What Nebraska Baseball Must Do the Rest of the Way to Host an NCAA Regional

Nebraska baseball hasn't hosted an NCAA Regional since 2008, but that drought could come to a close next month.

The Huskers are 31-9 on the year and coming off a sweep of then-No. 12 USC. Coach Will Bolt has his team surging after a 1-3 week, with all three of those losses coming to currently ranked teams by one score each.

Ty Horn replaced Gavin Blachowicz the mound in the third and gave up just one run in five innings. — Ty Horn pitches against USC. | Amarillo Mullen

So what does Nebraska need to do to stay in the conversation to host a regional?

Metrics

While the selection committee looks at strength of schedule and other components, and big indicator of being a top-16 national seed and hosting a regional is RPI, or Rating Percentage Index.

Over the last week, Nebraska jumped up 13 spots in the RPI. The Huskers now sit at 14, which is a good spot for hosting a regional.

Here are the current top 20 in RPI.

UCLA
Texas
Georgia Tech
Alaba
Auburn
Ole Miss
North Carolina
Texas A&M
Florida
Florida State
Oregon State
Southern Miss
Coastal Carolina
Nebraska
USC
Missouri State
Oklahoma
Mississippi State
Virginia
Georgia

Final 15 Games

Nebraska has 15 games left before the Big Ten Conference Tournament. The Huskers host just four of those.

The home games remaining are a midweek against Kansas State (25-15, 9-9 Big 12) and a weekend series against Iowa (21-6, 7-11 B1G).

The Huskers celebrate Rhett Stokes' three-run homer in the third, which would cap off Nebraska's scoring for the day. — The Huskers celebrate a Rhett Stokes three-run homer. | Amarillo Mullen

The road contests are midweeks at Kansas (29-11, 14-4 Big 12) and Creighton (21-16, 7-2 BIG EAST) and weekend series at Illinois (20-18, 8-10 B1G), Ohio State (19-19, 9-9 B1G), and Minnesota (22-7, 5-13 B1G).

Only one of those 15 games will come against a top-25 RPI opponent: Kansas. As matter of fact, that is the only top-50 RPI contest remaining for Nebraska.

Kansas State is currently at 55, followed by Creighton at 79, Illinois at 83, Iowa at 88, Minnesota at 96, and Ohio State at 104.

Nebraska can't afford to lose any of the Big Ten series remaining. Currently second in the league at 15-3, the only series loss came to Oregon a couple of weekends back.

J'Shawn Unger celebrates a strikeout to end Creighton's half of the eighth inning. — J'Shawn Unger celebrates a strikeout against Creighton. | Amarillo Mullen

The Huskers likely need to go 2-1 or better every weekend. As for the midweeks, at top-20 battle at Kansas on Tuesday is the last big opportunity before the conference tournament to get a signature win. The rest of the regular season will primarily be about avoiding bad losses.

In the Big Ten Tournament, Nebraska could see Oregon again. The Ducks are currently 26th in the RPI. The Huskers could also see the USC Trojans (15) or UCLA (1). NU has won the Big Ten Tournament each of the last two seasons.

Past Hosts and RPI

This is who was a national seed and hosted a regional last year, including where they were in the RPI ahead of the tournament.

Vanderbilt, 1
Texas, 4
Arkansas, 5
Auburn, 3
North Carolina, 6
LSU, 10
Georgia, 2
Oregon State, 7
Florida State, 14
Ole Miss, 12
Clemson, 9
Oregon, 17
Coastal Carolina, 8
Tennessee, 11
UCLA, 15
Southern Miss, 19

The only teams to finish in the top 16 of the RPI and not host a regional were Alabama (13) and Florida (16).

Nebraska players hold up the trophy after winning the 2025 Big Ten Baseball Tournament. — Nebraska has made the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons via winning the Big Ten Tournament. | Nebraska Athletics

Here is what those national seeds and RPI rankings were going into the 2024 tournament.

Tennessee, 1
Kentucky, 3
Texas A&M, 2
North Carolina, 4
Arkansas, 5
Clemson, 7
Georgia, 6
Florida State, 8
Oklahoma, 14
NC State, 15
Oklahoma State, 11
Virginia, 12
Arizona, 31
UC Santa Barbara, 13
Oregon State, 18
East Carolina, 22

The only teams to finish in the top 16 of the RPI and not host a regional were Wake Forest (9), Indiana State (10), and Duke (16).

Lincoln Regional History

2001

Nebraska entered the 2001 postseason as the No. 8 national seed. Hosting at Buck Beltzer Stadium, the Huskers dispatched of Northern Iowa, 16-6, before beating Rutgers twice to win the region.

in the Super Regional against Rice, Nebraska swept the affair, 7-0 and 9-6.

2002

Now at Haymarket Park, Nebraska again rolled through its regional. The Huskers beat Milwaukee, Marist, and Southwest Missouri State to take the regional.

In the Super Regional, Nebraska needed all three games to get by Richmond and advance to the College World Series for a second straight season.

