NCAA Committee Explains Why Arkansas Was Left Out of Hosting Line

Arkansas knows where it’s going in the 2026 NCAA Baseball Tournament, even if it believes it shouldn’t be going anywhere.

The short trip north to Lawrence, Kansas won’t alleviate that disappointment, either. But the Razorbacks are the No. 2 seed in the first ever NCAA Regional hosted by Kansas.

Arkansas will face No. 3-seed Missouri State in the second game of the regional Friday night. First pitch is scheduled for approximately 5 p.m. No. 1-seed Kansas will face No. 4-seed Northeastern in the opening game of the regional at noon Friday.

Anybody. Anytime. Anywhere. pic.twitter.com/wFpBjhv8HM

— Arkansas Baseball (@RazorbackBSB) May 25, 2026

During the tournament selection show on ESPN2, NCAA Division I Baseball Selection Committee Chairman Mark Alford was asked specifically about what went into the decision to not give Arkansas a hosting spot.

“Arkansas had a great season, there’s no doubt. Had a great run to the SEC tournament. But when we evaluated and put everything next to each other, Mississippi State had a very strong conference schedule, great RPI, and you look at all the metrics they had.

“And it was more than that. It wasn’t really comparing Arkansas to Mississippi State. You had West Virginia in the fold, and they really did a good job in their conference tournament, finishing second, a very competitive conference. You look at Kansas, we rewarded them. They won the regular season and the conference title.

“So, I wouldn’t say it was not just Arkansas and Mississippi State. There were a bunch of teams in there that when we put up the metrics, that’s how we shaped it out.”

West Virginia may be the school Arkansas fans can point to as the one that shouldn’t be hosting. The Mountaineers are ranked No. 17 in RPI, No. 10 in DSR and, as Alford pointed out, finished second in the Big 12 Tournament.

Arkansas is ranked No. 21 in RPI, No. 14 in DSR and finished second in the SEC Tournament. The Razorbacks also had significantly harder schedule than West Virginia, 18 to 51 in strength of schedule rankings.

Diving deeper into the comparison, Arkansas is 16-12 in Quad 1 games, 5-2 in Quad 2, 8-2 in Quad 3 and 10-3 in Quad 4 games. West Virginia was 8-5 in Quad 1, 9-6 in Quad 2, 14-1 in Quad 3 and 8-2 in Quad 4 games.

The Razorbacks had twice as many Quad 1 wins and one more loss in Quad 3 and 4 than West Virginia had.

The line between hosting a regional and not is thin, but Arkansas should still be hosting a NCAA Regional.

The field of 64 is locked in. 🔒⚾️

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— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) May 25, 2026