A bracket of eight teams has been narrowed down to just two, and the College Baseball World Series gets started tonight.
Top national seeds faltered and unseeded underdogs made deep runs on the road to Omaha, leaving the No. 5 seed North Carolina Tar Heels and the unseeded Oklahoma Sooners as the final two teams standing.
The Tar Heels secured their spot in the finals for the first time since 2007 by putting on a clinic in the opening bracket, capped off by a decisive 12-7 victory to knock out regional powerhouse West Virginia.
The Sooners cruised into the championship series by overpowering traditional giants, including a 9-0 victory over Alabama in the opening round and a dominant 11-4 win over No. 3 Georgia to punch their ticket to the finale. Oklahoma last made an appearance in the College World Series in 2022, where they finished second to Ole Miss.
2026 men’s college world series: what to know
- What: Oklahoma Sooners vs. North Carolina Tar Heels, Game 1
- When: June 20, 8 p.m. ET
- Where: Charles Schwab Field (Omaha, Nebraska)
- Channel: ESPN
- Streaming: DIRECTV (try it free)
Because this is a best-of-three series, there will be a Game 2 tomorrow night regardless of tonight’s result.
Oklahoma vs. North Carolina game time
Game 1 of the Men’s College World Series is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET tonight, June 20.
How to watch the College World Series for free
If you don’t have cable, you’ll need a live TV streaming service to stream the game for free.
DIRECTV is our top pick for watching sports live for free — its five-day free trial has ESPN, plus some of the other channels you’ll need for the NHL season, local channels included. When the trial is over, you’ll pay as low as $49.99/month and gain access to over 90 live channels.
If you aren’t ready to commit to a full-on subscription, you can try a Sling Orange Day Pass. Priced at $4.99, you’ll get 24 hours of access to all Sling TV Orange has to offer, including ESPN. Sling also offers weekend and week-long passes for its Orange plan, which offer between three and seven days of access.
College World Series 2026 schedule
The Men’s College World Series finals are a best-of-three series.
- Game 1: June 20, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN)
- Game 2: June 21, 2:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
- Game 3: June 22, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)
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This article was written by Angela Tricarico, Commerce Streaming Reporter for Post Wanted Shopping, Page Six, and Decider.com. Angela keeps readers up to date with cord-cutter-friendly deals, and information on how to watch your favorite sports teams, TV shows, and movies on every streaming service. Not only does Angela test and compare the streaming services she writes about to ensure readers are getting the best prices, but she’s also a superfan specializing in the intersection of shopping, tech, sports, and pop culture. When she’s not writing about (or watching) TV, movies, and sports, she’s also keeping up on the underrated perfume dupes at Bath & Body Works and testing headphones. Prior to joining Decider and The New York Post in 2023, she wrote about streaming and consumer tech at Insider Reviews.
