College World Series

The College World Series returns to Omaha, Nebraska, on Saturday with eight teams set to take the field at TD Ameritrade Park.

From a seeding perspective, the bracket looks wide-open this season as No. 4 Vanderbilt, No. 5 Arizona, No. 9 Stanford, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Tennessee and No. 7 Mississippi State join unranked Virginia and NC State as the last eight teams standing, but that's hardly a reflection of the star power up and down each roster. 

All eight teams will be in action this weekend with two games on Saturday and two more on Sunday to kick things off.

Here's a look at the bracket, rules and schedule as Omaha once again takes center stage. 

Format

The simple explanation comes down to this: Teams who make it to Omaha enter in a double-elimination tournament followed by a best-of-three series to determine the College World Series champions. 

The CWS is made up of two brackets consisting of four teams each. Both brackets feature a winners' pod and a losers' pod. Teams that win their opening game advance to the former, the losers head to the latter. The tournament is double elimination, meaning teams who are sent to the elimination bracket after Game 1 are fighting for their postseason lives. It also ensures at least two teams—one from each bracket—will be bounced after two games. 

Teams who win their second game after dropping their first get another elimination game against whichever team in their bracket loses Game 2 of the winners' pod. 

Once both brackets have produced a champion, those two teams will play in a best-of-three for the national title.

Full Bracket

Bracket 1

No. 9 Stanford vs NC State (Game 1, Saturday, June 19 at noon ET on ESPN)

No. 5 Arizona vs. No. 4 Vanderbilt (Game 1, Saturday, June 19 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN)

Bracket 2

No. 2 Texas vs. No. 7 Mississippi State (Game 1, Sunday, June 20, at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2)

Virginia vs. No. 3 Tennessee (Game 1, Sunday, June 20 at noon ET on ESPN2)

Full schedule and brackets via NCAA

Championship Predictions

While both brackets are stacked with talent, Bracket 1 features some of the most notable programs in the sport. Arizona, Stanford and Vanderbilt have been among the toughest teams all season. The Commodores, in particular, could end up with the top two pitchers selected in this year's MLB draft between Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter. 

The Wolfpack, meanwhile, came back to defeat No. 1 Arkansas on the road in the super regionals after losing Game 1, 21-2. NC State is not a team that can be taken lightly, even in elimination games. 

The same goes for Stanford, which waxed Texas Tech (24-3) in a two-game sweep despite playing away in Lubbock. 

Any of the teams in Bracket 1 would be a worthy championship pick. Still, it's tough to go against Vanderbilt and the dominant pitching staff it has built up. Look for the 'Dores to win their first two games of the CWS to set up an epic semifinal.

In Bracket 2, No. 2 Texas has the feel of a team that can't be stopped. The Longhorns had to rally multiple times to get past Super Regional Cinderella South Florida, but they ultimately won in two games to advance to Omaha. 

Once those two powerhouses meet for the championship, it'll come down to whichever club can get the most from their starters.

That likely makes the title Vanderbilt's to lose.

Prediction: Vanderbilt over Texas for the national title

After a two-year wait, the Vanderbilt Commodores have a chance to defend the College World Series title they won in 2019.

Vanderbilt will start off the 2021 CWS with Kumar Rocker taking on the fifth-seeded Arizona Wildcats in the second of two games at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska.

Rocker was the Most Outstanding Player of the 2019 tournament. He started that run off with six strong innings in Vanderbilt's second game. The likely top-10 pick in the 2021 MLB draft faces a tough test in the form of Arizona's lineup. The Wildcats produced 27 runs in their two victories over the Ole Miss Rebels to clinch a spot in Omaha.

The NC State Wolfpack and Stanford Cardinal open up the two-game slate Saturday afternoon. Stanford is making its 17th CWS appearance in program history, while NC State is back in Omaha for only the third time.

Saturday College World Series Schedule

NC State vs. No. 9 Stanford (2 p.m. ET, ESPN)

No. 5 Arizona vs. No. 4 Vanderbilt (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Games can be live-streamed on ESPN app or ESPN.com.

