Break out the sunscreen and prepare for the sweet sounds of spring and summer because college baseball will be played this weekend in Arizona.
The MLB Desert Invitational is back for its seventh iteration in 2026, welcoming eight top-flight programs to the Grand Canyon State to kick off the new season in style.
All games will stream live on MLB.com except Northeastern vs. Grand Canyon on Feb. 13. The three games in bold also will be broadcast on MLB Network over the weekend with Gregg Caserta, Dan O’Dowd and Jesse Borek on the call. Here’s the complete list of matchups.
Friday, Feb. 13:
3 p.m. ET: Iowa vs. Kansas State (Goodyear Ballpark)
8 p.m. ET: UConn vs. Nebraska (Salt River Fields)
8 p.m. ET: Northeastern vs. Grand Canyon (Brazell Field @ GCU Ballpark)
8 p.m. ET: Air Force vs. Penn State (Goodyear Ballpark)
Saturday, Feb. 14:
3 p.m. ET: Penn State vs. Grand Canyon (Salt River Fields)
7 p.m. ET: Kansas State vs. UConn (Scottsdale Stadium)
8 p.m. ET: Iowa vs. Air Force (Salt River Fields)
8:30 p.m. ET: Nebraska vs. Northeastern (Sloan Park)
Sunday, Feb. 15:
2 p.m. ET: Kansas State vs. Penn State (Sloan Park)
3 p.m. ET: Iowa vs. Northeastern (Salt River Fields)
7:30 p.m. ET: Nebraska vs. Grand Canyon (Sloan Park)
8 p.m. ET: Air Force vs. UConn (Salt River Fields)
Monday, Feb. 16:
3 p.m. ET: Kansas State vs. Air Force (Sloan Park)
3 p.m. ET: Stanford vs. Nebraska (Salt River Fields)
The goal of Chuck Fox, MLB’s senior director of baseball and softball development, has long been to establish the biggest opening weekend tournament in college baseball, complete with the best talent. Competition to land a spot has been so stout that when Penn State first hired Mike Gambino as head coach in July 2023, one of his first conversations involved finding a way to get the club to be part of one of the sport’s jewel events.
2026 Draft:
“The coverage from MLB Network is tremendous, not only for our program, [but] just college baseball as a whole,” Nebraska head coach Will Bolt said. “It shows where we're trending in Division 1 baseball and the partnership with Major League Baseball continues to be a great thing to help grow our game.”
“I love the fact that MLB, the world and the country can get a feel for what kind of coaching is being done in the Northeast, in the Big Ten and in the Big East,” Kansas State head coach Pete Hughes added. “It is the gold standard of college baseball when it comes to people, integrity … and the ability to get teams ready.”
While there won't be any members of MLB Pipeline's Top 100 Draft Prospects list participating in the event, there will be a lot of talent on hand. Harrison Feinberg (Northeastern) was named to the Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List on Thursday. Outfielder Tyler Minick (Connecticut) and right-handers Garrett Ahern (Grand Canyon) and Ty Horn (Nebraska) are on trajectories as potential Day 1 selections in the 2026 Draft come July. Preston Yaucher (Penn State) has yet to play a college game but opened a lot of eyes last summer with a dominant performance in the Appalachian League. Two-way players? Got them too. Donte Lewis (Kansas State) and Tyler Guerin (Iowa) are set to both pitch and hit over the course of the weekend.
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Three years ago, Jacob Wilson manned shortstop for Grand Canyon in its season opener on MLB Network. Since then, he was selected sixth overall in the 2023 MLB Draft, named an American League All-Star and signed a seven-year, $70 million extension with the Athletics, putting his program -- which has become a cornerstone of the Desert Invitational -- on the national map.
“It's just been a great experience for us to participate [each of the past three years],” Grand Canyon head coach Gregg Wallis said. “I think it's one of the highlights of our year -- opening at home and the excitement around that, always playing quality opponents and then getting into the big league ballparks -- that kind of helps prepare us.”
As the Desert Invitational continues to attract some of the top programs in the country on a yearly basis, it’s also begun to expand geographically across Arizona. Goodyear Ballpark (spring home to the Reds and Guardians) and Scottsdale Stadium (spring home to the Giants) have been added to the mix in 2026, along with longtime stalwarts Sloan Park (home to the Cubs), Salt River Fields at Talking Stick (home to the D-backs and Rockies) and Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark, giving players a taste of taking to the same diamonds as the pros.
Programs like Iowa and Nebraska are expected to have something of a home-field-esque advantage with a large number of “snowbirds” who either live in or are planning to travel to Arizona’s warmer climate for the weekend. But new to the Desert Invitational in 2026 will be the inclusion of a United States service academy, and entering his 16th season at the helm of the Air Force Academy, Mike Kazlausky is excited about it.
“For us coming out there to be able to play, it's called practice. At the end of the day for our kids, it's a lot more than just the white lines and what happens during the course of a game,” Kazlausky said. “I think I have a different perspective than most regarding playing the game of baseball, just preparing these kids to go fight and serve our country later on in life. That's our ultimate goal.
“So that makes me proud to be at this school. We're going to fight, we're going to compete, and hopefully you guys don't mind, we want to shake hands after every game.”
Fans can purchase tickets to any of the games at brushfire.com/mlbdesertinvitational. Children ages 5 and under will be admitted for free.