Visitors to both Arizona and Florida for spring training will have some unexpected delights in 2026 college tourneys, with the MLB Desert Invitational held across collegiate and spring-training venues in the Phoenix area and the Andre Dawson Classic in Dodgertown.
MLB is involved in both tourneys, which have been held for the past several years (and, in the case of the MLB Desert Invitational, held under different names and less circumstances). Timed to coincide with reporting dates, they’re good chances to see the talent of tomorrow under some pretty comfortable circumstances. The 2026 college tourneys will feature eight Division I universities and also coincide with the nationwide start of the college baseball season.
Both tournaments will take place in a round-robin format, and all games will stream live on MLB.com, while MLB Network will exclusively air three matchups from the Desert Invitational and two from the Andre Dawson Classic.
The Desert Invitational is set for February 13-16 throughout the greater Phoenix area across five locations: Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, Sloan Park, GCU Ballpark at Grand Canyon University (shown in the above photo), Goodyear Ballpark and Scottsdale Stadium. The participants in the Desert Invitational:
- Air Force Academy (Air Force Academy, CO)
- Grand Canyon University (Phoenix, AZ)
- Kansas State University (Manhattan, KS)
- Northeastern University (Boston, MA)
- Penn State University (State College, PA)
- University of Connecticut (Mansfield, CT)
- University of Iowa (Iowa City, IA)
- University of Nebraska (Lincoln, NE)
You can view the complete schedule here.
In Florida, the Andre Dawson Classic is now in its 18th year and features Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and their baseball programs. Scheduled for February 20-22 at Dodgertown–technically, the Jackie Robinson Training Complex in Vero Beach–the tournament is a good excuse to take in a day game at Holman Stadium in Dodgertown, one of the most historic venues in baseball. True, Dodgertown is a little out of the way (75 miles from Orlando International Airport, 145 miles from Tampa, 81 miles from Palm Beach International Airport) but Mets fans attending games in Clover Park may want to consider a road trip for a game, as Vero Beach is only 26 miles from Port St. Lucie. Here are the schools participating in this year’s Andre Dawson Classic:
- Alabama State University (Montgomery, AL)
- Bethune-Cookman University (Daytona Beach, FL)
- Florida A&M University (Tallahassee, FL)
- Grambling State University (Grambling, LA)
- Jackson State University (Jackson, MS)
- Southern University (Baton Rouge, LA)
- Texas Southern University (Houston, TX)
- Yale University (New Haven, CT)
(No, Yale is not an HBCU school.)
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