. Notable teams that failed to qualify included Auburn and

, who both advanced to the 2019 College World Series.

By conference

National seeds

The sixteen national seeds were announced on the Selection Show on Monday, May 31 at 12 p.m. EDT on

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially ...

. Teams in italics advanced to the Super Regionals. Teams in bold advanced to the 2021 College World Series. # ''

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

'' #

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

# Vanderbilt #

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

# TCU # Mississippi State # '' Texas Tech'' # Stanford # '' Notre Dame'' # Old Dominion # '' Ole Miss'' # '' East Carolina'' # #

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

# Louisiana Tech

Regionals and Super Regionals

''Bold indicates winner. Seeds for regional tournaments indicate seeds within regional. Seeds for super regional tournaments indicate national seeds only.''

Fayetteville Super Regional

Lubbock Super Regional

Tucson Super Regional

Nashville Super Regional

Knoxville Super Regional

Columbia Super Regional

The Columbia Super Regional between Dallas Baptist and Virginia was held at Founders Park due to NCAA COVID-19 guidelines for the 2021 tournament mandating that all Super Regionals take place at one of the original sixteen regional sites regardless of the winners of those regionals. †Old Dominion was unable to host at their home stadium, Bud Metheny Baseball Complex in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

, due to inadequate facilities according to NCAA regional hosting guidelines.

Starkville Super Regional

Austin Super Regional

College World Series

The College World Series was held at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha in

Participants

Bracket

Bracket 1

Bracket 2

Finals

;Game 1 ;Game 2 ;Game 3

Awards

The 2021 College World Series Most Outstanding Player was pitcher Will Bednar of Mississippi State. In addition to the Most Outstanding Player, an All-Tournament team was selected for the

All-CWS Team

Final standings

''Seeds listed below indicate national seeds only''

Record by conference

Includes a game declared no-contest due to COVID-19 protocols with NC State. Vanderbilt advanced to the CWS Finals. The columns RF, SR, WS, NS, CS, and NC respectively stand for the Regional Finals, Super Regionals, College World Series Teams, National Semifinals, Championship Series, and National Champion. Nc is non–conference records, i.e., with the records of teams within the same conference having played each other removed.

Media coverage

Radio

NRG Media provided nationwide radio coverage of the College World Series through its Omaha Station KOZN, in association with Westwood One. It also streamed all CWS games at westwoodonesports.com on Tunein and on SiriusXM. Kevin Kugler and John Bishop provided pxp on games leading up to the Championship Series. Bishop (Gms 6, 8-10, 12), Jeff Leise (Gms 2, 4-5), Damon Benning (Gms 1, 3, 7, 11), and Gary Sharp (Gms 13-14) provided the analysis. The Championship Series was called by Kugler and Scott Graham.

Television

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

aired every game from the Regionals, Super Regionals, and the College World Series across its networks.

Broadcast assignments

;Regionals * Bob Wischusen and Gregg Olson:

Mike Monaco
and Gaby Sánchez:

* Clay Matvick and Ben McDonald:

Steve Lenox
and Lance Cormier:

* Anish Shroff and Keith Moreland:

Jon Meterparel
an
Nick Belmonte

Chris Cotter
and Danan Hughes:

* Mark Neely and Adam Greenberg:

* Dave Neal and Chris Burke:

Mike Couzens
and Greg Swindell:

* Tom Hart and Kyle Peterson:

Sam Ravech
an
Roddy Jones

* Mike Morgan and Todd Walker:

* John Schriffen and Xavier Scruggs:

Roy Philpott
and Jay Walker:

* Roxy Bernstein an
Wes Clements

;Super Regionals *Mike Monaco and Eduardo Pérez: Austin, Texas *John Schriffen and Gaby Sánchez: Columbia, South Carolina *Mike Morgan and Todd Walker: Fayetteville, Arkansas *Tom Hart and Chris Burke: Knoxville, Tennessee * Karl Ravech an
Mike Rooney
Lubbock, Texas *Clay Matvick and Ben McDonald: Nashville, Tennessee *Dave Neal and Kyle Peterson: Starkville, Mississippi *Roxy Bernstein and Wes Clements: Tucson, Arizona ;College World Series *Tom Hart, Chris Burke, Ben McDonald, and Kris Budden: Afternoons, Thursday night *Karl Ravech, Eduardo Pérez, Kyle Peterson, and Kris Budden: Evenings minus Thursday ;CWS Championship Series *Karl Ravech, Eduardo Pérez, Kyle Peterson, and Kris Budden

Notes

References

External links

Official Bracket
at NCAA.com {{DEFAULTSORT:2021 NCAA Division I baseball tournament

Tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

NCAA Division I baseball tournament NCAA Division I baseball tournament