The Big 12 Conference had six teams selected to the 2026 NCAA Baseball Tournament. But not only do many believe the Big 12 was shorted by one team, it was also the seeding that had some of college baseball’s biggest voices shocked by how much the Big 12 was hosed by the selection committee. Here’s what transpired on Monday across social media.
First, there was criticism of Kansas and West Virginia landing the No. 15 and No. 16 regional seeds, respectively.
Why did this happen?
Here’s one theory from our baseball expert on the free Heartland College Sports forums. Join us there!
The SEC controls the selection committee. UCLA is the clear 1 seed, but no way does the SEC want UCLA in Omaha.
So, they make WVU, the team with the big 12’s 3 best pitchers, a 16 seed. They pad WVU’s region with cream puffs, and try to sabotage the bruin’s chances to get to Omaha.
2. The SEC hate for the Big is actually proven by sending Oregon state and washing state to Eugene. There are probably not two fan bases that hate Oregon more, and Oregon State, was project to host on some sites and a top 2 seed on others.
3. Nebraska. Big 10. Also screwed. The have less than a 50 percent chance of winning their region.
TCU Reaction
Then, there was TCU, who missed out on the NCAA Tournament after losing to Kansas State in their first game of the Big 12 Tournament last week. After starting the season ranked in the Top 10, the Horned Frogs season is now over.
While the final D1baseball projections did not have TCU in the Field of 64, and they ended up as the fourth team out of the Tournament, after Mercer, Michigan and Pitt, it’s still fair to wonder if TCU had a better resume than some of the other teams in the field. However, much of the conversation circulated around how TCU’s season came up way short of expectations.