Previews

NC State vs. No. 9 Stanford

NC State and Stanford both ousted nationally ranked seeds on the road to reach Omaha.

The former pulled off the biggest upset of the super regional round, as it eliminated the No. 1 overall seed Arkansas Razorbacks. That three-game series victory was even more impressive since the Wolfpack rebounded from a 21-2 defeat in Game 1.

NC State's pitching staff performed better as the Fayetteville super regional went on, most notably allowing just two runs in the series-clinching game.

Reid Johnston should be the Game 1 starter for the Wolfpack, but that had yet to be announced as of the early hours of Saturday. Johnston was lit up for seven earned runs on six hits in Game 1 against Arkansas, but that was just the third loss he suffered this season.

The ideal strategy for NC State is for its starters to go six or seven innings and then let Evan Justice take over. Justice did not allow an earned run over 4.2 innings in Games 2 and 3 versus Arkansas.

Stanford should try to score runs in the first five innings to either force NC State to go Justice earlier than expected or to avoid him completely.

The Cardinal have one of the hottest lineups entering Omaha, as they put up 26 runs in two wins over the Texas Tech Red Raiders at the Lubbock super regional. Prior to their trip to Texas, Stanford earned 32 runs in three victories on home soil at the Stanford regional.

Stanford ace Brendan Beck is 10th in Division I in strikeouts. He has the fourth-best total of any pitcher in Omaha. Only Rocker, his Vanderbilt teammate Jack Leiter and the Virginia Cavaliers' Andrew Abbott have more.

The Stanford pitching staff was even more effective than its bats, as it conceded three runs over 18 innings against Texas Tech.

If the Stanford bats get going early on, Beck could shut down the NC State lineup and propel the Pac-12 side to a victory.

No. 5 Arizona vs. No. 4 Vanderbilt

The main draw of Saturday's nightcap is Rocker.

Rocker has 155 strikeouts in 106 innings and could be set to repeat as College World Series MVP.

He dominated the East Carolina Pirates in Game 1 of the Nashville super regional. He fanned 11 batters and gave up three hits over 7.2 innings. Arizona's offense poses a tougher test, but Rocker is more than capable of shutting down the Wildcats and putting the Commodores in the winners' bracket.

The Wildcats had some trouble dealing with the top aces they faced this season. They struck out eight times and earned three runs off Beck on May 7 and suffered 10 strikeouts in a loss to Ole Miss' Doug Nikhazy in Game 2 of the Tucson super regional.

If Arizona has trouble with Rocker, it could be in do-or-die mode off the bat in the losers' bracket.

Garrett Irvin was Arizona's best pitcher in the regional round, but he lasted 1.1 innings in Game 2 of the super regional. Chase Silseth opened the three-game series with Ole Miss. Whichever pitcher counters Rocker needs to be at his best to try to dethrone the champion.

Arizona has the power bats needed to pull off an upset, but it does not appear likely against Vanderbilt's ace.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. Statistics obtained from D1Baseball.com.

The 2021 College World Series opens Saturday in Omaha, Nebraska, with a clash between the established power in the past decade against a team with red-hot bats.

The Vanderbilt Commodores should be considered the favorite to win the eight-team, double-elimination tournament as the reigning champion from 2019. Vanderbilt has two top-10 MLB draft prospects at the top of its pitching staff and plenty of College World Series experience throughout the roster.

The Arizona Wildcats present an intriguing opening test for Vanderbilt ace Kumar Rocker since they posted 28 runs in the Tucson super regional to advance to Omaha.

The Arizona-Vanderbilt clash is one of two meetings between national seeds in the first round at TD Ameritrade Park. The Texas Longhorns and Mississippi State Bulldogs face off Sunday night.

College World Series Bracket and Schedule 

Preview

All eyes should be on the opening-round clash between Arizona and Vanderbilt.

