College Baseball is the Best Sport You’re Not Watching
I’ve always had a huge love for College Sports. I’ve personally found that they can sometimes be even more entertaining than professional sports in some regards. What I loved most, regardless of the sport, is that any team can get upset at any time and have their season ended abruptly by a lesser opponent.
The College World Series exemplifies this more than any other sport. You see teams dominate the competition all year, get praise as “the best team in program history” just to get bounced at their Super Regional and miss out on Omaha. It happened most notably this year with Tennessee. The overall #1 seed of the entire tournament, who went 57-9 during the regular season, just to lose to Notre Dame in a three game series. That’s not a knock on Notre Dame either. While many call it the biggest upset of the tournament, it’s worth noting Notre Dame was ranked 7th in MLB’s preseason rankings. It’s also worth noting Notre Dame had the 12th best earned run average as a team this year. Should Tennessee have won? Totally. But Notre Dame is also a much better team than they’re getting credit for. That’s why they’re appearing in the College World Series for the first time in 20 years.
Texas Finds Themselves in Another College World Series
East Carolina had Texas on the ropes after winning Game 1 of their Super Regional. After finding themselves down 7-4 in the 7th inning of Game 2 facing elimination, Texas rallied back and scored 4 in the top of the 8th. ECU retook the lead later in the inning, and extended their lead on this home run in. At this point things were looking bleak for the Longhorns, until they loaded the bases in the ninth, leading to this walk off from Sophomore Dylan Campbell.
Texas would go on to win Game Three in a dominant 11-1 fashion. They punched their ticket to the College World Series in Omaha for the 38th time.
Emotional Stakes at a High, 24/7
Another reason as to why College Baseball is so underrated is because of the raw emotion we see transpire. I’ve always been a fan of players showing emotion in the major leagues. It’s good for the sport, and it makes professional athletes appear much more human to the regular person watching. It’s becoming more and more apparent in College now as well.
The biggest difference between MLB Playoffs and College Baseball Playoffs are the amount of games in each series. Each college series, regardless of whether it’s an opening round regional or the college world series finale, is a three game series. This makes for much higher stakes when the College World Series rolls around each year. While you see many MLB teams go through the emotions during the middle of the season, college baseball players are living and dying with each at-bat, the entire year, knowing even one loss can affect them. The video of Notre Dame getting the last out and knocking off Tennessee certainly shows that:
Six Tickets Punched, Two Still Up for Grabs
As it stands Monday morning, six teams have already punched their tickets to Omaha. The aforementioned Notre Dame and Texas, along with Oklahoma, who defeated #4 seed Virginia Tech in a dominant Game 2. Ole Miss shut out #11 Southern Mississippi 10-0 in Game 1, and 5-0 in Game 2 to advance as well.
Arkansas and North Carolina saw themselves in a tight series as well. Arkansas knocked off UNC in Game 1 4-1. Game 2 was exciting from start to finish, and North Carolina looked like they were going to win after pulling ahead in the top half of the ninth. But if we’ve learned anything from college baseball, is that it really isn’t over until it’s over:
The final two spots will be decided on Monday. #2 Seed Stanford takes on UConn at 4pm eastern. #3 Seed Oregon State faces #14 Seeded Auburn at 7:30 eastern; both winner take all games.
The Year of the Underdog?
#5 Texas A&M clinched a spot by sweeping Louisville, but none of the other teams who have punched their tickets yet were national seeds. Meaning underdogs will be represented very well in this year’s College World Series Tournament. Sometimes, all it takes is simply making the tournament for a miracle. The most notable run recently came from Coastal Carolina in 2016. Coastal won it all in their first appearance in Omaha as a program.
The College World Series continues until June 27th, and I encourage everyone to give it a watch. There will be plenty of bat flips, emotion, and good baseball to be played as a whole. Here’s a current graphic of who’s punched their ticket, and who’s left to still play.
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