How does Men's College World Series work? 2024 CWS format, bracket, teams

The Men's College World Series is here. Eight teams are set to battle for the national championship.

If one team loses its opening round matchup, it's not the end of the world. The college baseball and softball postseason tournaments aren't like others, where one loss means you're eliminated. Instead, the sports use a double-elimination format in the regional and super regional rounds, and it's not different when it comes to the College World Series.

It can be confusing to keep track of, but we're here to help.

Here is how the Men's College World Series works, along with the bracket of teams that will be playing in Omaha, Nebraska:

Men's College World Series format

The eight teams in the College World Series are split into two double-elimination brackets. On each side of the bracket, the winners of the first round games will move on to face each other, while the losers will meet in an elimination game.

The loser of the matchup of first round winners will play the winner of the first elimination game — in another elimination game. The winner of the second elimination game will play the bracket's 2-0 team. The 2-0 team only has to win once to advance to the final while the 2-1 team must win twice to advance to the final.

Men's College World Series bracket

Here is who is on each side of the bracket:

Bracket 1

• Tennessee
• Florida State
• North Carolina
• Virginia

Bracket 2

• Kentucky
• NC State
• Texas A&M
• Florida

Men's College World Series final format

The winners of each side of the bracket will meet in the Men's College World Series final. The final is a best-of-three series played over a three-day span. Whichever team wins two games is the national champion.