College World Series FAQs

COLLEGE WORLD SERIES FAQS — With the Super Regionals behind us, we’re now ready for the pinnacle of college baseball: the College World Series from Omaha, Neb.

From the 64 teams who started this journey, we’re now down to eight. It hasn’t taken much of a memory to track where they come from: the ACC and SEC have dominated the sport. Three ACC squads — Florida State, North Carolina and Virginia — join with Tennessee to form one half of the bracket, while three SEC squads — Florida, Kentucky and Texas A&M — combine with NC State to form the other half.

If you’re new to following college baseball, we’ve got a breakdown of what you need to know about what’s about to happen in Omaha. Check out the answers to these College World Series FAQs.

How Does the Format Work?

The College World Series is a hybrid of the regional and Super Regional rounds. Essentially, the eight teams are divided into two four-team brackets, and each group of four teams will play a double-elimination tournament.

For example, on Day 1, Tennessee will meet Florida State and Virginia will play North Carolina. The two losers will play first on Day 3 in an elimination game, while the two winners will meet to advance to the bracket finals. The surviving team will face the survivor of the elimination bracket, with the team from the loser’s bracket having to win twice to advance.

Related: NCAA Baseball Tournament – College Station Regional

The two surviving teams on each half of the bracket will advance to a best-of-3 series for the College World Series title. Just like in the regionals and Super Regionals, there is no 10-run rule in effect. In the regular season, the game ends if one team leads by 10 runs after seven complete innings. Not so in the College World Series; each game will be nine innings regardless of the score.

Who Is the Favorite?

The easy answer is Tennessee, but that’s a far more complicated question than it seems. The Volunteers are the top overall seed, but the No. 1 seed has not won the College World Series since Miami in 1999.

Related: NCAA Baseball Tournament – Knoxville Regional

Even more surprising, only two No. 1 seeds in the past 25 years have even made it to the championship series. As good as the Volunteers have been, everyone’s going to be gunning for them.

Have Any Teams Won the Title Before?

The SEC is seeking its fifth consecutive CWS championship, and if it happens, it would mark the fifth different SEC school to win the crown in five years. None of the four previous champions will be in Omaha, as the past four titles have gone to Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and LSU.

Related: NCAA Baseball Tournament – Stillwater Regional

Of the four SEC teams to reach the CWS this year, Florida’s the only one that’s won the title in the past 70 years. Tennessee’s only title came in 1951, and Texas A&M and Kentucky have never won the title before. Kentucky, the No. 2 overall seed, is the only newcomer to Omaha of the eight teams.

Related: NCAA Baseball Tournament – Lexington Regional

What about the four ACC teams? Florida State has famously never won the title, despite making its 24th appearance in Omaha. The Seminoles have reached the final game three times, but something always goes wrong for the Garnet and Gold.

Virginia is the only ACC team with a title on its resume, having won the crown in 2015. North Carolina has reached and lost two finals, while NC State’s looking to make up for getting COVID in 2021 and getting bounced from the tournament.

What Can You Expect From Each Matchup?

The way that you manage your pitching staff can win or lose the College World Series. Given the format, there won’t be any instances of teams saving their ace like they did in regionals.

Related: NCAA Baseball Tournament – Charlottesville Regional

There are two reasons for this. First, every team is here for a reason. To get here, you had to win at least five games against some very good competition. There’s little point to saving someone for a stronger opponent, because the talent gap is minimal.

Second, the schedule might give each team’s ace a chance to pitch twice if needed, especially in the top bracket. Because the brackets alternate by day, the top bracket’s first game takes place Friday, with the final game not happening until Wednesday.

Related: NCAA Baseball Tournament – Raleigh Regional

Such a situation happened last year between Wake Forest and LSU, who used aces Rhett Lowder and Paul Skenes in their CWS openers. Five days later in the deciding game, the Demon Deacons and the Tigers both brought their big guns back and produced one of the greatest games in CWS history. Between them, Lowder and Skenes gave up five hits in 15 innings, and LSU finally won 2-0 in 11 innings.

How Should You Bet the College World Series?

Totals can be difficult in CWS games, because the run counts can get pretty ridiculous. Last year, LSU followed up its classic with Wake Forest by losing one of the three championship series games with Florida by a 24-4 count. The Bayou Bengals then won Game 3 18-4, hardly a dramatic game.

Related: NCAA Baseball Tournament – Tallahassee Regional

Most of your bets will be futures and moneylines. For these bets, it’s important to study the pitching staffs each team brings to the table. And that’s what makes Tennessee so dangerous. The Volunteers aren’t just strong in one area; they lead the SEC in ERA and runs scored. The deeper teams get into their pitching staffs, the better things get for Tennessee.

If you’re looking for a dark horse, there’s an intriguing pair from the ACC in Florida State and North Carolina. The Seminoles have the best pitcher left in Jamie Arnold, and they’ll send him out against Tennessee. Florida State has plenty of hitters who can back him up, and if he gets the Seminoles past the Volunteers, the tournament becomes much easier.

Related: NCAA Baseball Tournament – Chapel Hill Regional

North Carolina also offers lots of possibilities. The Tar Heels had the best ERA in the ACC, and they offer a pair of brilliant starters in Shea Sprague and Jason DeCaro. If anyone on that side of the bracket can match Tennessee’s pitching depth, it’s Carolina.

Even Florida, at +1400, could pull a surprise. The Gators won a series with Texas A&M and should have won their series with Kentucky. If the bats are hot, Florida could go from last team in to last team standing.