For the first time since 2006, the Alabama Crimson Tide, as a No. 16 national seed, will host playoff baseball at Sewell-Thomas Stadium June 2-5. 

Finishing with two impressive wins over Kentucky and Auburn, with an extra-innings loss to top-ranked Florida, the Crimson Tide did well enough to host one of 16 regionals across Division I NCAA baseball. The Crimson Tide will host the No. 2 Boston College Eagles, No. 3 Troy Trojans and No. 4 Nicholls Colonels.  

Host: Alabama Crimson Tide, Southeastern Conference 

The Alabama Crimson Tide will enter the Tuscaloosa regional, making its 26th appearance in the NCAA tournament and first appearance since the 2021 season. With regular season standout series wins over Vanderbilt, Auburn and Texas A&M, along with 16 conference wins and a regular season record of 38-17, the Crimson Tide entered the SEC tournament as a potential host.  

The Crimson Tide has had an up-and-down season to say the least. Alabama started its season with 14 wins in a row, staying undefeated for nearly an entire month. Despite the hot start, the team couldn’t win an SEC series until April’s two wins over Auburn. Less than a month later, the program lost its head coach, Brad Bohannon, when a betting scandal forced interim head coach Jason Jackson to take over.  

“Our guys deserve it, they deserve to have a great crowd, I think our fan base is ready for it,” Jackson said via Twitter video. “We have … one of the best fan bases in the country.” 

No. 2 Seed: Boston College Eagles, Atlantic Coast Conference 

Entering the Tuscaloosa regional, the Eagles are riding a historic season. Finishing with the second-most regular season wins in program history with 34 and a program best 16 ACC wins, the Eagles were nationally ranked a majority of the season. Boston College fell just shy of the ACC tournament semifinals, though, falling to the Clemson Tigers. 

“Alabama is a great baseball state, I know those fans are great fans. Obviously, we are trying to beat ’em,” Boston College head coach Mike Gambino said.  

In a very surprising season, the Eagles will attempt to keep their historic season alive in Tuscaloosa. Boston College is no stranger to coming to SEC hosts’ regionals and winning. In the 2016 season, the Eagles were seeded third in the Oxford regional hosted by Ole Miss; Boston College danced last as it defeated the Tulane Green Wave and Utah Utes advancing to the super regionals.  

No. 3 Seed: Troy Trojans, Sun Belt Conference 

Troy received one of the at-large bids into the NCAA tournament and was one of the last four teams in. Finishing the regular season with 39 wins — the most out of all teams in the Tuscaloosa regional — the Trojans enter the Tuscaloosa regional familiar with Sewell-Thomas Stadium.  

In April, the Trojans lost to the Crimson Tide 10-2 in Tuscaloosa. After not performing well at the Sun Belt Conference tournament, the Trojans did not know their fate heading into selection day. The Trojans, who received the three seed in the regional, can make some noise in Tuscaloosa. 

“We are an NCAA tournament team,” Troy head coach Skylar Meade said after the SBC tournament. “The reality is we have one of the best resumes in the country.”  

No. 4 Seed: Nicholls Colonels, Southland Conference 

As the Southland Conference champions, the Nicholls Colonels received one of the 30 automatic qualifying bids by winning their conference tournament. The Colonels won their conference tournament for the first time since 1998 by defeating New Orleans 6-3.  

Finishing with 30 regular season wins, the Colonels put together a good season for their schedule and conference but struggled on the road, going 11-11 on the season. As the only conference champions in the Tuscaloosa regional, the Colonels have an advantage over the Crimson Tide that the Eagles and Trojans do not have and will be an interesting team to watch.  

Teams from big schools like Alabama and Boston College can get back on the national stage by winning their regional and coming within three games of the College World Series. Teams from small schools like Troy and Nicholls, though, can always crash the party.  

The games are scheduled to begin June 2: Boston College and Troy will play at 2 p.m. CT, and Alabama and Nicholls will play at 6 p.m. CT. The regional, with its double-elimination-style bracket, will end with the champion being crowned June 5.