Was Arkansas snubbed? KU, not the Razorbacks, will host NCAA baseball regional
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Arkansas will travel to Kansas to play a regional at Hoglund Ballpark.
- Kansas was awarded the 15th seed and will host a four-team regional at Hoglund.
- The committee cited Mississippi State’s higher RPI and tougher SEC schedule over Arkansas.
There’s been some discussion, some might call it controversy, regarding the NCAA Baseball Tournament committee’s selection of its 16 campus regional sites.
Close to home … the perennial powerhouse No. 14-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks, who enter the 64-team postseason tournament ranked No. 21 in RPI, have expressed surprise they must travel to Kansas for a regional at 2,500-seat Hoglund Ballpark rather than play host to three schools at the Razorbacks’ 11,100-seat Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville.
Arkansas (39-20), which is headed to its first road regional since 2022 after hosting in seven of the past nine seasons, will meet unranked Missouri State (34-19 with No. 23 RPI) in the double-elimination tourney at 5 p.m. Friday at a newly-expanded Hoglund (approximately 4,000 seats for regional).
No. 13-ranked KU (42-16 with No. 19 RPI) will meet unranked Northeastern (38-20) at noon Friday on the Jayhawks’ home field.
It’s opposite of a year ago: KU went 0-2 in a regional on Arkansas’ campus in Fayetteville.
The Razorbacks, who placed in a tie for sixth in the regular season in the SEC with a 17-13 record and went 3-1 at last weekend’s postseason league tourney, are surprised No. 17-ranked Mississippi State (No. 13, RPI, eight slots ahead of Arkansas) was granted a hosting assignment in Starkville despite the fact the Razorbacks went 2-1 against MSU this season.
Also, Arkansas finished a game ahead of Mississippi State (40-17) in the conference regular-season standings.
Arkansas is 10th in strength of schedule; Mississippi State seventh and KU, which was awarded the 15th of 16 host sites, 60th in SOS.
Big 12 regular season and postseason tourney champ KU’s 15th seed surprised some in Lawrence who frankly expected the Jayhawks’ seed to be closer to its national ranking of 13 and RPI of 19.
“When they posted the 16 sites (on Sunday after loss to Georgia in SEC final) we were a little taken aback. We thought we’re going to get one (regional in Fayetteville). We had heard after we won the first two (over Tennessee and Texas in SEC tourney) we were in good shape, but we felt like we needed to win that third one to make sure,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn told reporters Monday after the 64-team bracket was announced.
Arkansas did win its SEC tourney semifinal vs. Auburn before falling in the title game to Georgia. Mississippi State went 1-1 at the conference tourney.
“It makes you wonder about the (SEC) tournament a little bit. What’s it all about? Maybe we’ll rethink it in the future on how we handle it and how we pitch it, how we play it, but I did enjoy the tournament and enjoyed being around our guys all that time, and felt like we got better,” Van Horn added.
The Razorbacks went 18-13 against Quad 1 opponents. Only Georgia Tech, who KU could meet in a super regional if seeds hold, had more Quad 1 victories this season, and Mississippi State went 9-14 in the category.
Some say it’s apparent the baseball tourney committee leaned heavily on RPI. The Razorbacks ranked 21st in the metric with five losses to Quad 3 and Quad 4 opponents. Nebraska was No. 10, Mississippi State 13, Kansas 19 and West Virginia was 17 in RPI. Those were the bottom four seeds to land home regionals. No team below 19th in the RPI was selected to host a regional for the second consecutive season.
“I had somebody on the national media that’s big into baseball, used one word, and I’m not going to use it, but I’ll just say it was ‘easy.’ That’s a nicer word,” Van Horn said. “It’s easy. Just go by the RPI and let’s move on to the next day, I guess,” he added.
Committee chair Michael Alford was asked about Arkansas’ situation on a conference call with media Monday.
“Arkansas had a great season,” Alford said. “There’s no doubt they had a great run to the SEC tournament. But when we evaluated, put everything next to each other, Mississippi State had a very strong conference schedule, grade ‘A’ RPI and you look at all the metrics they had.
“I know some people compared Arkansas to Mississippi State, even though they were just one of the teams that were there at the end,” added Alford, Florida State’s athletic director. “You looked at Mississippi State, they had the toughest SEC schedule, and in our RAC (regional advisory committee) rankings, Mississippi State was ranked throughout the year ahead of Arkansas. That came into play when we discussed those two differences.”
Alford indicated the Razorbacks were also compared to Kansas and West Virginia, seeded 15 and 16.
“We rewarded championships,” Alford said. “Kansas won the Big 12 regular season and went on to win the conference championship. You look at West Virginia, finished second in the Big 12 and had a 17 RPI and had a similar run to the championship game, plus took three out of four against Kansas during the year.
“So I wouldn’t say it was anything Arkansas did. They had a great season. It’s just when we put all the metrics up on the board, we just felt those teams came out a little stronger.”
Unranked Missouri State, meanwhile, which finished third in the Conference USA regular-season standings and lost in the semis of the conference tourney, enters rated No. 23 in RPI.
“It’s frustrating, but at the same time, a month ago we were fighting to get into the regional,” Van Horn said. “I guess someone had said that we were too far back when we started the (SEC) tournament. I don’t believe that. The only thing that wasn’t great was our RPI and it’s 21, and a team (MSU) that got in ahead of us, it ended up being pretty far up there.
“We had better everything than (Mississippi State), except their RPI, beat them head to head, doubled them up in Quad 1 wins,” Van Horn continued at his media conference.
Committee chair Alford stressed Monday KU was rewarded for winning the regular season and postseason Big 12 crowns. The Jayhawks, meanwhile, weren’t necessarily thrilled with being the 15th of 16 host sites. Some analysts figured the Jayhawks might land the 13th overall seed.
“You watch the seeding here (on ESPN Selection Show), and I’m going, ‘What is that message? Are they telling us we had to win the dang thing (Big 12 tourney) to be a host?’” KU athletic director Travis Goff said. “So I just pose the question because I don’t know if that’s what I’m supposed to take away from that, because we shouldn’t have had to win the thing to be a host.
“I thought one win would pretty well seal it. I knew two would (guarantee a host site for KU). We’d already done enough, certainly winning two games down there (in Surprise, Arizona) but the guys didn’t leave any question, didn’t let it be complex or controversial,” Goff added.
KU coach Dan Fitzgerald, also a bit surprised KU dropped to the 15 seed, joked that it’s “an unbelievable first-world problem to be worried about what seed you are in the NCAA Tournament as a host site. When you look at the field and you look at all 16, it’s a really, really deep field.”
This postseason marks the first time KU has been awarded a four-team NCAA regional. Arkansas coach Van Horn said he’s followed the Jayhawks’ fortunes in 2025-26.
“Just seeing what they did every weekend, they seemed to win series, that’s what they did,” Van Horn said. “And the only one they really struggled in was (when) West Virginia went to Lawrence and swept them. That’s baseball. It’s what happens. Good teams come in, you have a bad weekend, and you know your season’s usually not judged on that, but yes, they’ve had a super year, and I’ve kept up with them because they’re a Midwest school. Congratulations to them.”
