CBSB: Southern Miss, Mississippi State selected as NCAA Tournament host sites

Written on 05/25/2026
Caleb Salers

The road to Omaha will go through Mississippi.

Once conference championships wrapped up across the college baseball scene, the NCAA promptly announced two of the state’s schools as regional host sites. Both Southern Miss and Mississippi State will be facilitating postseason matchups with a favorable home-field advantage.

Starting off with No. 8 Southern Miss, the Golden Eagles (44-15) are a host team after winning their third Sun Belt championship in four seasons and eclipsing a nation-best 40-plus wins in 10 straight years. While the Hattiesburg regional field has not yet been announced, there is no doubt that Pete Taylor Park will be rocking once the tournament begins.

On top of that, Southern Miss will look to advance to a super regional after falling short of advancing out of its home regional a season ago.

No. 17 Mississippi State (40-17), a team whose fanbase was sitting on the edge of its collective seat in hopes of hosting, got the good news that Dudy Noble Field will be a postseason baseball site for the first time since 2021 β€” the year the Diamond Dogs won the College World Series.

Brian O’Connor delivered on a mission to return one of the sport’s most storied programs to a place where it was hosting a regional in year one, and there is no doubt that the ballpark that holds all notable NCAA attendance records will be packed with maroon and white faithful who have been eagerly yearning to watch their team in Starkville in late May.

Left out of the hosting conversation was No. 18 Ole Miss (36-21), which was arguably one regular-season conference win away from Swayze Field rounding out a perfect trifecta of Magnolia State dominance. The Rebels, however, are a lock to be among the 64 teams competing for a national title.

The full NCAA Tournament schedule is set to be released on Monday at 11 a.m. CT. The selection show will air live on ESPN2.