Northwest Florida Earns FCSAA Tournament Bid, Set to Face No. 2 Central Florida
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida College System Activities Association unveiled the 2026 Division I Baseball Championship bracket Monday evening, with Northwest Florida securing an at-large bid as the No. 7 seed. The Raiders will face No. 2 seed College of Central Florida in a best-of-three opening-round series in Ocala beginning Friday.
The postseason berth marks the fourth consecutive appearance for Northwest Florida, which is aiming to return to the championship round for the first time since capturing the title in 2024. The Raiders had hosted regional-round matchups each of the past three seasons.
Northwest Florida enters the tournament playing its best baseball of the year, riding a six-game winning streak that includes two victories over top-seeded Gulf Coast State College. The Raiders narrowly missed out on a top-two seed after finishing third in conference play behind Gulf Coast and Chipola College.
Central Florida comes in off a strong campaign, winning the Citrus Conference with a 23-10 league mark and posting a 33-19 overall record. The two programs last met in the 2023 FCSAA Championship Game, where Central Florida claimed a 7-2 victory on its way to a national title run in Grand Junction.
Game one of the series is set for Friday at 12 p.m. (CDT), with game two scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m. An if-necessary game three will be played Sunday, with the time to be determined.
This year's championship round returns to George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa from May 8–11. The tournament champion will advance to the NJCAA World Series in Grand Junction.