College World Series preview: Wake Forest leads field fighting for baseball national title

So you want to know about Omaha, eh? Well, the most important thing to remember is that not every hand will have a low split, so you still want to mainly play high cards …

Oh, you mean the Men’s College World Series in Omaha! That’s all right. We can help with that, too.

Yes, it’s the final event on the collegiate sports calendar for the academic year, and it nearly always delivers with high drama and unforgettable moments. Nebraska’s largest city has hosted the event since 1950 and has become the ultimate goal for every college baseball program.

We understand that some of you are purists who have trouble getting used to the ping of the metal bats in the college game. But there’s a lot of impressive pitching as well, and there should be plenty of that on display in Omaha this week.

But we’ll get to all that. The first thing you’ll need to know is how the proceedings will unfold. For those unfamiliar with the CWS format, the eight teams are split into two four-team pools, and each foursome will play a double elimination mini tournament similar to the regionals in the earlier rounds. The two bracket winners will then square off in a best-of-three final, akin to the super regionals, to determine the national champion.

This year’s Omaha octet features five of the teams with top-eight national seeds entering the NCAA tournament, including the top two. Though the SEC and ACC comprise over half the CWS field, there’s also a squad from the so-called mid-major ranks that defied the odds to reach Omaha.

A quick look at each of the eight participants and the schedule through championship series slated to begin next Saturday, June 24.

Florida (50-15)

Last CWS appearance: 2018. National championships: One (2017).

Top players: 1B/LHP Jac Caglianone (.336, 31 HR, 84 RBI, 7-3, 3.78 ERA); OF Wyatt Langford (.378, 18 HR, 48 RBI), SS Josh Rivera (.362, 17 HR, 68 RBI); RHP Hurston Waldrep (9-3, 4.15 ERA, 93.1 IP, 142 K).

Notes: The Gators return to Omaha for the first time since making four consecutive trips from 2015-18, avenging a regular-season sweep by South Carolina in SEC play by taking two in a row from the Gamecocks in the super regionals. Caglianone, the college game’s answer to Shohei Ohtani as a two-way threat from the mound and the plate, is a finalist for the Golden Spikes award.

LSU (48-15)

Last CWS appearance: 2017. National championships: Six (last, 2009).

Top players: CF Dylan Crews (.433, 17 HR, 64 RBI); 3B Tommy White (.377, 22 HR, 97 RBI), RHP Paul Skenes (12-2, 1.77 ERA, 107 IP, 188 K); RHP Ty Floyd (7-0, 4.50 ERA, 78 IP, 93 K).

Notes: This is historically the most accomplished program to reach Omaha, though the season wasn’t always smooth sailing for the preseason No. 1 Tigers. They held that spot for 10 consecutive weeks before a few stumbles late in the season. But their star-studded lineup that features two of the three Golden Spikes finalists, Crews and Skenes, has a good chance to add to the school’s trophy case.

Oral Roberts (51-12)

Last CWS appearance: 1978. National championships: None.

Top players: CF Jonah Cox (.420, 11 HR, 67 RBI, 28 SB); RF Matt Hogan (.332, 18 HR, 70 RBI); RHP Brooks Fowler (9-1, 3.27 ERA, 77 IP, 74K); RHP Cade Denton (2-1, 1.85 ERA, 15 saves, 58.1 IP, 78 K).

Notes: The Golden Eagles are just the third team to reach the CWS as a No. 4 regional seed since the tournament’s current format began in 1999, joining Stony Brook in 2012 and 2008 national champion Fresno State. Still, it’s hard to consider an ORU team that has won 23 of its last 24 games a Cinderella. Cox comes into Omaha on a 47-game hitting streak, tied for third longest in Division I history.

Stanford (44-18)

Last CWS appearance: 2022. National championships: Two (last, 1988).

Top players: OF Alberto Rios (.387, 18 HR, 71 RBI); 3B Tommy Troy (.397, 17 HR, 58 RBI); LHP Quinn Mathews (10-4, 3.60 ERA, 120 IP, 152 K); LHP Drew Dowd (9-3, 4.76 ERA, 62.1 IP, 85 K).

Notes: Say what you will about the fortuitous lost fly ball that allowed the Cardinal to walk off Texas in a super regional squeaker, but Stanford has nevertheless been among the most consistent teams in the country throughout the season as it makes its third consecutive trip to Omaha. The pitching is often a committee approach when Mathews doesn’t start, but having Dowd as the first option out of the bullpen has helped the cause.

