MLB teams are reporting to Spring Training in Florida and Arizona this week to begin preparations for the season to come. But this weekend, it’ll be college baseball taking center stage in the Cactus League, as eight programs from around the country descend on the Grand Canyon State for the seventh anual MLB Desert Invitational.
What is the MLB Desert Invitational?
While multi-team events are a staple of the early college basketball calendar, college baseball has been lagging a bit behind in that department. MLB sought to change that a few years ago, so they decided to hold an event in which several top programs got to duke it out at Spring Training facilities around greater Phoenix.
It’s not a tournament, and there’s no bracket. But it is a chance for eight teams to notch early statement wins and begin building their resumes with an eye toward the NCAA Tournament later in the spring. Here’s who will be taking part in this year’s event:
- Air Force
- Grand Canyon
- Iowa
- Kansas State
- Nebraska
- Northeastern
- Penn State
- UConn
Full 2026 MLB Desert Invitational schedule
Each team will play either three or four games over the course of the weekend, beginning on the afternoon of Friday, Feb. 13. While Grand Canyon will play one game at their own ballpark on campus, the rest will be split among MLB facilities: Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear (home of the Cleveland Guardians and Cincinnati Reds), Salt River Fields (home of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies) and Scottsdale Stadium (home of the San Francisco Giants) in Scottsdale and Sloan Park in Mesa (home of the Chicago Cubs).
Here’s the full schedule for the weekend.
Friday, February 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, February 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, February 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, February 16
- 3 p.m. ET: Kansas State vs. Air Force (Sloan Park)
- 3 p.m. ET: Stanford vs. Nebraska (Salt River Fields)
How to watch the 2026 MLB Desert Invitational
- Dates: Friday, Feb. 13-Monday, Feb. 16
- Channel: MLB Network (select games)
- Streaming: MLB.com
Select games at this year’s MLB Desert Invitational will be televised on MLB Network: UConn vs. Nebraska on Friday night, Penn State vs. Grand Canyon on Saturday afternoon and Iowa vs. Air Force on Saturday night. The rest will be streamed for free on MLB.com, with no subscription or log-in information required. Just hours and hours of baseball to help while away the hours until Opening Day.
The best MLB Draft prospects to watch at the 2026 Desert Invitational
Unlike in years past, there aren’t any can’t-miss, top-10 prospects participating in the Desert Invitational. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of talent that will hear their names called very early in the 2026 MLB Draft.
The best player in the field might be Northeastern outfielder Harrison Feinberg, who earned Preseason All-American honors and wound up on the Golden Spikes watch list after posting a blistering 1.170 OPS last season for the Huskies. Northeastern made it all the way to the Tallahassee Regional in last year’s NCAA Tournament before bowing out in a heartbreaker to Mississippi State.
Speaking of outfielders, UConn’s Tyler Minick could well play himself into the first couple of rounds of this summer’s draft, as could righties Garrett Ahern (Grand Canyon) and Ty Horn (Nebraska). And because seemingly no baseball game would be complete without at least one two-way star, we’ve got some of those too in Donte Lewis (Kansas State) and Tyler Guerin (Iowa) — both of whom will both hit and pitch over the weekend.
