The 2023 Shriner Children's College Classic is a six-team, three-day college baseball tournament taking place March 3-5 at Minute Maid Field in Houston, Texas. In its 23rd iteration, the tournament has always been played at the home of the MLB's Houston Astros, and with a healthy number of Texas-based schools on the schedule, expect fan turnout to be healthy.
There are four teams from the Lone Star State in the field — No. 10 TCU, No. 15 Texas A&M, No. 24 Texas Tech and Rice — who are joined by No. 14 Louisville and Michigan in the competition. The hometown Owls are tied for the most appearances in tournament history with crosstown rivals Houston (18).
TCU enters as the highest-ranked ball club but is looking to steady the ship after losing a three-game series at home to No. 16 Florida State. The Frogs' last outing was a midweek extra-innings road win over Dallas Baptist.
Louisville's seven wins in eight games have been against mostly uninspiring competition, so their opener against Texas A&M will be the first test of the season for the Cardinals who have hopes of competing for an ACC championship this year.
Texas A&M has had a topsy-turvy beginning of the season, winning three straight to get things started before losing three in a row at home against Lamar and Portland (twice). Perhaps a 23-0 dismantling of HCU in midweek is a return to form for the Aggies before clashing with Louisville on Friday.
Texas Tech comes into the Shriner Classic flying as winners of 10 straight games to start 2023. The Red Raiders are the only team in the field with an undefeated record (spoiled in the first game of the tournament at the hands of Rice).
2023 Shriner Children's College Classic schedule, how to watch
Every game will be streamed for free on both mlb.com/astros and the Astros' YouTube channel.
