And then there were eight... With the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Oklahoma Sooners putting the St. John's Red Storm and Kansas Jayhawks out of their respective miseries, the Men's College World Series field has finally been set! None of these teams made it a year ago. The only one to have made it twice in the last three seasons would be the No. 5 North Carolina Tar Heels. Are you ready for this?!
Here are the eight teams that will be playing in Omaha as a part of the men's College World Series.
- No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs
- No. 5 North Carolina Tar Heels
- No. 6 Texas Longhorns
- No. 7 Alabama Crimson Tide
- No. 16 West Virginia Mountaineers
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Troy Trojans
The eight teams will be put into two groupings of four, better known as Bracket 1 and and Bracket 2...
Alabama may not be in Bracket 1, but here is a look at how that double-elimation tournament will look.
- No. 5 North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Ole Miss Rebels
- No. 16 West Virginia Mountaineers vs. Troy Trojans
The North Carolina-Ole Miss winner will take on the West Virginia-Troy winner, and so on, in Bracket 1.
As far as what Bracket 2 has in store for the Crimson Tide, this could get a little more dicey for them...
- No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs vs. No. 6 Texas Longhorns
- No. 7 Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Oklahoma Sooners
Alabama may luck out by drawing Oklahoma in its first game of the men's College World Series. However, OU just swept Kansas in the Lawrence Super Regional and eliminated the No. 2 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the Atlanta Regional one week earlier. Oklahoma is playing with house money, even more so than the Tide. A win over OU would only guarantee a date with either Georgia or Texas.
Because the other side of the bracket is so much more forgiving, Alabama shall be tested in Omaha.
Alabama must come out of the harder of two brackets to win Men's CWS
To be frank, maybe Rob Vaughn's team is built for this? Their early-season adversity has made them one of the more resilient teams remaining. Of course, the two toughest gets still playing for a National Championship are on Alabama's side of the bracket. Georgia can out-slug anyone, while Texas may have the most well-rounded team left in college baseball. Oklahoma is cooking with some napalm.
The good news for the Crimson Tide is even though it has been over a quarter century since they last got to Omaha, simply being there is not good enough... Team leader Justin Lebron's message after winning the Tuscaloosa Super Regional could serve as the necessary tone-setter for this baseball team moving forward. Mental toughness is what can help Bama come out of this brutal bracket alive.
Read more: Rob Vaughn has Alabama athletics in rarified air after clinching College World Series
At this time, Alabama needs to take it all one pitch at a time. You cannot win a game on one pitch, but you can most certainly lose it... The double-elimination tournament does give all eight teams a bit of a baked-in mea culpa. However, there are no slouches left in the field. Every team still dancing has gotten hot recently. With it being an entirely new field, anything is possible. Alabama needs to lock in.
Now is not the time for Alabama fans to be jealous of the much easier other side of the CWS bracket.
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