ESPN’s Kyle Peterson on what to expect from the 2026 NCAA baseball tournament

The NCAA baseball tournament starts on Friday. The field of 64 teams will begin play at 16 regional sites and culminate with eight schools at the Men’s College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, June 12-22.

Every pitch from all regional sites will be available across ESPN networks (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network, ACC Network, and ESPN+).

To help us better understand the tournament, we recently caught up with ESPN analyst Kyle Peterson.

Peterson, a Stanford alum, pitched the Cardinal to the College World Series as a freshman and a junior in 1995 and 1997.

Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

What’s the top story in this tournament?

Kyle Peterson: “If I were to pick one, I guess it’d be UCLA, the preseason No. 1, and they’ve been No. 1 every week. Pick your sport. I don’t care what it is. It doesn’t happen very often for somebody to be preseason No. 1 and never be knocked out of No. 1. That’s been UCLA. They haven’t lost a weekend series. They’re the only team that can say that. They have what I would say is a pretty favorable regional to start. So, yeah, I think if there’s one thing to look at, it’s that the team everybody thought was the best has been the best. But now everything starts over.”

Who is the best player in the field?

“There are a couple. Roch Cholowsky is probably going to be the first pick in the draft, the kid from UCLA, a shortstop with 21 home runs. He’s going to be the face of somebody’s franchise here in a month and a half, or at least the start of that. He was here last year in Omaha, so everybody had a chance to see him. He’s been famous for a couple of years in our sport.

“Daniel Jackson of Georgia won the regular-season triple crown in the SEC, which has only been done twice. Rafael Palmeiro (in 1984) and Brent Rooker (in 2017) are the only two to have done it. He’s got 27 home runs and 25 stolen bases. And he’s the only catcher to do it.”

Which is the toughest regional?

“I think if you go 1, 2, 3, 4, I’d probably say Hattiesburg, Southern Miss. The No. 4 seed doesn’t always figure in. But when you look at that one, Little Rock last year took LSU to (an elimination) game in a regional as a No. 4 seed. They are a No. 4 seed now, and that’s who Southern Miss has to open with. Virginia was, I’d say, in the top 10 until two or three weeks into the conference season. And then some guys got hurt, and now they’re healthy. So, I think Virginia is one that’s really going to push the reset button. And then Jacksonville State is the best No. 3 seed. They should have been a No. 2 seed. Over 40 wins. They probably feel slighted.”

Which team has made the best use of the transfer portal and NIL?

“Georgia has nailed the portal. They’re very specific about what they go after, and they’ve got a model. I don’t know what it is, but they plug it into the off-season. There are certain guys they target. Kenny Ishikawa came from Seattle. He had a really good year there. Don’t get me wrong, but he came from Seattle. The kid went to high school in Japan. Their Game 1 starter (Joey Volchko) is a Stanford transfer, and their top long reliever (Matt Scott) is a Stanford transfer. Their Game 2 starter (Dylan Vigue) is a Michigan transfer. And if you look at their numbers before they got there, you’d be like, ‘Eh, they look fine.’ They’ve turned them into different guys in one year.”

Is there a small school that could make a run?

“Jacksonville State. They beat Auburn up pretty good a couple of weeks ago. It was a midweek game, so I think you always have to look at that a little differently. But if I had to pick one, it would be them. They’re balanced. They force you to defend in different ways. It’s not just lining up and seeing who can hit the most home runs. Their arms are good enough to win in a regional.”

How would you persuade a casual fan to check out the tournament?

“There are plenty of great stories. Go watch Kansas. Kansas has a lineup made up of eight JUCO guys and a dude from D2. Jeff Passan wrote a great article about it. Dan Fitzgerald was a JUCO coach, so he knows them all. His coaches were JUCO guys. They got to KU, and they’re like, ‘We need impact guys now, and we don’t have a $3 million NIL budget.’ So they built their roster around JUCO kids, and Kansas is hosting for the first time in the program’s history.”

Which teams are the best?

“I think Georgia, Georgia Tech, UCLA, Auburn, and I would throw a Florida in there, are the best five teams. Now does somebody lose a ball in the lights? I saw a Super Regional three years ago with a routine fly ball to right field that the guy lost in the lights, and it dropped in the grass. Stanford scored, and they won. It doesn’t mean Stanford was better. It means the guy lost the ball in the lights. So, weird stuff happens. That’s what baseball is built on.”

Which teams had a maybe disappointing season but could make a run?

“Virginia could be on that list. I guess you’d call it disappointing based on what everybody thought 20 games into the season. I think Wake Forest is dangerous. They go to Morgantown. It’s the second time that West Virginia has hosted, which is kind of cool. They open with Kentucky. It’s probably the best pitching matchup on day one we have. I wouldn’t call Oklahoma State a disappointment, but they’re a No. 2 seed, and I would call Oklahoma State dangerous. I think if you’re going to pick somebody that is not a one through 16, Oklahoma State would be my first one.”

Where will you be this weekend?

“I will be in Lincoln. It’s Nebraska, Ole Miss, Arizona State, and South Dakota State. I can drive to it, so it’s kind of nice. I’ve been living out of a suitcase for two-and-a-half months. Nebraska hasn’t hosted since 2008. It’s a great ballpark, and they sold it out in an hour. Ole Miss two weeks ago was kind of in that ‘are-they-going-to-host’ category and then played themselves out of it, but they’re good enough to make it to Omaha. Arizona State has a long history. Granted, it’s been 30 years, but they’re good. Landon Hairston is one of the best players in the country. He’s probably going to be one of the finalists for the Golden Spikes, which is our Heisman. He’s only a sophomore, so we’re going to see him again. He’s not going to be in the draft.”

What do you recall about your appearances in the College World Series?

“I’m pitching against Clemson in an elimination game to try to stay alive in the College World Series. We beat them, a complete game. It’s probably my favorite memory in college baseball and in baseball, period.

“Two years later, we came back. We ran into LSU, and they beat the doors off me. It’s never left. The good feeling from freshman year is super cool, but I’ll never get over getting my a** kicked by LSU because we were good enough to win it.”