Tag: Omaha

Baseball Power Rankings ahead of the College World Series

Ranking the teams in the College World Series.

The most wonderful two weeks in College Baseball are among us, it is time for the College World Series.

This year’s field features more parity than expected, as many teams pulled upsets to get to Omaha. Out of the 16 national seeds, only four are remaining. Also, in last weekend’s Super Regionals, only two teams, Stanford and Texas A&M punched their tickets in front of their home fans.

The Southeastern Conference takes the crown for most teams competing for a national championship with four. The most surprising fact about that statistic is the SEC champion, Tennessee is not among those that will be playing in Omaha.

Because so many surprising stories are still being written, we at Auburn Wire have built our list of power rankings ahead of this weekend’s action. In our power rankings, we used overall record, national seeding, and win/loss records against teams in the College World Series bracket.

2022 College World Series: Preview and players to watch

A look at each team in the 2022 College World Series field.

Eight teams have punched their tickets to college baseball’s promised land in Omaha for the 2022 College World Series.

No. 2 Stanford, No. 5 Texas A&M, No. 9 Texas, No. 14 Auburn, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Oklahoma and Notre Dame will battle it out on the diamond for a national championship.

It was the road teams who had the most success in the super regional round, six of the eight visitors left as winners. Only Stanford and Texas A&M successfully defended their home field.

The College World Series will take place June 16-27 at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Neb. The world series is a double-elimination format, similar to the regional round, until the championship series. Then a best-of-three series will determine the national champion.

Here is a look at each team in the field and three players to watch for on each squad.

Four College World Series matchups we’d love to see

There are plenty of intriguing matchups the Texas Longhorns could draw in Omaha.

With three traditional rivals remaining in the tournament, there are plenty of intriguing matchups the Texas Longhorns could draw in Omaha.

Texas’ first opponent is Notre Dame, one of the premier blue blood rivals for the Longhorns in football. With a win, Texas would face the winner of Texas A&M and Oklahoma. A loss would pair the Longhorns with the loser of that game.

On the other side of the bracket, Arkansas and Stanford face off. The two programs are among the best in college baseball in recent years.

The final matchup features Ole Miss and Auburn, two SEC West foes. Ole Miss won two out of three on the road against Auburn earlier this year.

Here are four matchups Texas fans won’t have any trouble getting excited about in this College World Series.

Where Texas ranks in this College World Series power ranking

The Texas Longhorns begin their quest for their seventh national title in college baseball.

Texas will begin their quest for their seventh national title in college baseball on Friday. Continue reading “Where Texas ranks in this College World Series power ranking”

Arkansas was one game out of SEC West title; now four West teams are in Omaha

Arkansas’ experience in SEC West will only help in College World Series.

Arkansas baseball was one game short of winning the SEC West title. It would have been their fourth straight.

The way things ended for the Diamond Hogs brought some stress. Alabama, which barely qualified for the SEC Tournament, took two of three from Arkansas in the final weekend of the regular season to end the Razorbacks’ chances. The glass half-empty crowd suggested more trouble when the NCAA Tournament rolled around.

They were wrong.

Not only did the Razorbacks qualify for the College World Series, but three of their fellow SEC West rivals did, too. Throw in future SEC opponents Oklahoma and Texas, which are likely to be in the West if the league holds its divisions, the league is responsible for six of the eight teams in Omaha.

Arkansas is clearly familiar with Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Auburn – the Diamond Hogs won the series versus the Tigers and Rebels, but fell to the Aggies. They’re also familiar with Stanford, having played the Cardinal in the Round Rock Classic in February. Last year, Arkansas beat Texas and lost to Oklahoma.

In fact, the only team the Diamond Hogs don’t have recent experience with is Notre Dame. Arkansas and the Fighting Irish have met three times in history, but the most recent was in 1997.

That won’t matter much until the finals. Arkansas is on the side of the bracket with Stanford, Ole Miss and Auburn.

Meaning?

Arkansas might just have its best shot at a national title since 2018.

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Watch: College World Series-bound Notre Dame returns to South Bend

To the victors go the spoils.

With an upset of top-ranked Tennessee in the books and the College World Series ahead, Notre Dame returned to South Bend to prepare. But first, the Irish had to take in the local spoils that come with such an incredible victory. As soon as their bus arrived on campus, a group of supporters was on hand to welcome them. Among them were [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] and volleyball coach [autotag]Salima Rockwell[/autotag]:

It was awesome to see [autotag]Link Jarrett[/autotag] channel his inner [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag] and shout, “The Irish did it!” as he stepped off the bus. If anyone deserves to reap the benefits of this amazing run, it’s him. That it hardly took him any time at all to turn the Irish into a legitimate threat cannot and must not be overlooked. Let’s hope he’s around for a long time.

Before looking to the future, however, it’s time to focus on [autotag]Texas[/autotag] and any other opponent that comes the Irish’s way.

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Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Mark Packer: Tennessee win ‘biggest ACC accomplishment for Notre Dame’

Even the talking heads are praising the Irish.