The No. 4-No. 5 showdown received prime-time billing Saturday night, and it should be a clash of strengths between Vandy's pitching and Arizona's bats.

Rocker headlined the Vanderbilt staff that allowed a single run over two games in the Nashville super regional against the East Carolina Pirates. The 2019 College World Series Most Valuable Player helped Vanderbilt earn shutouts in its openers in the first two rounds.

Arizona is one of the toughest teams to quiet in Division I. It posted 21 runs in the regional round and took 28 runs off the Ole Miss Rebels last weekend.

In the 16-3 win that clinched a spot in Omaha, Arizona had five of its first six hitters in the order record multiple hits.

Brandon Boissiere was Arizona's most dangerous hitter against Ole Miss, as he produced back-to-back four-hit performances. If the Wildcats get a few runs off Rocker and moved on in the winner's bracket, it would be viewed as one of the biggest upsets of the NCAA tournament. Arizona is the No. 5 overall seed, but it has not faced a pitcher of Rocker's stature this season.

Arizona's Pac-12 Conference mate, the Stanford Cardinal, open the College World Series on Saturday afternoon against the NC State Wolfpack.

Stanford's bats are as hot as Arizona's, as it cruised past the Texas Tech Red Raiders by a combined score of 24-3 at the Lubbock super regional.

NC State knocked off the top-seeded Arkansas Razorbacks in three games. Its pitching staff limited Arkansas to seven runs in Games 2 and 3 of the Fayetteville super regional. If the Wolfpack receives a few more strong pitching performances, it might make a deep run as an unseeded team.

The Virginia Cavaliers could follow the same strategy as their ACC brethren. They held Dallas Baptist to two runs over 18 innings to close out the Columbia super regional.

Virginia ace Andrew Abbott will have his hands full against a loaded Tennessee Volunteers offense. The Vols put up nine or more runs three times in the NCAA tournament, but they were also held beneath five on two occasions.

If Abbott keeps the Vols off balance, he could send the Cavaliers into the winner's bracket against the Mississippi State-Texas winner.

The final game of the opening weekend should produce the most runs. Mississippi State and Texas scored nine or more runs in seven of their 10 combined NCAA tournament games.

Statistics obtained from D1Baseball.com.

College baseball is back in Omaha. The College World Series has returned after a one-year layoff.

In a shade under two weeks, the eight-team field will be whittled down to two by a double-elimination tournament. The last two left standing then hold a winner-take-all best-of-three series.

This is the holiday season for college baseball fans, so let's see what kind of presents await.

TV Schedule

Date: June 19-30

Location: TD Ameritrade Park Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska

TV: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU

Live Steam: ESPN+

Tournament Breakdown

Six of the nation's top nine teams comprise three-quarters of the field. A pair of surprising ACC squads make up the rest.

Let's start with the Cinderellas, since those are often the greatest stories in college sports. First, there's Virginia, a team that avoided elimination in six of its eight NCAA tournament games before securing its spot with a seventh-inning, two-out grand slam by freshman Kyle Teel.

Then, there's NC State, a team that somehow escaped its Super Regional series against top-ranked Arkansas despite losing the opener 21-2. But the Wolfpack rallied to a pair of consecutive one-run victories, the second punctuated by freshman shortstop Jose Torres' ninth inning home run off Razorbacks' likely Golden Spikes Award winner Kevin Kopps, who carried a minuscule 0.66 ERA into the contest.

"They're a really good group of players and committed to one another," NC State coach Elliott Avent told reporters. "... They believed early on when we were 1-8 that we could rebound, and they stuck with it."

The rest of the field features No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Tennessee, No. 4 Vanderbilt, No. 5 Arizona, No. 7 Mississippi State and No. 9 Stanford.

Tournament Predictions

If you're peering into a crystal ball for this tournament, you'll first come across a picture of the Commodores.

Vanderbilt won this tournament the last time it was held, and it has the talent to repeat. That's thanks in no small part to starting pitchers Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter, who are respectively the first and second-ranked MLB draft prospects by D1baseball.com (via NCAA.com).

