Baseball America | Blog | Baseball America College Blog | CWS Field Loaded With Compelling Storylines

The College World Series field is set, as South Carolina, Kent State and Arkansas won their super regionals Monday to join Florida, Florida State, Stony Brook, Arizona and UCLA in Omaha. We recapped Monday's action elsewhere on the College Blog, so let's take some time to examine this fascinating CWS field.

The big story is the pair of Northern teams crashing the party. No team from Ohio or further Northeast has been to Omaha since Maine in 1986, and this year's field will include two such teams. Kent State is the first team from the Buckeye State to reach Omaha since Ohio University in 1970, and the first Mid-American Conference team to make it since Eastern Michigan in 1976. Stony Brook is the first team from the Empire State to make it since St. John's in 1980.

The warmest winter and spring that many Northerners can remember certainly made a difference this year, allowing cold-weather teams to practice outside in February—a prospect that is ordinarily impossible. The weather certainly contributed to the great Northern baseball renaissance of 2012, which also included a trip to super regionals by St. John's and a banner season for Purdue, which hosted a regional.

But attributing the success of the Northern teams to the weather is a major oversimplification.

"I think it shows that parity in college baseball does exist," Kent State coach Scott Stricklin said. "And that's something that we talked about a few years ago as coaches, with the scholarships, with the roster limits, with all those things that are put into play—we wanted this to be a national game. Now, I don't know how many coaches in the Southeast and the West actually wanted that to happen, but that's what's happening. You're seeing players that are spread out a little more evenly.

"I watched Stony Brook play three games, and they're really good. Really good. I watched St. John's, and they're really good, and I feel like we are too. And a few years ago we might not be able to be like that because maybe we'd have some kids at an SEC school sitting on the bench, or redshirting. Right now we're able to get kids to come to Kent State, and there's nothing better for our game than to grow it into a national sport."

Of course, this CWS field features a wonderful blend of traditional powers in addition to the upstarts. Four national seeds reached Omaha (No. 1 Florida, No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 Florida State and No. 8 South Carolina), as did another team seeded No. 1 in a regional that also hosted a super regional (Arizona).

The other three teams all won regionals and supers on the road—Arkansas was the No. 2 seed in Houston, Kent State was the No. 3 in Gary and Stony Brook was the No. 4 in Coral Gables. This marks just the second time since the advent of the 64-team field in 1999 that three teams reached Omaha without playing a home game in the NCAA tournament (2009 was the other time).

Perhaps the most intriguing opening-round game pits the Gators against the Gamecocks on Saturday night, in a rematch of last year's CWS Finals. The SEC team led all conferences with three teams in Omaha, and all three are on the same side of the bracket (Arkansas opens against Kent State in Saturday's first game). All four teams on this half are known for stellar pitching staffs, though Florida also features one of the field's most potent lineups.

The two Pac-12 teams in Omaha play on the opposite side of the bracket. UCLA faces Stony Brook in Friday's opener, pitting two dynamic offenses against each other. Arizona takes on Florida State in Friday's night game—another matchup between two outstanding offensive clubs. But none of the four offenses leans too heavily on the home run to generate offense, so all four should be well suited for spacious TD Ameritrade Park Omaha.

Just two of the eight CWS coaches have won national championship rings as head coaches. Arizona's Andy Lopez led Pepperdine to the 1992 title. And of course, South Carolina's Ray Tanner has won each of the last two titles. The Gamecocks enter the CWS riding an NCAA-record 21-game postseason winning streak, which includes 11 straight in Omaha. And the Michael Roth-Matt Price-Christian Walker-Evan Marzilli core that won Omaha's hearts is still intact. South Carolina is trying to become the first team to three-peat since Southern California won five straight from 1970-74.

This looks like one of the best chances for longtime Florida State coach Mike Martin to finally capture his elusive first title, especially in light of the way the Seminoles obliterated Stanford in the Tallahassee Super Regional. Three other very accomplished coaches have been to Omaha before but are still seeking their first title: Florida's Kevin O'Sullivan, Arkansas' Dave Van Horn and UCLA's John Savage.

Aside from Kent State and Stony Brook, the six other teams were all ranked in BA's preseason Top 25. Four teams ranked in our preseason top-five: No. 1 Florida, No. 3 South Carolina, No. 4 Arkansas and No. 5 Arizona. UCLA checked in at No. 14, while Florida State was No. 20. And we picked the Golden Flashes and Stony Brook to win their conferences and make regionals, at least.

