By R.L. Bynum

North Carolina is a consensus pick of the D1 Baseball staff to make the College World Series next season in its “2026 (Way Too Early) Eight for Omaha,” released on Monday.

Ten writers picked the eight teams they expected to make it to Omaha in 2026, and seven included the Tar Heels.

That was the fourth-most votes after UCLA (10), reigning NCAA champion LSU (8) and Texas (8). Other programs finishing in the top eight were 2024 NCAA champion Tennessee (6), TCU (5), Auburn (4) and Alabama (3).

Three ACC teams received two votes each (Clemson, Georgia Tech and Virginia), and three others received one vote each (Florida State, Miami and N.C. State).

UNC, which finished 46–15 and won the ACC title, made the College World Series in 2024 but, like every other program that got there, couldn’t advance back to Omaha in 2025.

The last time Carolina made two College World Series appearances in a three-year stretch was in 2011 and 2013.

Of the programs that made the CWS in 2025, UCLA and LSU were the only consensus picks to advance again in 2026.

UNC has secured six commitments so far from the transfer portal, which closes Tuesday.

UNC transfer commitments

Player	Pos.	Class (next season)	Career statistics	Former school
Macon Winslow	C	Junior	.267, 13 HRs, 65 RBI	Duke
Trace Baker	RHP	Senior	5–1, 2.24 ERA 5 saves	UNCW
Jake Schaffner	SS	Junior	.353, 37 RBI 34 steals	North Dakota State
Colin Hynek	C	Senior	.228, 33 HRs, 91 RBI	Georgia State
Michael Maginnis	OF	Senior	.295, 26 HRs, 111 RBI, 40 SBs	Georgia State
Erik Paulsen	1B	Junior	.330, 13 HRs, 68 RBI, 8 SBs	Stony Brook