Shriners Children's College Classic tickets on sale now

HOUSTON, TX — Tickets for the Shriners Children’s College Classic, which will be held at Minute Maid Park from March 3-5, 2023, are now available for purchase at Astros.com/CollegeClassic. The 23rd annual three-day, six-team, nine-game tournament will feature top programs in Louisville, Michigan, Rice, TCU, Texas A&M and Texas Tech. A full tournament schedule is below.

Of the six participating programs, five played in postseason baseball this year with two advancing to the Super Regionals, including Texas A&M, who played in the 2022 College World Series. In the final 2022 USA Today coaches poll, Texas A&M finished ranking fourth in the country, followed by Louisville at No. 14 and Texas Tech at No. 25. TCU and Michigan fell just outside of the top 25 rankings.

Louisville, a perennial contender under Head Coach Dan McDonnell is making their first appearance in program history at the Shriners Children’s College Classic in 2023. The Cardinals are coming off a 42-21-1 season and a trip to the Super Regionals. They had their season end at the hands of Texas A&M, who they’ll face on the Friday night of the tournament.

Michigan, like Louisville, is making their debut at the Shriners Children’s College Classic in 2023. The Wolverines went 34-28 last season with their season ending in the Regionals to Louisville. Their appearance at the College Classic will be the first by a Big Ten team at the tournament since Nebraska played at Minute Maid Park in 2015.

Rice, which owns a tournament-record 30 all-time wins, will be making their 18th appearance in the Shriners Children’s College Classic field. Rice will be making their first appearance at the Classic under Head Coach José Cruz Jr., the son of Astros all-time great José Cruz. The 2023 season will be Cruz’s second at the helm of the Owls.

TCU is making its 10th trip to Minute Maid Park and currently owns the best all-time record in tournament history with a 17-10 mark (min. three appearances). This will be the Horned Frogs first appearance at the College Classic under Head Coach Kirk Saarloos, who was named TCU’s head coach in June of 2021. Saarloos, a former Astros pitcher, led the Frogs to a Big 12 Championship last season, a 38-22 overall record and an appearance in the Regionals.

Texas A&M will be returning to the Shriners Children’s College Classic for the 10th time in their program history and their first time since 2019, when they won the tournament with a 3-0 record. The Aggies will return under Head Coach Jim Schlossnagle, who has coached at the College Classic in seven different seasons, all previously coming while coaching at TCU. Texas A&M is coming off a season in which they went 44-20, advancing all the way to the College World Series.

Texas Tech is returning to the Shriners Children’s College Classic for the 12th time in tournament history. The Red Raiders are led by Head Coach Tim Tadlock, who has taken his team to four College World Series in the last nine years and claimed three of the last six Big 12 Championships. Tech went 39-22 in their 2022 season, which ended in the Regionals.

Overall, the Shriners Children’s College Classic has hosted over 33 programs in its 22-year history and has seen a multitude of future Major Leaguers participate, including All-Stars Alex Bregman (LSU in 2015), Max Muncy (Baylor in 2011), Gerrit Cole (UCLA in 2009), David Price (Vanderbilt in 2007), Matt Carpenter (TCU in 2006) and Anthony Rendon (Rice from 2009-11). The tournament typically attracts close to 100 professional scouts from all 30 Major League teams.

The 2023 tournament marks the eighth year for it to carry the name Shriners Children’s College Classic, which has been set forth by a multi-year naming rights agreement between the Astros Foundation and Shriners Children’s®. The Astros Foundation operates the tournament and will donate a portion of each ticket sale directly to Shriners Children’s as well as provide other fundraising and awareness opportunities.

2023 Shriners Children’s College Classic Schedule *

Friday, March 3
Rice vs. TCU, 11 a.m.
Michigan vs. Texas Tech, 3 p.m.
Louisville vs. Texas A&M, 7 p.m.

Saturday, March 4
TCU vs. Michigan, 11 a.m.
Rice vs. Louisville, 3 p.m.
Texas A&M vs. Texas Tech, 7 p.m.

Sunday, March 5
Louisville vs. TCU, 11 a.m.
Michigan vs. Texas A&M, 3 p.m.
Texas Tech vs. Rice, 7 p.m.

(home teams listed second)

* - times subject to change