Rocker has gone 13-3 this season with a 2.46 ERA and 155 strikeouts against 36 walks in 106 innings. Leiter, the son of former MLB hurler Al Leiter, is 10-3 with a 2.16 ERA and 156 strikeouts versus 41 walks in 96 innings. As difficult as it is to choose the best of the pair, it's even harder to come up with offenses that can hit them hard.

But there are explosive offenses in this field, starting with Vandy's first opponent, Arizona. The Wildcats led all of college baseball with 526 runs this season, and they plated 25 of them during their two Super Regional wins over No. 12 Ole Miss.

Tennessee has boppers up and down the lineup. Seven different Volunteers had at least one multi-homer game this season, and the team leads the tournament field with 98 long balls.

Stanford scored 24 runs in its two-game Super Regional sweep of No. 8 Texas Tech, as sophomore outfielder Brock Jones belted three homers (including a grand slam) in the clincher.

Looking beyond the offenses, Texas might have the pitching to pull off a tournament title. The Longhorns lead the nation with a 2.89 ERA. NC State could have the defense to get this done. The Wolfpack's .983 fielding percentage ranks second overall and tops among CWS qualifiers.

Virginia posted a top-20 ERA (3.70, 16th overall) with senior Andrew Abbott doing the heaviest lifting. He has 152 strikeouts and just 32 earned runs. Mississippi State paces the nation with a collective 12.4 strikeouts per nine innings and ranks 10th overall with a 3.17 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

These eight teams are still standing for a reason, and any could go on a championship-clinching run.

Still, the 1-2 punch of Rocker and Leiter feels like the ultimate trump card here. Look for Vanderbilt to defend its throne with a championship win over Texas.

The final two berths in the College World Series were to be decided Monday, when Virginia faced Dallas Baptist and Notre Dame took on Mississippi State.

Those teams were looking to join Vanderbilt, Arizona, Stanford, NC State, Texas and Tennessee.

Below, we'll break down the day's results.

Bracket

For the updated bracket, be sure to check out NCAA.com.

Results

Virginia def. Dallas Baptist, 5-2

The Cavaliers seem to do their best work late.

A day after putting four runs on Dallas Baptist in the bottom of the eighth to force Monday's rubber match, the Cavaliers scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh on a Kyle Teel grand slam to beat Dallas Baptist, 5-2, punching their ticket for Omaha.

Matt Wyatt and Nate Savino combined to give up just two runs on seven hits while striking out 11 for the Cavaliers.

It will be Virginia's first College World Series appearance since 2015 and the school's fifth CWS appearance in program history. The Cavaliers were national champions in 2015 and runners-up in 2014.

Dallas Baptist was looking to make its first CWS appearance. It was the school's 10th NCAA Division I tournament, all of them coming since 2008. Dallas Baptist became a Division I school in 2004.

Mississippi State def. Notre Dame, 11-7

The Fighting Irish got the scoring started on a first-inning homer by Ryan Cole, but the Bulldogs offense had an answer—and then some.

After getting a run of its own in the bottom of the first, Mississippi State broke the game wide open with a six-run outburst in the second. That offensive barrage was capped off by a three-run shot by Logan Tanner.

Notre Dame got a run back in the top of the third, but the Mississippi State offense was far from done. Tanner Allen responded with a solo shot in the bottom of the third, and the Bulldogs would go on to hold a 10-2 lead after four innings.

Ultimately, the Bulldogs scored in each of the first five frames of the game, providing the pitching staff plenty of cushion.

Houston Harding allowed two runs on four hits in four innings of work. After Stone Simmons allowed three runs in the top of the fifth, Landon Sims held the Fighting Irish to two runs over the final four frames to close out the victory.

This marks the third straight College World Series appearance for Mississippi State. The program will be looking to win its first championship as it makes its 12th appearance at the College World Series.

Vanderbilt and Stanford already booked their tickets for Omaha's College World Series. A number of teams were looking to join them on Sunday. 

