OMAHA, Neb. – First-time teams at the Men’s College World Series are caught up in a tornado of activity when they land in Omaha.
There’s the excitement, the nerves, the fans, the well-wishers, the pressure of college baseball’s biggest stage, and of course, the media spotlight that becomes intensely hot once teams get to Nebraska.
But the North Carolina Tar Heels have been here before; in fact, they’re the only team to have returned to Omaha in the last three years, a fact that demonstrates both the strength of UNC’s program as well as the parity at the sport’s highest level. And having a team where at least a plurality of the players have been here before may be an advantage.
The key, according to junior infielder Gavin Gallaher, is to slow things down.
“I remember coming in here in ’24 and I don’t really remember much of it,” Gallaher said of the Tar Heels’ appearance in Omaha two years ago. “It just felt like we landed, had a couple of good practices, and before you know it we were back on the plane back home. Just trying to slow things down and hopefully be here for a couple days longer than we were last time.
Two years ago, North Carolina won its opener against Virginia 3-2 before losing to eventual national champion Tennessee 6-1 and then dropping an elimination game to Florida State 9-5.
“I think just coming here with a mission. Not getting caught up in everything that’s going on,” said Jason Decaro, a junior right hander who threw a complete game shutout in Game 2 of the Chapel Hill Super Regional to even the best-of-three. “Because it’s easy to do that. There’s a lot of extra stuff that you can do. And a lot of that can be distractions. Just staying focused on why we’re here and just keeping the main thing the main thing.”
And while experience matters, sometimes, head coach Scott Forbes said, it doesn’t, citing his first season as the Tar Heels’ pitching coach.
“My first year here in 2006, we hadn’t been in how long, I think ’89? Next thing you know we win three games in a row and we’re playing Oregon State in the finals,” he said with a mild shrug.
Forbes, now in his sixth season at the helm, has brought the Tar Heels here twice, but he concedes that Gallaher is somewhat right.
“I don’t really remember that much as well. I learned a lot from ’24,” Forbes said. “If you want to come out here and you want to have success, my job as head coach is to remind these guys why we’re here. While it’s an honor to be here and it’s hard to get to the College World Series, it’s even harder to win it, and you don’t want to look back and say would have, could have, should have, we didn’t do this, we didn’t do that.”
To do that, Forbes has had his team watch documentaries about Super Bowl-winning teams, including several who lost the first time they reached the big game, only to win when they returned.
“We’re out here on a business trip,” Forbes said he explained to the team. “When you’re going on that business trip and you play well, you get to be on that business trip longer. So that’s our overall goal, for sure.”
Longer means longer than three games. Longer means more than one win. And the longer the Tar Heels are here means they’re closer to the national title that has so far eluded UNC in 12 previous trips to Omaha.
Strong Arms – Last weekend, facing Southern California in the Super Regional, Decaro threw a complete game shutout in Game 2 and Caden Glauber, last year’s ACC Freshman of the Year, allowed three runs on six hits in 7 1/3 innings in Game 3. Even though starter Ryan Lynch (4.22 ERA, 89 2/3 IP, 82K, 33BB) and elite reliever Walker McDuffie (36G, 65 1/3 IP, 3.44 ERA, 82K, 38BB) got touched for four runs each in the 9-5 loss to USC in Game 1, expect them to bounce back.
Big Bats – The Tar Heels aren’t going to beat you with homers every game, but they will beat you with timely hitting. They have seven players with at least 45 RBIs on the year, three of whom have an OPS over 1.000. In a big park like Charles Schwab Field, power to the gaps and corners can be just as valuable as home run power, especially when the wind is blowing in.
Where to Watch – Every game of the 2026 Men’s College World Series will be televised on ESPN, with the exception of Game 2 of the Championship Series. That game, scheduled for Sunday, June 22 at 2:30 p.m. EDT, will be televised on ABC.
2026 Men’s College World Series Schedule
All times Eastern Daylight Time
* – If Necessary
Friday, June 12
2 p.m. – Game 1 – Bracket 1 – West Virginia (45-15) vs. Troy (38-30) – ESPN
7 p.m. – Game 2 – Bracket 1 – North Carolina (50-12-1) vs. Ole Miss (41-21) – ESPN
Saturday, June 13
3 p.m. – Game 3 – Bracket 2 – Oklahoma (38-22) vs. Alabama (42-19) – ESPN
8 p.m. – Game 4 – Bracket 2 – Georgia (51-12) vs. Texas (45-13) – ESPN
Sunday, June 14
3 p.m. – Game 5 – Bracket 1 – Game 1 Losing Team vs. Game 2 Losing Team – ESPN
8 p.m. – Game 6 – Bracket 1 – Game 1 Winning Team vs. Game 2 Winning Team – ESPN
Monday, June 15
2 p.m. – Game 7 – Game 3 Losing Team vs. Game 4 Losing Team – ESPN
7 p.m. – Game 8 – Game 3 Winning Team vs. Game 4 Winning Team – ESPN
Tuesday, June 16
2 p.m. – Game 9 – Bracket 1 – Game 6 Losing Team vs. Game 5 Winning Team – ESPN
7 p.m. – Game 10 – Bracket 2 – Game 8 Losing Team vs. Game 7 Winning Team – ESPN
Wednesday, June 17
2 p.m. – Game 11 – Bracket 1 – Game 6 Winning Team vs. Game 9 Winning Team – ESPN
7 p.m. – Game 12 – Bracket 2 – Game 8 Winning Team vs. Game 10 Winning Team – ESPN
Thursday, June 18
If the Game 9 Winning Team wins Game 11 or the Game 10 Winning Team wins on Wednesday, the teams play again on Thursday to determine which team advances to the Championship Series.
TBD – Bracket 1 Final Game – ESPN*
TBD – Bracket 2 Final Game – ESPN*
Saturday, June 20
TBD – Championship Series Game 1 – ESPN
Sunday, June 21
2:30 p.m. – Championship Series Game 2 – ABC
Monday, June 22
7 p.m. – Championship Series Game 3 – ESPN*
Photo: North Carolina’s Jason DeCaro (29) pitches during an NCAA baseball game on Saturday, March 29, 2025, in Chapel Hill, N.C. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown)