2003

Hosting for a third year in a row, Nebraska opened with a 16-11 win over Eastern Michigan. But then Southwest Missouri State upended the Huskers 4-2, sending them to the losers' bracket. After dismantling Eastern Michigan again, 18-2, Nebraska beat Southwest Missouri State 9-5.

In the winner-take-all game, it was Southwest Missouri State, 7-0.

2005

The No. 3 national seed, Nebraska beat UIC before topping Creighton twice. In the Super Regional, the Huskers swept Miami (FL) to get back to the CWS

In Omaha, the Huskers notched their first-ever victory at the Greatest Show on Dirt, beating Arizona State 5-3.

2006

After arguably the greatest season in program history, Nebraska was back in the NCAA Tournament as the No. 6 national seed. This time, however, the Huskers were bounced right away with losses to Manhattan (4-1) and San Francisco (5-1).

2008

Now officially Hawks Field, Nebraska was back in the host position. The Huskers beat Eastern Illinois, 13-10, before falling to UC Irvine, 3-2. Oral Roberts then shut out Nebraska, 8-0, in the last regional game to be played in Lincoln to date.

Have a question or comment for Kaleb? Send an email to kalebhenry.huskermax@gmail.com.

Nebraska Baseball's 2026 Schedule

Feb. 13 Nebraska 12, UConn 2 [7 inn.] (MLB Desert Invitational)
Feb. 14 Nebraska 7, Northeastern 4 (MLB Desert Invitational)
Feb. 15 Nebraska 9, Grand Canyon 1 (MLB Desert Invitational)
Feb. 16 Stanford 11, Nebraska 6 (MLB Desert Invitational)
Feb. 20 Louisville 4, Nebraska 2 (Amegy Bank College Baseball Series)
Feb. 21 Kansas State 3, Nebraska 3 FloCollege (Amegy Bank College Baseball Series)
Feb. 22 Nebraska 10, Florida State 1 (Amegy Bank College Baseball Series)
Feb. 27 Nebraska 9, Auburn 8 [10 inn.]
Feb. 28 Auburn 15, Nebraska 4 [7 inn.]
Mar. 1 Auburn 12, Nebraska 3
Mar. 3 Nebraska 8, Omaha 5
Mar. 4 Nebraska 5, South Dakota State 4
Mar. 6 Nebraska 5, Michigan State 4 [10 inn.]
Mar. 7 Nebraska 3, Michigan State 1
Mar. 8 Nebraska 12, Michigan State 2 [7 inn.]
Mar. 11 Nebraska 11, North Dakota State 1 [7 inn.]
Mar. 13 Nebraska 6, Maine 5
Mar. 14 Nebraska 6, Maine 3
Mar. 14 Nebraska 8, Maine 7
Mar. 17 Nebraska 8, Wichita State 1
Mar. 18 Nebraska 10, Wichita State 1
Mar. 20 Michigan 2, Nebraska 1
Mar. 21 Nebraska 10, Michigan 0 [7 inn.]
Mar. 22 Nebraska 9, Michigan 5
Mar. 24 Nebraska 14, Kansas State 9
Mar. 27 Nebraska 6, Indiana 5
Mar. 28 Nebraska 12, Indiana 7
Mar. 29 Nebraska 12, Indiana 4
Mar. 31 Nebraska 6, Creighton 5
Apr. 4 Nebraska 8, Penn State 7
Apr. 4 Nebraska 13, Penn State 1 [7 inn.]
Apr. 5 Nebraska 8, Penn State 6
Apr. 7 Kansas 5, Nebraska 3
Apr. 10 Oregon 7, Nebraska 6
Apr. 11 Nebraska 10, Oregon 8
Apr. 12 Oregon 5, Nebraska 4
Apr 14 Nebraska 5, Creighton 4
Apr. 17 Nebraska 8, USC 7 [10 inn.]
Apr. 18 Nebraska 12, USC 2 [7 inn.]
Apr. 19 Nebraska 16, USC 6 [8 inn.]
Apr. 21 at Kansas 6 p.m. ESPN+
Apr. 24 at Illinois 6 p.m. B1G+
Apr. 25 at Illinois 3 p.m. B1G+
Apr. 26 at Illinois 1 p.m. B1G+
Apr. 28 vs. Kansas State 6 p.m. B1G+
May 1 at Ohio State 5 p.m. B1G+
May 2 at Ohio State 6 p.m. BTN
May 3 at Ohio State 1 p.m. B1G+
May 8 vs. Iowa 6 p.m. NPM/B1G+
May 9 vs. Iowa 2 p.m. B1G+
May 10 vs. Iowa 2 p.m. BTN
May 12 at Creighton 6 p.m. NPM
May 14 at Minnesota 6 p.m. B1G+
May 15 at Minnesota 6 p.m. B1G+
May 16 at Minnesota 1 p.m. B1G+
May 19-24 Big Ten Tournament

Home games are bolded. All times central.

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