There is no shortage of compelling storylines: How about the prospect of a Florida-Florida State showdown for the national title? How about a rematch of the 2010 CWS Finals between South Carolina and UCLA? Or how about the once-unthinkable notion of a Kent State-Stony Brook battle for the College World Series championship? All three outcomes are possible.

"I'm very happy for Stony Brook; I'm glad that we're in different brackets," Stricklin said. "I'd love to meet them in the championship. I'm not sure how much ESPN would like that, I'm not sure what that would do for ratings.

"There's unbelievable support in the Southeast, and the SEC with the attendance and the things that they have there. But there's nothing better for our game than to spread it around, and now we have Stony Brook and Kent State, and I think it's a great story."

Once again it looks like the ACC will fall short. Look at the weekly rankings and it's ACC teams all abound. Then come crunch time, 3 SCC, 2 PAC 12 and only 1 ACC. Stony Brook has won 40+ games 2 years in a row and no a chance of being ranked because hey come from the America Least Conference. Snubbed last year, they have proved to the writers and committee that they need to open their eyes and look past all the ACC hype

Posted by Ball Four | June 12, 2012 at 6:37 am | Shortcut

"Kent State is the first team from the Buckeye State to reach Omaha since Ohio University in 1970…"
Wasnt Ohio State the last Ohio team to make it to the CWS? Or was that a regional?

Posted by mike | June 12, 2012 at 7:57 am | Shortcut

I don't agree with South Carolina playing Florida in the first round. I understand this was determined by the order of the Super Regionals, but there could not be a better case for reseeding after the 8 teams reach the CWS. Even with the 4 teams that are in that bracket, Florida should be playing Kent St/Ark (not the 2-time defending champ and #8 National Seed) and SC should be playing the other one (not the #1 team in the nation). Two national seeds should not be playing each other while a #3 seed and a #2 seed from the *Regionals* automatically move to the winner's bracket. This isn't a whine, just a request for fairness. I know we go through it every year …
Nathan

Posted by Nathan B | June 12, 2012 at 8:42 am | Shortcut

I think there is a good case for re-seeding once we get to Omaha.

Posted by John Manuel | June 12, 2012 at 8:45 am | Shortcut

Ohio State lost in a super regional in 2003 against Southwest Missouri State (now known simply as Missouri State).

Pretty poor comment considering we (a) ranked Stony Brook heading into the tournament and (b) picked it to win a regional at an ACC team. Try again.

Posted by John Manuel | June 12, 2012 at 8:46 am | Shortcut

ohio state also lost in tallahassee in regionals, they lost 35-7 or something close to that score

Posted by matt | June 12, 2012 at 9:16 am | Shortcut

I can see the argument for reseeding. Though in the NCAA basketball tourney, they don't reseed in the sweet 16 or the elite 8 or the final 4. It can seem unfair but at the same time brings the compelling matchups. THe NFL reseeds but hey, that is the NFL.

Posted by Spike | June 12, 2012 at 9:16 am | Shortcut

This was a setup by the NCAA, they knew if they would have had UF and SC on opposite sides of the bracket, they would have likely met for the title….. That would have meant that the last 2 CWS Finals would have been ALL SEC and the Football title game was ALL SEC…… The NCAA can't have that. No wat SC any worse than a 5 seed. UNC ahaead of SC????? REALLY????? GOOD CALL!!!!!!

Posted by Nathan N | June 12, 2012 at 10:01 am | Shortcut

Good to see my Razorbacks back at the CWS. Tough series at Waco, nail biter last night. Should be some great games in Omaha. Arizona, UCLA, FSU, Florida, S. Carolina all looked great so far. Kent St and Stony Brook (52 wins) are great stories and obviously have good teams also. Gonna be tough, hoping the Hogs can finally break through for their first title.

Posted by Chip Owens | June 12, 2012 at 10:09 am | Shortcut

I don't like the idea of re-seeding, practically. It's a good idea in theory, except to the extent I don't trust anybody involved w/ the NCAA. They'll be trying to create storylines, or worried about the best TV dollars. Re-seeding would wind up opening other doors to be unfair. And besides, you gotta beat everybody, or beat somebody that beat them. Go Gamecocks.

Posted by Matt | June 12, 2012 at 10:10 am | Shortcut

Kent State was aided by the scholarship rules, weather, and the umpiring in the Gary Regional. Three definitive calls demonstrate that Kentucky should have one the opening game as well as the deciding game in the regional.

