And then there were 16 … and soon there will be eight!
Welcome to the NCAA men's baseball tournament's super regionals, aka the final, steepest climb of the season-long best-of-three championship on the road to Omaha. From here, you can practically smell the steaks and taste the Zesto soft serve ice cream. But first, there's a lot of work for the baseball players and a lot of baseball for the rest of us to watch.
What exactly should you be watching for? That's a thought we've been pondering since Monday night when the final Regionals were scribbled into the score sheets. So grab your lucky stuffed animal, smear on some Eye Black, and read on, because we present to you our NCAA Hardball What2Watch4 Super Regionals Edition.
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Game of Southern Thrones | Defender of …
Omaha? | Top draft picks everywhere | It's so awesome
1. Game of Southern Thrones, people
This super regional has a Southern accent thicker than Marty Smith. Four SEC teams are visiting — Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia and Texas A&M — and a fifth team, Florida, is on the road at Clemson. Speaking of the Tigers, they are one of four ACC teams also visiting — along with Florida State, Virginia and North Carolina — and a fifth team, NC State, is on the road at Georgia. So if we're doing our best Doctor Strange impersonation, we can definitely envision a scenario where only two conferences are represented in Omaha and the split is evenly four-four. The record for most teams from one conference is four, achieved by the SEC four times and the ACC once. Should we end up with four from each conference, someone please pack some extra barbecue sauce on the way to Nebraska.
2. Defender of the West Coast
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Back then, it wasn't unusual for a region to fill the Omaha bracket, but it was far west of the Mississippi, led by the Grand Canyon State with Arizona and Arizona State, and there were far too many California schools to list. But in recent years, the rise of the South has blocked access for Pacific programs. At the MCWS Baseball Village next to the ballpark, there is a giant map of the United States showing every school in the MCWS and its distance from Omaha. For the past three seasons, that very uneven map has shown only one team in the West, Stanford.
This year, West Coast time zone honor will be defended by archrivals Oregon and Oregon State, who must face No. 4 Texas A&M and No. 2 Kentucky on the road. This is also the Pac-12's last chance to win its record-breaking 30th MCWS title before the conference goes the way of the college wood bats.
3. Defender of all other places
College baseball has always been dominated by the Sunbelt, from Florida to California, where the weather is warm and baseball is played year-round. That's why the Big Ten hasn't won an MCWS title since 1966. And that's why what UConn has done in recent years is so amazing. The Huskies, who like most Northeastern teams spend the entire first month of their season on the road to avoid the snow, are making their 10th NCAA Tournament appearance since 2010, their third Super Regional since 2011 and their second in three years. They haven't been to Omaha since their fifth trip in 1979. If they can beat Florida State in Tallahassee, they will be the first Big East team in the MCWS since Louisville in 2013, just days before they left for the U.S.
4. Omaha? Where is that?
The Evansville Purple Aces reach the postseason for the first time in nearly two decades. AP Photo/Ben McKeown
Since the MCWS debuted in 1947, a whopping 116 schools have made it to college baseball's big show, so seeing a team make its debut in Omaha is now as likely as seeing Bigfoot play the piano. But this year's Super Regional field features four teams looking to be the first of their schools to reach the final eight. West Virginia is making its 15th NCAA Tournament appearance and fourth in the last seven postseasons, but this is the Mountaineers' first Super Regional. The Evansville Purple Aces are making their first postseason appearance in nearly two decades and had never advanced past the first weekend until they shocked 16th-seeded East Carolina in the Greenville Regional. Their reward? A trip to top-seeded Tennessee. The team ranked just behind the Vols, Kentucky, is the last SEC school that has never been to Omaha. Meanwhile, Kansas State, a team that only made its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2009 but has been there five times since then, is also seeking its first MCWS berth.
5. Omaha? We've been there before, but it was a while ago
The Oregon Ducks have been to Omaha before. Once. In 1954. And they lost 2-0. Clemson has been there a dozen times, but not since 2010. Georgia's last trip was in 2008, when they led 4-0 by a game in the second game of the title series, but ended up losing the title to the Fresno State Wonderdogs.
6. Omaha? We have a score to settle in Omaha!
The teams to watch this weekend, yearning for a return to Omaha to do a Ray Kinsella and ease their pain, are led by Florida State, who makes its first trip to the MCWS without the legendary Mike Martin, who has either played or coached in every single one of FSU's previous 23 appearances. Unfortunately, the team has also lost 0 of 23 attempts in its attempts to win the title.
There's a lot of pain to deal with in these Supers. Clemson is 0-12 in Omaha, Tennessee is 0-6 and North Carolina is 0-11 after losing both Finals appearances to Oregon State in 2007. It's safe to assume that many people at Carolina Blue have already figured out that there is a path that could lead to a rematch against the Beavers in this year's Finals.
7. The Return of Jactani
Jac Caglianone is expected to be selected No. 4 in the MLB Draft. Wesley Hitt/Getty Images
A year ago, the college baseball world was excited about Florida's Jac Caglianone, aka Jactani, like Shohei Ohtani, because like the Los Angeles Dodgers, this Gator is a two-way player. As a first baseman, he's batting .410 with 31 home runs and 63 RBIs. A left-handed hitter, he's 5-2 with 76 strikeouts, which is his team's best win-loss record and ranks second among the Ks. But don't take our college word for it. Our friends at the ESPN MLB site expect the 6-foot-5, 250-pound player to go as high as fourth in next month's MLB Draft.
8. Wait a minute… Caglianone is only fourth?
Yes. And two of the three players above him will also be in action this weekend. Beavers second bagger Travis Bazzana is on ESPN's list of young prospects (third), as are Texas A&M's Braden Montgomery (sixth), West Virginia's JJ Wetherholt (seventh) and Florida State's James “They Call Me Mister” Tibbs (ninth). Also keep an eye on fellow Seminole Cameron Smith (18th), Tennessee's Christian Moore (16th) and Billy Amick (26th), Kentucky's Ryan Waldschmidt (24th) and Kansas State's infielder Kaelen Culpepper.
9. Wait a minute…so who is in first place?
That would be Georgia third baseman Charlie Condon, who spent the 2024 season putting up numbers like a video gamer with the difficulty settings turned off. He has a .445 batting average with 36 home runs and 98 hits (all tops in the nation). He also has 77 RBIs despite being walked 55 times and has only 39 strikeouts in 220 at-bats. The 6-6, 215-pound right-hander has yet to miss a game this season and reaches base 56.6% of the time he steps up to the plate. I'm not good at math, but that all sounds pretty good to me. It also sounds pretty good to MLB scouts, who are very good at math.
10. A good time? No, the best time
Omaha is the destination. It's the fortress. The pinnacle. No one argues against that. But Supers weekend is also college baseball's last chance to get a little exposure before the national sports audience in the friendly surroundings of some of the most colorful venues and crowds in the sports world, not just the college sports world. So be sure to drive with the remote and the ESPN app like Renegade galloping onto the field in Tallahassee. Marvel at Kentucky's incredible multimillion-dollar commitment to the ballpark, even for a team that's never been to Omaha. Be reminded of Rome by the intimidating atmosphere that reigns at Texas A&M's Olsen Field in Blue Bell Park, enveloped in constant barbecue smoke at tailgating. Experience the magic of the Bosh in Chapel Hill, where the Heels have long specialized in dramatic postseason finishes, both wins and losses. And hear the clang of those composite bats in your ears, mixed with fight chants, wolf howls and “Rocky Top,” all marinated in outfield beer for three days. It's June. This is the Round of 16. And folks, it's so awesome.