By now, you’ve heard nearly universal acclaim for Notre Dame’s upset of top-ranked Tennessee to advance to the College World Series. The Volunteers had rubbed a lot of people the wrong way with their boastful and often vulgar antics such as flipping opponents the bird during home-run trots.

But where does this rank as far as everything Notre Dame has done since joining the ACC for most sports? Mark Packer of the ACC Network had no problem expressing what he feels is the magnitude of the moment:

It’s hard to argue against Packer. Almost everybody, myself included, thought the Irish had no chance against a Volunteers team that looked to be unstoppable. To beat that team the way they did on its home field is extraordinary.

What’s more, it’s hard for college sports fans in general to get behind Notre Dame in anything, and the Volunteers made it incredibly easy for them to do that. How silly do they have to feel about that right now? It’s gotta be karma for them to be watching the rest of the season on the couch while the Irish are off to Omaha. Maybe they’ll think about that next time.

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Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

WATCH: Phil Elson calls Arkansas’ Omaha-clinching walk-off single

Here’s how Brady Slavens’ walk-off single sounded from the voice of Arkansas Baseball

“And you can call them the Omahogs!”

Those words were exclaimed by Phil Elson, the radio voice of Arkansas Baseball, following [autotag]Brady Slavens[/autotag]’ walk-off single in the bottom of the 9th inning that lifted Arkansas over North Carolina on Sunday afternoon to clinch a spot in the College World Series for the 11th time in program history.

North Carolina broke the 2-2 tie in the top of the 9th inning on an RBI single to take the 3-2 lead, hoping that it would be enough to beat Arkansas and force a winner-take-all game three on Monday.

As they have proven all postseason, the Razorbacks were not going to go away that easily.

The inning started with back to back singles by [autotag]Jalen Battles[/autotag] and [autotag]Peyton Stovall[/autotag]. In the next at-bat, [autotag]Kendall Diggs[/autotag] would reach on a walk, loading the bases for [autotag]Braydon Webb[/autotag]. Webb hit a grounder that resulted in a fielder’s choice, allowing Battles to score from 3rd base to tie the game again at 3-3.

With two on and no outs, Slavens delivered the game winning hit that would send Arkansas to Omaha.

Here is how the walk-off sounded from the voice of Elson:

Arkansas will face the winner of Monday’s Stanford Super Regional between Stanford and UConn in the College World Series later this week at Charles Schawb Field in Omaha, Nebraska. Official dates and times will be released at a later time.

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Arkansas Baseball plays “the right way”

Despite his team ending their season on Sunday to Arkansas, North Carolina head coach Scott Forbes was complimentary of the Razorbacks style of play.

Arkansas Baseball claimed a spot in the College World Series for the 11th time in program history on Sunday by defeating North Carolina, 4-3 on a walk-off single by [autotag]Brady Slavens[/autotag] in the bottom of the 9th inning.

The Razorbacks swept the Tar Heels in two games at the Chapel Hill Super Regional. In addition to Sunday’s win, Arkansas defeated North Carolina in game one of the best-of-three series, 4-1 on Saturday behind a strong outing from [autotag]Connor Noland[/autotag] on the mound.

North Carolina, who came into the Super Regional as winners of 11 of their previous 12 games, was obviously disappointed in dropping their final game of the year in heartbreaking fashion. However, that did not stop Tar Heels head coach Scott Forbes from being complimentary of the Razorbacks led by [autotag]Dave Van Horn[/autotag].

In his postgame press conference, Forbes congratulated the Razorbacks for their Super Regional victory, and says that he sees a lot of his team in Arkansas. 

“What a battle. Two great teams. I want to congratulate Arkansas. (They are) a heck of a team, what a heck of a season that they have had. Coach Van Horn and his coaches all do a tremendous job, and they have always done a tremendous job. It’s like watching our own team across the field. They play the right way. They play hard. They don’t showboat. They keep their mouth shut and play how baseball is supposed to be played. Congrats to Arkansas.” 

Arkansas’ season continues later this week in Omaha, Neb., and the College World Series. The next game for the Razorbacks, as well as their opponent, will be revealed at a later time.

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Notre Dame to play Texas in College World Series opener

Go Irish, Beat Longhorns.

The stage is officially set for Notre Dame as the Fighting Irish will make their first trip to the College World Series since 2002 and only their third trek to Omaha all-time.

Related: Notre Dame stuns No. 1 Tennessee, advances to College World Series

In the other dugout of their opening game will be a team that knows a thing or two about playing in Omaha.

Texas.

Nobody has appeared in more College World Series than the Texas Longhorns who will be the 75th College World Series and it will be the 38th time Texas has qualified.  Literally more than half, incredible.

After being delayed for hours due to rain, Texas started Sunday evening with a bang, scoring nine runs in the first two innings at East Carolina in what wound up an 11-1 Longhorns victory.

Once all College World Series tickets are officially punched on Monday the schedule for games in Omaha will be released.

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