2026 College World Series: Picks, predictions for every opening-round game and CWS Finals

A few potential first-time national champions punched their tickets to Omaha, but can they get past the perennial powerhouses?

Jun 10, 2026 at 10:11 am ET • 7 min read

The final eight teams standing in the hunt for college baseball's 2026 national championship head to Omaha, Nebraska, this week for the College World Series. Only one squad will prove strong enough both on the mound and at the plate to withstand the rigors of the CWS, and while all of them proved deserving of spots on college baseball's biggest stage, not every roster is constructed with the requisite championship formula.

Contenders will separate themselves from pretenders during the opening round of play on Friday and Saturday. While it is not unprecedented for a team to lose its first game at Charles Schwab Field Omaha and rally all the way to a title, it has only occurred three times this century. History suggests that the team that celebrates in a dogpile later this month will be one of the four that wins to start this weekend.

So let's pick them.

2026 College World Series schedule: Scores, bracket, TV times as NCAA baseball's best descend on Omaha

Carter Bahns

Every team -- from the top remaining national seed in Georgia to the only No. 3 seed left in Troy -- has a case to win its opening contest. We'll sort through them to determine who starts 1-0, who wins their respective brackets and who etches their name in history as champions.

Here are our picks for the 2026 College World Series.

No. 16 West Virginia vs. Troy

Why West Virginia will win: Since the start of the tournament, West Virginia has scored fewer than nine runs in just one of seven games. That kind of run support for the Big 12's best pitching staff turned the Mountaineers into a machine. Both offenses in this matchup are now running hot, so the edge goes to the side with the better arms. Either of the pitchers the Mountaineers use on Friday boasts a sub-3.00 ERA, with Maxx Yehl carrying the title of Big 12 Pitcher of the Year and Chanson Cole coming off a 121-pitch, 11-strikeout gem against Cal Poly.

Why Troy will win: You do not score a combined 26 runs in two games against Florida in regional play by accident. Troy is averaging 11.5 runs per game across its six-game winning streak and getting production from every spot in the lineup. Mid-major teams generally flame out in Omaha, but the Trojans are built more like a power conference program than most of their peers and will not be intimidated by West Virginia's power arms after facing the nation's sixth-toughest schedule. Pick: West Virginia

No. 5 North Carolina vs. Ole Miss

Why North Carolina will win: The Tar Heels pitched off in the regional and super regional, and since it nearly burned them in the latter, it would not be surprising to see them go back to their ace in Jason DeCaro for their CWS opener. He tossed a complete game shutout against USC to keep North Carolina's season alive his last time out, and if he does not go all the way against Ole Miss (which he very well could against such a strikeout-prone lineup), the top of the bullpen will lock things down. A couple of runs is all it might take for UNC to win this one, and Owen Hull can be trusted to deliver following his latest clutch effort: a walk-off knock in Game 3 of the Chapel Hill Super Regional.

Why Ole Miss will win: Even though Hunter Elliott battled some control issues in his first two tournament starts, Ole Miss should feel equally confident about its starting pitching on Friday as the Tar Heels. The bullpen has been lights-out, too, and in turn, the Rebels rolled through the toughest path of any team thus far without allowing more than six runs in a game. Will Furniss, Judd Utermark and Tristan Bissetta are the kind of star senior bats it will take to challenge UNC in what projects to be a low-scoring duel. Pick: North Carolina

No. 7 Alabama vs. Oklahoma

Why Alabama will win: Justin Lebron is talented enough to put the rest of the Alabama team on his back and will lead them to an opening-round victory. He strung together three consecutive multi-hit games across the regional and super regional rounds, and once he gets on base, he is unstoppable. With 41 steals in 42 attempts on the year, count on him to score at least once against Oklahoma. And if Tyler Fay delivers another gem after blanking St. John's across 7.1 innings last weekend, the Crimson Tide will have a shot at beating another scorching hot club.

