UCLA, Georgia Tech Enter NCAA Baseball Tournament As Co-Favorites

The road to Omaha gets underway with regional play this weekend, and two major powers are officially co-favorites at the start of the NCAA Baseball Tournament. 

UCLA and Georgia Tech, the top two seeds in this year’s regionals, will open play this weekend as the two market favorites in BetMGM’s College World Series odds. Only two other teams are +1000 or shorter.

UCLA () has been the college baseball odds favorite for months, spending most of the regular season locked in at +550. The Bruins won both the Big Ten regular-season title and the conference tournament championship, losing only six games all year.

Georgia Tech () has the top offense in college baseball and probably the best one seen in several seasons. The team hits .358 and slugs .636, leading Division I with 22 Quad 1 wins. The Yellow Jackets set tons of records this year, including the largest run differential (+153) in ACC history. The previous record was +74. 

It’s rare to see a college baseball season where one or two non-SEC teams lead the market, but that is the case in 2026, at least for now. 

Georgia Tech will have to fend off Oklahoma this weekend as host of the Atlanta regional. If the NCAA baseball regional odds hold, Tech could face Arkansas in next weekend’s Super Regional.

UCLA won’t see an SEC team until the CWS unless Kentucky wins the West Virginia regional as the No. 3 team in Morgantown. 

Texas (+340), Georgia (+340), Auburn (), and Mississippi State (+1400) are all seen as top SEC challengers for this season’s tournament. At BetMGM, Texas is the most popular bet to win the CWS with 8.8% of all tickets.