The college baseball season is officially set to start on February 19, 2021. While schedule modifications have become the norm in collegiate athletics due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many schools have begun to release schedules for the upcoming season.
Even as some schools are releasing their 2021 schedules, many conferences are dialing back their plans for the 2021 season. The Big Ten's cancelling of non-conference games is the most dramatic change that has been reported. Some reports suggest that the Big Ten might backtrack and allow some non-conference games, but nothing has been finalized either direction. It may be more difficult for the Big Ten to earn at-large NCAA Tournament bids without non-conference play.
Other conferences, like the SEC and Sun Belt, are pushing full-steam ahead with normal schedules. Likewise, it was decided this week that the Big 12 will move forward with a normal schedule. Many conferences are expected to make final decisions in the next week, and as conferences make their decisions, we are slowly getting clarity around what Opening Day will look like.
This week, we also discovered that many college baseball tournaments will proceed as planned. All six participants have confirmed for the State Farm College Baseball Showdown at the Texas Rangers' brand new Globe Life Field. Each of the six participating teams are ranked in the top 12 of College Baseball Nation's Preseason Top 50. The Shriners College Classic, Frisco Classic, and Round Rock Classic will also all take place in 2021.
Opening Day includes these officially scheduled series:
Top 50 Teams
San Francisco at #2 UCLA
Wright State at #4 Vanderbilt
Bellarmine at #7 Louisville
Ball State at #11 Arizona
LSU Tournament: #13 LSU, Air Force, Notre Dame, Louisiana Tech
North Florida at #14 Florida State
Eastern Kentucky at #15 Georgia Tech
Rhode Island at #16 ECU
Santa Clara at #17 UCSB
Northeastern at #19 Wake Forest
Evansville at #20 Georgia
Sacramento State at #21 Arizona State
VMI at #23 NC State
#24 Long Beach State-off
Florida Atlantic at #25 UCF
#26 Pepperdine at California Baptist
#27 Oklahoma State at Sam Houston State
Northwestern State at #28 Southern Miss
Louisiana at #29 Tulane
Presbyterian at #30 Auburn
Cincinnati at #31 Clemson
#32 Tennessee at Georgia Southern
Austin Peay at #34 Dallas Baptist
Xavier at #35 Texas A&M
#36 Oklahoma at Texas A&M Corpus Christi
McNeese State at #38 Alabama
Dayton at #40 South Carolina
#41 Indiana-off
#42 Boston College at Charleston Southern
Jacksonville State at #43 Baylor (cancelled due to weather)
BYU at #44 Texas State
Florida A&M at #47 Stetson
#48 Michigan-off
Georgia State at #49 West Virginia
Non-Top 50 Teams
Nevada at Cal Poly
James Madison at North Carolina
Liberty and Campbell
Youngstown State at Troy
VCU at UNCW
Little Rock at Rice
Washington at UC Irvine
Oral Roberts at Incarnate Word
Oakland and Middle Tennessee
Kent State at Virginia Tech
Utah at UT-San Antonio
Missouri at Grand Canyon
New Mexico State at UNLV
Washington State at UC Davis
Bryant at High Point
USC at Loyola Marymount
Pacific at California
Western Illinois at Central Arkansas
Miami (OH) at Jacksonville University
Texas Southern at Houston
Northern Illinois at Memphis
Florida Gulf Coast at South Florida
Mount St. Mary's at Davidson
Saint Louis at Kennesaw State
Murray State at Lipscomb
North Alabama at Mercer
South Dakota State at Kansas
Toledo at USC Upstate
Appalachian State at Winthrop
Wofford at Gardner-Webb
Ohio at Radford
Longwood at The Citadel
North Carolina A&T at College of Charleston
Elon at UNC Greensboro
Towson at Western Carolina
Norfolk State at Old Dominion
Morehead State at Charlotte
North Dakota State at Western Kentucky
Valparaiso at UAB
Omaha at Oregon
UIC at FIU
Northern Kentucky at East Tennessee State
Milwaukee at Southeast Missouri State
Army at NC Central
Southern Illinois at Tennessee Tech
Missouri State at Arkansas State
SIU Edwardsville at UL Monroe
Illinois State at Belmont
Tennessee-Martin at Samford
Eastern Illinois at Nicholls
Lamar at UTRGV
Mississippi Valley State at Southeastern Louisiana
Central Michigan at Stephen F. Austin
Alabama State at New Orleans
Andre Dawson Classic: Alabama A&M, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Alcorn State, Prairie View, Grambling, Alabama State, Jackson State, New Orleans
Seattle at Portland
Utah Valley at Saint Mary's
Fresno State at UC Irvine (cancelled due to COVID issues at Fresno State)
Kentucky at North Carolina (cancelled due to COVID issues at Kentucky)
Abilene Christian at Tarleton State (cancelled due to weather)
Northern Colorado at Wichita State (cancelled)
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