Why Oklahoma will win: Just like Alabama halted the blistering St. John's offense last weekend, the tandem of Cord Rager and Xander Mercurius dominated Kansas, holding the Jayhawks to three runs across two super regional games. That was after the Sooners' arms contained Georgia Tech's nation-leading offense. Even more impressive is the explosion Oklahoma produced at the dish since the start of the postseason. Dayton Tockey has been unstoppable since mid-May, injecting welcome power to a lineup that is playing its best ball since the opening month of the season. Pick: Oklahoma

No. 3 Georgia vs. No. 6 Texas

Why Georgia will win: What Georgia and Mississippi State accomplished at the plate last weekend was downright silly, combining for 21 home runs across two games. Golden Spikes frontrunner Daniel Jackson, Michael O'Shaughnessy, Rylan Lujo and Kolby Branch clubbed two round-trippers apiece as the Bulldogs added to their nation-leading 174 on the year. This has been an offense-first club all season, and that is the most surefire way to defeat a pitching-oriented team like Texas. The Longhorns allowed more baserunners than they would have liked last weekend, and if they do it again, Georgia will make them pay in a way Oregon did not.

Why Texas will win: Yes, Texas played with fire against the Ducks. But Dylan Volantis was electric with runners on base in his super regional start and was key in stranding 17 Oregon baserunners on the day. He is the best pitcher the Bulldogs will have seen all year with his 2.03 ERA and overpowering 126 strikeouts on the campaign, and with lockdown closer Sam Cozart behind him, Texas has the requisite arms to contain the most powerful lineup in the sport. Plus, if the offense keeps rolling, it can score enough to keep pace with Georgia even if things go haywire on the mound. Pick: Texas

Bracket 1 champion

While North Carolina does not feature the kind of potent offense often associated with national champions, and while it did not score more than five runs in a game against USC and its Omaha-caliber pitching staff, the Tar Heels get by at the dish because they do not have any holes in their lineup. Combine that with arguably the best stable of arms in the sport, and you are looking at a team with the tools to get through the lighter of the two CWS brackets. That is the model by which this team lost back-to-back games just once all year -- way back in early March, no less.

Once the top two starters throw, UNC will have the pitching edge over any team it faces in the Bracket 1 championship. Freshman Caden Glauber, pitching to a 2.20 ERA and spotless 10-0 record, has been simply fantastic all season in his long relief and starting roles and would figure to throw multiple times over the course of the CWS. He is the primary reason why the Tar Heels could even come back from a loss to win this bracket. Pick: North Carolina

Bracket 2 champion

The winner of Saturday's opening-round showdown between Georgia and Texas will be the favorite to win the national championship. Taking that contest is such a massive advantage because it forces another title frontrunner to come all the way back through the loser's bracket while keeping things on schedule from a pitching perspective. The Longhorns have enough pitching depth to stave off elimination should they fall to the Bulldogs, whereas the latter does not.

Texas also matches up nicely with Georgia in that first game, to begin with. On top of the glaring pitching advantage, the Longhorns are mashing the ball this postseason and look capable enough to outpace any lineup they see on a stacked side of the CWS field. The nation will fall in love with freshman Anthony Pack Jr., and the hard-hitting trio of Aiden Robbins, Carson Tinney and Casey Borba can torch any arm they face. Alabama is the only team in this bracket with pitchers remotely close to as talented as those in the Texas clubhouse, and not even they were enough to prevent a 2-1 regular-season series loss to the Longhorns. Pick: Texas

College World Series champion

Texas vs. North Carolina in the championship series is the kind of heavyweight bout college baseball dreams are made of. They are loaded with future pros on the mound and feature star power at the top of their batting orders. Both are complete teams built upon the blueprint for postseason success. The Longhorns are just a bit better.

With respect to UNC standouts Erik Paulsen, Gavin Gallaher and the like, Texas is stronger at the top and deeper from one through nine. In a championship series, they would put more pressure on UNC's arms than UNC would on theirs. And while the Tar Heels boast arguably the best rotation in America, the Volantis-Ruger Riojas-Luke Harrison tandem is just as potent. The edge is slim, but it is big enough for Jim Schlossnagle to finally win his first title. Pick: Texas