Below, we'll break down all of the day's results, the updated bracket and the top highlights from a full slate of Super Regionals matchups.

Results

Virginia def. Dallas Baptist, 4-0

Tennessee def. LSU, 15-6

NC State def. Arkansas 3-2

Notre Dame def. Mississippi State 9-1

Ole Miss vs. Arizona (9 p.m. ET on ESPN2)

Texas vs. South Florida (9 p.m. ET on ESPNU)

Bracket

For the full bracket, be sure to check out NCAA.com.

Top Moments and Highlights

North Carolina State shocked the baseball world by sending No. 1-seeded Arkansas packing.

Charlie Welch put the Razorbacks ahead early with an RBI double in the bottom of the second inning. But Jonny Butler responded in the third with a two-run home run to put the Wolfpack up 2-1.

A solo homer by Cayden Wallace in the seventh leveled things up again. Wallace and his teammates could only watch, though, as Jose Torres delivered the decisive blow to open the ninth.

In his second inning of work, Evan Justice set Arkansas down in order to seal the improbable win.

Justice combined with Matt Willadsen and Chris Villaman for an impressive pitching performance. The three allowed four hits and struck out nine batters, silencing an offense that boasted a .485 slugging percentage. 

For seven innings, Rhett Kouba kept Virginia off the board, keeping Dallas Baptist in position to beat the Cavaliers for a second time and advance to Omaha. 

But then the bottom of the eighth happened. 

Zack Gelof's solo homer broke the scoreless deadlock and Alex Tappen gave the Cavs a comfortable lead with a three-run dinger of his own, as Virginia lived to fight another day with a 4-0 win. 

While Griff McGarry didn't get the win, he was brilliant on the mound for Virginia, throwing seven innings of two-hit, 10-strikeout ball. 

Dallas Baptist made things interesting, loading the bases with two outs in the top of the ninth. But Virginia survived the scare, forcing a game three in the Super Regionals matchup at 1 p.m. ET on Monday (ESPNU).

Some teams will just sneak their way into Omaha. Tennessee blasted their way in, wrecking LSU 15-6 behind huge games from Jake Rucker (three hits, one homer, three runs, five RBI) and Jordan Beck (three hits, one homer, three RBI, two runs). 

The Vols blew a competitive game wide open in the top of the fifth, pushing across six runs, including homers from Beck and Drew Gilbert). 

Blade Tidwell earned the win, pitching seven innings while giving up seven hits and six runs, striking out seven. 

The college baseball season all comes down to this: Game 3 of the College World Series between Michigan and Vanderbilt at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska.

After the Wolverines notched a 7-4 victory in Game 1, the Commodores bounced back to take Game 2, 4-1. Now, the two teams will play a winner-take-all Game 3 to decide this year's national champion.

While Vanderbilt has only previously won the national title in 2014, Michigan is seeking its third in program history, but its first since 1962.

Here's everything to know heading into Wednesday's Game 3.

Game 3 Information

Date: Wednesday, June 26

Time: 7 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN

Live Stream: WatchESPN

Preview, Prediction

When Vanderbilt has faced elimination situations this postseason, it's been able to confidently turn to freshman right-hander Kumar Rocker. And that was the case again in Tuesday's Game 2 victory over Michigan.

The 19-year-old struck out 11 over 6⅓ innings of one-run ball, allowing only three hits and helping to extend the Commodores' season. In the NCAA tournament, he is 4-0 with a 0.96 ERA with 44 strikeouts in 28 innings.

"The thing that I knew that he would give us is [he would] compete," Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin said, according to Zac Ellis of VUCommodores.com. "There was no doubt in my mind ... I felt like we had a chance [Tuesday] with him on the mound."

Now, Vanderbilt and Michigan will both feel the pressure of its season potentially ending in defeat Wednesday night, after the Wolverines had a chance to quickly put away the Commodores in Game 2. This is the fifth time in six years that the best-of-three College World Series finals will require all three games.

