Money matters in college baseball, but finances alone won’t deliver a championship roster
Money matters in college baseball, but finances alone won’t deliver a championship roster
Oklahoma does not rank among the biggest spenders in the SEC, yet the Sooners just won the national title. Dylan Widger / Imagn Images
By Mitch ShermanJune 24, 2026 Updated 11:46 am EDTOMAHA, Neb. — Multimillion-dollar rosters in college baseball are here. The day is on track when 34 players will command $5 million to $10 million for teams with national championship expectations.
Never has money mattered more in the quest to compete with the big boys.
And still, never in the NIL era has it been clearer that money alone will not deliver a title.
These concepts exist in a type of harmony that illustrates the delicate balance between spending and maintaining chemistry. One year into the altered reality of roster construction, no other NCAA sport has been dealt a trickier pitch to hit.
Conversations this month around the College World Series among coaches, administrators and influential figures in the sport focused on a new world order that has shocked the system in college baseball.
A message that resonated: This isn’t about adaptability. It’s about reinvention.
The House v. NCAA settlement last year allowed for an increase in scholarships allocated to baseball programs from 11.7 to 34. And it capped rosters at 34 players. (A small number of grandfathered athletes designated by their schools do not count against the limit.)
Amid a changed ecosystem, programs that stayed true to established philosophies largely stood the best chance to win.
Changes be damned, Oklahoma coach Skip Johnson said. He’s still looking for character and suitability in assembling a roster.
“Some guys are not the right fit,” Johnson said.
The Sooners withstood a losing SEC regular season to eliminate their conference champion, Georgia, in the CWS, then toppled North Carolina to win the national championship Monday night.
An unlikely champ, for sure. But in 2026, often, what’s up is down.
When new players arrived at Oklahoma last fall, Johnson required that they send him daily photos of their made beds.
“We’re just trying to get those guys to be attentive and detailed,” he said.
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Oklahoma is part of the conference that invests most heavily in baseball talent. But the Sooners do not rank among the SEC’s biggest spenders. In fact, their 2026 roster included a CWS-high 13 junior college transfers, which are cheaper to obtain than transfer portal additions.
Many schools expanded their scholarship count this year. Others will fully fund baseball in 2026-27. Meanwhile, rosters are shrinking. And the programs that are committed to winning have ample resources — in the form of revenue sharing and third-party NIL — at their disposal.
Rev share and NIL payments drive decisions more than fully paid scholarships.
It all makes for a volatile mix.
Recent results offer a stack of evidence. LSU, which won national titles in 2023 and 2025, missed the postseason altogether this spring for the first time since 2011.
Coach Jay Johnson, after an April loss, said he “made some mistakes in constructing the team.”
He leaned too heavily on the portal over development, Johnson said. As a result, he said, LSU lost the ability to compete properly at the plate.
The Tigers were not alone in miscalculating. Four teams that qualified for the CWS in 2025 failed to make the 64-team NCAA tournament field in 2026. For the second consecutive year, there were no repeat CWS visitors. None from 2025 made it even to the Super Regionals in 2026.
Before last season, every CWS since 1958 featured a returning team from the previous year.
Vanderbilt missed the postseason for the first time since 2005. South Carolina and Clemson fell short in the same season for the first time since 1975.
For the third consecutive year, Texas Tech missed the postseason. Before 2024, it qualified in seven consecutive years and advanced to the CWS four times under coach Tim Tadlock.
Tadlock said after his team was swept at home by Oklahoma State two months ago that he had failed to adjust to changes in the sport. It’s not in his nature to ask for money, he said.
“I thought we could win with 11.7 (scholarships),” Tadlock said. “I think I can go find a guy in Post, Texas, and beat anybody.”
Here's Tim Tadlock's answers to @AJ_DonWilliams question from Sunday about if he has the resources to get the guys they feel they should get.
Check out Don's story below.⬇️ https://t.co/OdL7uvmkuf pic.twitter.com/m239j6yzed
— A David Collier (@CollieronTV) April 28, 2026
From Omaha, lessons emerged.
West Virginia coach Steve Sabins, who had four Division II transfers on his roster, said he didn’t worry about the look of his team on paper.
“There are certain people that choose culture,” Sabins said, “and there are certain people that are motivated by money.”
The largest budget does not guarantee success.
“We see it all the time in professional sports,” Sabins said. “The Rays beat the Yankees. Of course, everybody wants resources. And that’s important. But team and culture are probably more important than ever.
“Because with NIL, it can become more of a selfish game. Sometimes there is a unity built with teams that are fighting for something that’s maybe a little bit different.”
Troy coach Skylar Meade, 41, in his first CWS appearance, pointed to Jim Schlossnagle of Texas and Mike Bianco of Ole Miss. The veteran duo has made a combined 11 trips to the CWS.
“I bet what’s made them incredibly successful,” Meade said, “and what I hope to do in my career is to always stay true to what I really am.”
Within reason, Skip Johnson strived to coach Oklahoma this month like he was back at Navarro College, the junior college in Texas at which Johnson got his start as a head coach in 1994.
After each of four Oklahoma victories to reach a winner-take-all title game Monday night, Johnson delivered a similar message. He simply wanted to stay out of the Sooners’ way.
Players lead the way.
“If guys can’t handle it, then they were never going to be winners for us,” Meade said of playing at Troy. “And that is the cold, hard truth of how things work in this day and age.”
College baseball is a more unstable place than ever. Why add complexity?
“Teams have two choices,” Oklahoma pitcher LJ Mercurius said. “It’s either you can split apart when things aren’t going well or you can come together.”
The Sooners came together. It’s still a team game. Some things don’t have to change.
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