TCU (42-22)

Last CWS appearance: 2017. National championships: None.

Top players: 1B Cole Fontenelle (.347, 13 HR, 52 RBI, 20 SB); 3B Brayden Taylor (.314, 23 HR, 69 RBI); RHP Kole Klecker (10-4, 3.84 ERA, 86.2 IP); RHP Sam Stoutenborough (5-0, 4.52 ERA, 65.2 IP).

Notes: The Horned Frogs are in Omaha for the sixth time, which seemed like a pipedream when the team was just 23-20 in late April. TCU went 19-2 the rest of the way and is now among the hottest teams in the field, though the Frogs might not have the pitching depth of some of the other contenders.

Tennessee (43-20)

Last CWS appearance: 2021. National championships: None.

Top players: OF Jared Dickey (.325, 12 HR, 51 RBI), 2B Christian Moore (.313, 17 HR, 48 RBI), RHP Chase Dollander (7-6, 4.50 ERA, 86 IP, 118 K), RHP Drew Beam (9-4, 3.78 ERA).

Notes: After failing to reach Omaha as the top overall seed last season, this year’s postseason run by the Vols was more improbable. A midseason slump in SEC play kept them from hosting a regional, and they were a strike away from elimination at Clemson. But here they are after that rally and a pair of super regional road wins at Southern Mississippi. Tennessee dropped two of three in its regular-season series at LSU, its first opponent in Omaha.

Virginia (50-13)

Last CWS appearance: 2021. National championships: One (2015).

Top players: C Kyle Teel (.418, 13 HR, 69 RBI); 3B Jake Gelof (.331, 23 HR, 89 RBI); LHP Connelly Early (12-2, 3.06 ERA, 82.1 IP, 98 K); RHP Brian Edgington (9-3, 3.47 ERA, 85.2 IP, 92 K).

Notes: The Cavaliers have become somewhat regular visitors to Omaha as they make their sixth CWS appearance, all since 2009 under current head coach Brian O’Connor. This year’s group dropped its super regional opener to ACC rival Duke but came back to take the next two in decisive fashion. The Cavaliers took two of three encounters with Florida in bracket play in the 2015 CWS en route to the national championship.

Wake Forest (52-10)

Last CWS appearance: 1955. National championships: One (1955).

Top players: 3B Brock Wilken (.357, 30 HR, 80 RBI), 1B Nick Kurtz (.370, 24 HR, 69 RBI), RHP Rhett Lowder (15-0, 1.92 ERA, 108 IP, 131 K), LHP Josh Hartle (10-2, 2.80 ERA, 96.1 IP, 131 K).

Notes: Holding the overall top seed has been anything but a guarantor of success historically speaking – Miami (Fla.) in 1999 was the last to claim the title, but the Demon Deacons have already defied recent precedent by getting to this point. By most measures Wake is the most complete team in Omaha, leading the nation in team ERA and ranking fourth in the country in scoring. Its plus-59 run differential thus far in the NCAA tournament is the highest ever under the current format.

College World Series schedule

Game 1 - Oral Roberts 6, TCU 5

Game 2 - Florida 6, Virginia 5

Saturday, June 17

Game 3 - Wake Forest 3, Stanford 2

Game 4 - LSU 6, Tennessee 3

Sunday, June 18

Game 5 - TCU 4, Virginia 3

Game 6 - Florida 5, Oral Roberts 4

Monday, June 19

Game 7 - Tennessee 6, Stanford 4

Game 8 - Wake Forest 3, LSU 2

Tuesday, June 20

Game 9 - TCU 6, Oral Roberts 1

Game 10 - LSU 5, Tennessee 0

Wednesday, June 21

Game 11 - Florida 3, TCU 2 (TCU eliminated)

Game 12 - LSU 5, Wake Forest 2

Thursday, June 22

Game 14 - LSU 2, Wake Forest 0

Championship series

Best two-of-three

Saturday, June 24

Game 1 - LSU 4, Florida 3 (11 innings)

Sunday, June 25

Game 2 - Florida vs. LSU, 3 p.m., ESPN

Monday, June 26

Game 3 -Florida vs. LSU, if necessary, 7 p.m., ESPN

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College World Series teams, bracket, schedule, results