The Alabama Crimson Tide may be back in Omaha, but the odds are not in their favor to go much further the rest of the way. Despite being the No. 7 overall seed, their return trip to the College World Series is expected to be short-lived. Alabama must play in the tougher of two brackets. Bracket 2 features four SEC teams, including No. 3 Georgia and No. 6 Texas. Alabama will play Oklahoma first.
With that in mind, FanDuel Sportsbook has given the eight CWS participants these odds to win it all.
- North Carolina Tar Heels: +290
- Georgia Bulldogs: +300
- Texas Longhorns: +320
- West Virginia Mountaineers: +700
- Ole Miss Rebels: +800
- Alabama Crimson Tide: +1300
- Oklahoma Sooners: +1800
- Troy Trojans: +2700
Alabama may have been the seventh-best team in the country coming into the NCAA Tournament, but Rob Vaughn's Crimson Tide only have the sixth-best odds to win it all now at +1300. This has everything to do with them being on the same side of the bracket as Georgia and Texas, as well as getting red-hot Oklahoma to start. Reseeding would not have helped Alabama, but this is so rough.
Here is the schedule for the first four games of the College World Series to be played this weekend.
- Friday, June 12: Troy Trojans vs. No. 16 West Virginia Mountaineers (ESPN, 1:00 p.m. CT)
- Friday, June 12: Ole Miss Rebels vs. No. 5 North Carolina Tar Heels (ESPN, 6:00 p.m. CT)
- Saturday, June 13: Oklahoma Sooners vs. No. 7 Alabama Crimson Tide (ESPN, 2:00 p.m. CT)
- Saturday, June 13: No. 6 Texas Longhorns vs. No. 6 Georgia Bulldogs (ESPN, 7:00 p.m. CT)
The winner of Troy vs. West Virginia will face the winner of Ole Miss vs. North Carolina on the winners' side of Bracket 1, with the losers taking part in the first elimination game of the tournament. Should Alabama beat Oklahoma, it would face the winner of Texas vs. Georgia. A loss to the Sooners will put the Crimson Tide up against it, having to play the Texas vs. Georgia loser with the season on the line.
To get out of the harder Bracket 2 will be a doozy for the Crimson Tide. Naturally, these odds reflect that.
Alabama is playing with house money, but the Crimson Tide will have to run the gauntlet to survive.
Alabama faces its toughest challenge yet with a brutal CWS bracket draw
Of the eight teams who made it to the College World Series, Alabama is on a shortlist of four teams who were expected to do so, alongside Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas. This is reflected in their top eight national seeds. While West Virginia is also ranked, WVU needed top-seeded UCLA to fall apart at the seams on their route to Omaha. The Bruins did not get out of the Los Angeles Regional.
So, the only team in Bracket 1 that was expected to be in Omaha was No. 5 North Carolina. This plays a massive part in the Tar Heels having the best odds to win a national championship. They can sit back and watch four SEC teams beat up on each other, as they attempt to skate past the likes of Ole Miss, Troy, and West Virginia. Their path is so incredibly breezy, while Alabama's is too unforgiving.
Read more: Rob Vaughn has Alabama athletics in rarified air after clinching College World Series
At this time, all Vaughn and his team can do is take it one pitch at a time. It all starts by silencing the red-hot bats of Oklahoma. The Sooners annihilated No. 15 Kansas in the Lawrence Super Regional. Alabama may have the necessary mental toughness to run the gauntlet, but it will have to get past Georgia, Oklahoma, and Texas first. They could be battle-tested, or possibly run out of gas in the end.
If Alabama is going to overcome its great odds to win a national championship, it starts by locking in.
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