Posted by Mike | June 12, 2012 at 12:29 pm | Shortcut

Sounds like sour grapes Mike.

Posted by John Manuel | June 12, 2012 at 12:32 pm | Shortcut

6 Omaha teams were in your preseason top 25? 4 of them in the top 5?
And the other two, you predicted to win their conferences….
Haha. That's pretty darn good, guys. Well done. Thanks for all the great coverage all year. Appreciated as always.
Oh, and feel free to put Tulane in the preseason top 5 next year (you know, just in case it really is you guys just *willing* teams into the CWS – it certainly couldn't hurt).

Go Stony Brook – anybody who beats LSU is a friend of Tulane.

Posted by Dan | June 12, 2012 at 12:53 pm | Shortcut

No sour grapes here, but that's probably because my Hogs made it to the CWS! I'm actually more worried about Kent St. than our potential matchup with Fla-SC. We went 3-3 vs. those two teams…see no reason to lack confidence there. What are your thoughts, John, on our chances to make the title series?

Posted by Matt | June 12, 2012 at 1:12 pm | Shortcut

Thanks to Stony Brook and Kent State, this will be one of the most interesting CWS in a while!…. SB is legit, don't sleep on them.

Posted by Sven Jenkins | June 12, 2012 at 2:26 pm | Shortcut

The only way I'd approve of reseeding is if the selection committee seeded all teams 1-64 from the start, and then matchups in the CWS (and maybe even Supers) were based on that. Allowing the NCAA to manually seed before the CWS would open too many cans of worms with matchups and perceived favoritism.

Posted by Erik | June 12, 2012 at 2:39 pm | Shortcut

I watched all the 'supers' with unbiased (since Alabama currently stinks in baseball). Stony Brook is the most complete team and I wouldn't be surprised by any more success. However, if FSU continues to hit I really think they will win that side of bracket.
Pitching will be used up in bottom (SEC invitational) bracket. Therefore, the Seminoles finally bring the Championship to Tallahassee.

Posted by Steven | June 12, 2012 at 3:15 pm | Shortcut

Reseeding is probably the fair thing to do but you still have to beat whoever you play. I do think Florida is the best team. The Seminoles benefited from a very weak ACC (Despite the love from RPI and BA). Left coast (UCLA) baseball isn't what it used to be. The "experts" would give all 3 teams a head to head edge against the Gamecocks but despite inferior pitching, hitting and fielding they seem to just win. Heck even Ray Tanner admits they don't stack up on paper. Good thing the game is played on the field! Go Gamecocks 3-Peat!!!

Posted by Jeff | June 12, 2012 at 4:19 pm | Shortcut

Re-seeding is moronic. If you can't make it through your bracket then you ain't gonna win the championship And that's what it's all about after the participation trophy that is making the CWS at all.. It isn't about who comes in second.

Posted by Abe Froman | June 12, 2012 at 5:42 pm | Shortcut

Arron, first of the year You said You learned not to pick against a return to CWS by the Gamecocks. Good Call. MagicMan (Ray Tanner) keeps throwing the chicken bones out and seems to allways seems to come up with the right call in the post season. Enjoyed your blogs all season and will keep up with BA during CWS.

Posted by David | June 12, 2012 at 8:33 pm | Shortcut

John M.,
I would like to hear the case for why the CWS participants should be reseeded once they get there. I'm against it, but I'm open to hearing why? Arkansas beat the #4 National Seed, Kent State beat the #5 National Seed, and Stony Brook beat the #7 National Seed in their yards. Why shouldn't they inherit a status equal to that of the National Seeds that they defeated? Just curious as to what the case is. Thanks for all of BAs great coverage.

Posted by Scott | June 12, 2012 at 10:46 pm | Shortcut

Ball Four –
The reality was … this was a down year for the ACC. Virginia over-achieved – this was a rebuilding year as they look forward to next year, when the young bats of this year have matured a bit more and they add a dynamic arm to the rotation in Nate Kirby (although the pen will be a question). What else? Clemson was an erratic squad, with an inconsistent lineup. Tech struggled all year, particularly on the pitching side. The team to watch may be NC State, but they were awfully young this year.

As a conference, the ACC should be that much better next year, with, off the top, UVA/NC State/FSU all looking like deep and talented squads as of now. UNC, on paper, should be better. Miami won't get Correa and Almora, but with the youngsters in place already, they should get better. Then, Tech and Clemson should be their usual solid selves, and maybe Maryland can build on some of the positives this year.

