With the 2026 bracket now revealed, Jacob Rudner highlights six NCAA Tournament hosts who could be in for an early exit.
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Nebraska Cornhuskers
- Regional Opponents: Ole Miss, Arizona State, South Dakota State
This is another situation that has less to do with the host itself and more to do with the teams it drew. Entering Selection Monday, there were very few hosts I thought could avoid this list if they landed either Arizona State or Ole Miss. Nebraska got both.
Ole Miss and Arizona State are two of the hardest-hitting teams in the country by average exit velocity. Both launch home runs in bunches and both lineups revolve around star-level bats:
Landon Hairston, a legitimate Player of the Year contender for Arizona State, and
Judd Utermark alongside
Tristan Bissetta for Ole Miss. Both clubs also miss bats on the mound better than all but a handful of staffs nationally.
Historically, teams built around power stuff and over-the-wall offense are the types most capable of generating postseason chaos. Nebraska just happened to draw two of them in the same regional.
Note from me: Ole Miss's RPI is 16 (one below Oregon). ASU's RPI is 44.