On Monday, the field was revealed for the 2026 NCAA Baseball Tournament. For the second consecutive year, USC will be in the tournament, with the Trojans headed to Texas as the No. 2 seed in the College Station Regional.
For much of the year, USC was in contention to host a regional at Dedeaux Field. Ultimately, however, the Trojans’ 1-9 record against the top three teams in the Big Ten (UCLA, Nebraska, and Oregon) proved to be too much for them to overcome.
So how close was USC to hosting? While the selection committee did not officially say, we can infer based on the tournament bracket.
The Trojans are in the same regional as Texas A&M, who is the No. 12 overall seed out of 16 hosts. Based on this, USC was seemingly at or around the fifth No. 2 seed, or No. 21 overall. This means that the Trojans were approximately five spots away from hosting.
If Andy Stankiewicz’s team could have won a few more games during the season, they would likely be playing at Dedeaux Field this weekend. Instead, however, USC will have to travel on the road as the program looks to win a regional for the first time in more than two decades.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: NCAA bracket reveals USC baseball’s position among No. 2 seeds
Reporting by Adam Bradford, Trojans Wire / Trojans Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
