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The 2022 College World Series field features some of college baseball’s most recognizable programs that all have one thing in common.
The eight programs in the field are either in the middle of long title droughts or have never won in Omaha, Nebraska.
The Stanford Cardinal are the highest national seed left from the NCAA baseball tournament, while the Texas Longhorns have the most College World Series titles in the field.
Stanford and Texas have 17 finals appearances between them at the College World Series, but the last title from the pair came from the Longhorns in 2005.
The eight-team field is completed by four SEC teams and two others from outside the top college baseball conference. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Oklahoma Sooners fill the non-SEC category. Oklahoma and Texas are scheduled to join the SEC in a few years.
The SEC tied the College World Series record for most teams qualified from a single conference, but the conference may not come away with the national title, as it did last year with the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
College World Series Schedule
Friday, June 17
Oklahoma vs. Texas A&M (2 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Notre Dame vs. Texas (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Saturday, June 18
Arkansas vs. Stanford (2 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Ole Miss vs. Auburn (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2)
Full schedule with dates and times can be found here on NCAA.com.
Stanford and Texas are two of four remaining national seeds in the tournament along with the Texas A&M Aggies and Auburn Tigers.
Stanford ended up as the only non-SEC squad in its portion of the bracket. The Cardinal needed three wins in each of the first two rounds to advance to Omaha, so they can be susceptible to losses.
Auburn, the Arkansas Razorbacks and Ole Miss Rebels all slugged their ways to Omaha, and there is a case to be made for all three SEC West squads to land in the championship series.
Stanford has more MLB-ready talent, led by Brock Jones, and its offensive depth is deeper than its three potential foes in Omaha. The Cardinal have four players with 18 or more home runs.
The SEC squads have some notable individual talents, but their entire rosters may not be able to outslug Stanford over multiple games.
Meanwhile, in the top part of the bracket, Texas and Texas A&M could be on a collision course to face each other in the winners’ bracket.
In fact, Texas will have a rival of some capacity waiting for it if it beats Notre Dame on Friday night. Big 12 rival Oklahoma plays Texas A&M in the opener.
Texas has one of the best aces in the country in Pete Hansen and the home run leader in Ivan Melendez, but the Longhorns are facing a team that dethroned the No. 1 team in the country on the road to get to Omaha.
Notre Dame won on the road for two straight weekends, and it will not fear one of the top pitchers in the country. The energy exuded over the last two rounds may catch up to the Fighting Irish at some point in Omaha, so they may not be the favorite to come out of the top side.
The College World Series employs a double-elimination format, so the losers on Friday and Saturday will have chances to come back and get on a run over the next week to reach the championship series.
One team from each side of the bracket will land in the championship series, which is scheduled to begin on June 25. A best-of-three series will decide the NCAA champion.