While Rocker has been impressive, his postseason is likely over after throwing 104 pitches on Tuesday. The Commodores will turn to right-handed sophomore Mason Hickman to start Game 3, while right-handed junior Karl Kauffmann (2-0 with a 4.15 ERA in College World Series) is expected to start for the Wolverines.

However, if Kauffmann struggles, Michigan could be quick to bring in sophomore right-hander Jeff Criswell, who has thrown 5⅔ scoreless innings in the College World Series.

Although the Commodores have had more recent postseason success, the Wolverines should be prepared for this situation. They won winner-take-all matchups against Creighton and UCLA, the No. 1 seed, earlier in the NCAA tournament.

"We've been here—we've had a lot of repetitions with these types of games," Michigan coach Erik Bakich said, according to Steve Kornacki of MGoBlue.com. "All the adversity that we've faced in the last month, month and a half, it's just callused our mind and guys are very comfortable in these environments and in these spots."

But it's not going to work out as well this time for the Wolverines.

While Wednesday's game should be a tight contest, Vanderbilt has been the better team over the course of the season, and it will use its momentum from Tuesday's must-win Game 2 to notch back-to-back victories and the national championship.

Hickman has been a strong pitcher for the Commodores this season, as he's only given up more than three runs once (April 2 vs. Western Kentucky), and he tossed six scoreless innings in his last start against Louisville this past Friday.

So, expect him to limit Michigan's scoring opportunities while Vanderbilt's offense, led by powerful outfielder JJ Bleday, will break out to lead it to victory.

The Michigan Wolverines are on the verge of winning the College World Series for the first time since 1962.

The Wolverines (50-20) earned a 7-4 victory Monday night over a powerful Vanderbilt Commodores (57-12) team as they built an early lead, withstood Vanderbilt's comeback effort and then added on insurance runs in the late innings. 

Tommy Henry keyed the victory, pitching 8.1 innings for the Wolverines. He struck out eight while allowing seven hits.

Blake Nelson, Jordan Brewer, Ako Thomas and Jesse Franklin knocked in the early runs for the Wolverines, and that set the tone for the game.

Vanderbilt slugger JJ Bleday belted his 27th home run of the year and got the Commodores within one run at 4-3 in the sixth inning, but Jimmy Kerr followed with a two-run homer for the Wolverines and Henry shut the door after that.

The two teams will meet in Game 2 of the CWS Tuesday night at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska, Tuesday night. 

2019 College World Series: Championship

Monday, June 24
Michigan 7, Vanderbilt 4, Michigan leads series, 1-0

Tuesday, June 25
Game 2, Michigan vs. Vanderbilt, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN

Wednesday, June 26
Game 3, Michigan vs. Vanderbilt, if necessary, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN

The CWS can be live-streamed at WatchESPN.

The Wolverines will send Jeff Criswell to the mound in an effort to clinch the title, while Vanderbilt's Kumar Rocker will try to keep the Commodores' season alive. If Vanderbilt wins, the two teams will play in the decisive game Wednesday night.

Michigan head coach Erik Bakich said his team knows exactly what is at stake.

"They know what they're playing for," he said, per Eric Olson of the Associated Press (h/t Yahoo.com). "They know the stakes. They know the stage. They're not acting like the stage and lights are too big. They're doing a good job of staying in the moment and having as much fun as they can."

Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin said there was no panic with his team after the loss, and he expressed confidence in his players.

"They've been in a hole before," he said, per Olson. "Not many times, but whether it's during the course of the season or during the course of games, they've been able to navigate their way out of these situations."

Vanderbilt will depend on Bleday, Austin Wilson and Stephen Scott to trigger the offense, and ask Rocker to close down Michigan's offense.

Criswell takes a 7-1 record to the mound in Game 2, with a 2.58 earned-run average and 109 strikeouts in 101.0 innings for the Wolverines.

Rocker is 11-5 with a 3.38 ERA with 103 strikeouts in 93.1 innings.

Statistics courtesy of team websites.