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Auburn

Auburn earns No. 4 national seed, eyes return trip to Omaha

Justin Hokansonby: Justin Hokanson05/26/25_JHokanson
Auburn Baseball (Photo by Auburn Athletics)
Auburn Baseball (Photo by Auburn Athletics)

AUBURN — Auburn baseball is a Top 8 national seed, as their quest to return to the Men’s College World Series kicks into high gear. The official announcement came on Monday.

The Tigers are the No. 4 national seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

What does that mean?

Butch Thompson and Co. will host a Regional at Plainsman Park this coming weekend. If they advance, Auburn will host a Super Regional the following weekend with the chance to advance to Omaha.

Joining Auburn at Plainsman Park will be 4-seed Central Connecticut, 3-seed Stetson and 2-seed NC State.

The Auburn Regional is paired with the Coastal Carolina Regional (No. 13 overall seed). That regional also includes Fairfield, East Carolina and Florida.

Being the No. 1 seed in a Regional or Super Regional is important. No. 1 regional seeds have accounted for just under 75% of all MCWS participants since the NCAA baseball tournament’s current format was introduced in 1999.

In the last 14 tournaments, 11 national champions were No. 1 regional seeds.

Under Thompson, the Tigers are 3-2 in five regional appearances.

  • In 2017, Auburn fell in the Tallahassee Regional final.
  • In 2018, Auburn won the Raleigh Regional before falling in the Gainesville Super Regional final.
  • Then in 2019, a breakthrough, as Auburn won the Atlanta Regional and then the Chapel Hill Super Regional.
  • Back at it in 2022, Auburn won the Auburn Regional and then the Corvallis Super Regional.
  • But postseason success has slowed since the last trip to Omaha.
  • In 2023, the Tigers went winless in the Auburn Regional to end their season. And in 2024, Auburn missed the postseason entirely.

Auburn’s excellent season by the numbers

Auburn sits at 38-18 overall after finishing with a 17-13 league record.

The Tigers possess the No. 3 RPI and the No. 1 strength of schedule. They won 17 games and seven series in the toughest conference in college baseball. Only three other SEC teams won seven conference series out of 10.

Thompson’s bunch won eight games against the RPI Top 10 and won three series against teams inside the RPI Top 10. Those two stats are tied for the most in the country. And the Tigers’ 15 Quad I wins ranks fourth most nationally.

In addition to the No. 1 overall strength of schedule, Auburn faced league competition that ranked No. 2 in opponent winning percentage. Eight of 10 conference opponents faced finished the season .500 or better in league play — tied for the most in the SEC. Auburn also faced ranked opponents in every SEC road series. That group of road opponents went 85-65 in SEC play.

And among all SEC teams, the Tigers faced the No. 1 out-of-conference strength of schedule. The Tigers beat three different conference champions outside of the SEC, including No. 6 Oregon State.

Auburn was fantastic this season at home, going 12-3 in SEC play. We’ll see if things work out for the Tigers to take advantage of newly renovated Plainsman Park, as head coach Butch Thompson certainly knows how important that advantage could be.

“I’ll ask our fans to absolutely be there for us in full force and help us push it across the finish line together.”

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