All this doesn't mean that it will translate into more teams in Omaha, but my point is – even the most ardent ACC fan would've acknowledged that this year, while every team "dreams", was more of a rebuilding year for the conference. I mean, UVA was one of the prime teams in the ACC this year and they really had two starting pitchers this year after Mayberry went down, as no one really took the 4th slot and Silverstein struggled badly down the stretch, along with a, not necessarily young, but raw, lineup that went through growing pains.

Posted by Tony | June 13, 2012 at 1:35 am | Shortcut

Good point, Erik.

Posted by Aaron Fitt | June 13, 2012 at 1:51 am | Shortcut

Terrific post, Tony — I agree completely. I did have the feeling all year long that this was kind of a down year for the ACC, despite its No. 1 RPI (yet another strike against the RPI…).

Posted by Aaron Fitt | June 13, 2012 at 1:55 am | Shortcut

All this talk about the ACC' s down year, this and that, well how about we give it up for the Seminoles and their terrific season thus far! Especially with the firing of 22yr Pitching Coach Jamie Shouppe, a very tough, but smart business decision that had to be made. Mike Bell has got to be a candidate for Assistant Coach of the Year, no?

fingers crossed. N-O-L-E-S

Posted by Matt | June 13, 2012 at 1:35 pm | Shortcut

All good points Matt.

Posted by John Manuel | June 14, 2012 at 7:31 pm | Shortcut

I don’t feel strongly either way, and I’m not necessarily in favor of re-seeding; the case as I have heard it would be to prevent unequal CWS brackets. Say one year, in the current setup, the Nat’l 1, 4, 5 & 8 seeds all advanced, and the other bracket was all 2 & 3 seeds. There probably isn’t much difference between seeds 3 & 4, or 5 & 6, but matchups might have been tough for those 3 & 6 seeds, or they just had a bad weekend. That is the argument I have heard from coaches, that upsets sometimes create very unbalanced brackets in Omaha. For example the SEC teams here would prefer that their three representatives not all be in the same bracket. That’s the argument; I understand the case. I don’t necessarily agree with it, but I see some merit, especially in the first argument as opposed to the second one. I do think you want to have it set up for the two best teams to play for the championship, but I don’t think the current setup precludes that.

Posted by John Manuel | June 15, 2012 at 9:42 am | Shortcut

Thanks for the reseeding explanation John. Hope they leave things be. When coaches start saying things like "matchups might have been tough", "had a bad weekend", and "upsets" I think the team that advanced is not getting all of the credit for doing so. Stony Brook beating LSU did not look like an upset, they looked like the better team all weekend. Plus, the Seawolves had to play in a VERY advantageous environment for LSU yet still won. So, if LSU was the no doubt, no debate #7 National Seed, Stony Brook has to be considered at least equal to that #7 National Seed don't they?
What would the reseeding be based on? RPI (my goodness I hope not)? How the teams looked so far in the tournament?
Hypothetical situation (deliberately outlandish to make a point): Say #1 seed Florida lost to Bethune-Cookman, beat Ga. Tech, then the C of C twice (say 11-10 and 15-14) in the Regional round. In the SR, they lost to UNCW (who upset N.C. State in the Raleigh Regional) 13-1 in game one before beating them in games two and three to advance to Omaha. Meanwhile, Stony Brook swept Miami (Fla), Missouri State, and Central Florida by an average score of 15-2 in the Regional round. Then they went to LSU for the SR and won game one 10-0 and game two 12-1 to advance to Omaha. Would anyone still think #1 Florida being matched up with Stony Brook after reseeding in the CWS was a good idea?
Really hope the powers that be leave the bracket intact for the tournament's entirety going forward.

Posted by Scott | June 15, 2012 at 11:32 am | Shortcut

I think your best point is the hypothetical: what would re-seeding be based on? Unless you seed 1-64 to start, I’m not sure how you re-seed later. I don’t think it’s too practical to re-seed. The current system isn’t broken; I wouldn’t tweak it. I appreciate the back-and-forth.

Posted by John Manuel | June 15, 2012 at 6:57 pm | Shortcut

Why all three SEC Schools n the same bracket?
Don't want another BCS title game ? ALL SEC ?
I think that is very unfair………no way they all belong in one bracket so 2 get eliminated because they have to .
Ridiculous parings.

Posted by Gary | June 16, 2012 at 11:29 pm | Shortcut