Preview of 2008 College World Series, Part 1

One of the least publicized but most interesting sporting events of the year has fallen upon us: The NCAA Division I College Baseball Tournament.

Beginning with double-elimination regional play this Friday, and ending with the "Best of Three" final towards the end of June at Omaha's fabled Rosenblatt Stadium, the College Baseball World Series is one of the most drama-filled and unpredictable events in sports.

However, it gets little media coverage compared to the similarly-structured NCAA College Basketball tournament.

Why is this so? Aside from the fact that no team who makes the final field is "one and done," many of the tournament's stars fail to make it big in the major leagues.

Of course there are the cases of Texas' Roger Clemens, Oklahoma State's Robin Ventura, and Arizona State's Barry Bonds, to name a few. But unlike with March Madness, the players you see make the final eight won't necessarily be ones you'll be seeing lighting up Major League ballparks in the coming years.

This year's edition of the NCAA College Baseball World Series arguably features as much parity as this year's basketball tournament did. The two-time defending champs from Oregon State didn't even make the field of 64 this season, and few "experts" are having an easy time selecting a clear-cut national champion. 

For the remainder of this preview, I'll briefly break down each of the four-team regions and give a winner. This in no way is an exact science, but I have been following essentially all of the participating teams at some point this season, and I have a good handle on who will perform well this post-season.

So without further ado, I'll start out with the No. 1 overall seed and the bad boys of college baseball: The Miami Hurricanes.

So take note, and get some of your buddies together and create a pool. It's not quite as exciting as the college basketball tournament, but definitely as unpredictable.

The Miami Region

This region features some big name squads who had high hopes this season. All of them accomplished getting to the "dance," but some had easier times doing it than others.

Miami faces off against Bethune-Cookman, a solid No. 4 seed who has developed into a viable small-conference program. B-C won't upset the Hurricanes in this opener, but wil definitely give their Floridian rivals a run for their money.

Ole Miss faces off against Missouri in this intriguing 3-2 match up. Both teams were in the pre-season top 10, but failed to live up to the hype. Ole Miss finished better in the SEC tournament than Missouri did in the Big 12, so I'll give the Rebels the edge in this one.

Ultimately, I like Miami moving past Ole Miss in three games. I like the way the Rebels finished in the SEC conference tourney, losing to unbeatable LSU in the final, but Miami is the more consistent squad.

Ann Arbor Region

In this region, we have host and No. 2 seed Michigan, No. 1 Arizona, No. 3 Kentucky, and No. 4 Eastern Michigan.

Although Michigan is a #2 seed, it is the host. The NCAA is trying to spread out the regional sites around America, and I commend them for it, although I believe Arizona shouldn't have been the sole #1 to lose home field advantage.

Nevertheless, I don't believe Michigan or Arizona will claim the Ann Arbor region.

In an upset special, I like No. 3-seeded Kentucky to take this one over Arizona.

Athens Region

The Athens regional is the most difficult in my opinion. You have three teams that could potentially play in Omaha: No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Georgia Tech, and No. 3 Louisville, a CWS participant from last year and a team peaking at the right time.

Lipscomb University rounds out the four. As balanced as these teams appear to be on paper, I can't deny the attractiveness of a Georgia/Georgia Tech final. I like the host Bulldogs to come out of this ultra-competitive bracket, even though the Jackets took two of three during the regular season.

Baton Rouge Region

In the Baton Rouge regional, we have three squads who are quite familiar with each other, and Texas Southern, the team with the lowest RPI and worst record in the tournament, hoping to disturb the status quo.

LSU has won 20 straight and is undeniably the hottest team in the nation. They're also staying at Alex Box, one of the most difficult venues in the nation for visitors.

As good as the Tigers are, Southern Miss finished a solid No. 2 in C-USA, and UNO has one of the most efficient offenses in the nation. New Orleans also took two of three from LSU this season.

As much as I like the Privateers, I don't trust their pitching and defense. I will go with the Bayou Bengals out of this region, but not without fights from Southern Miss and UNO.

Cary Regional

The Cary regional appears to be one of the easiest in the tournament on paper. But don't discount UNC-Wilmington and their 42-15 record.

They are an experienced squad who has performed admirably in previous tournaments. They're worthy of a No. 2 seed, but barely. After all, they were swept by a questionable No. 2 seed in East Carolina earlier in the year. Let's face it: they're running into a buzz-saw.

UNC might be the most talented team in the nation. UNC may slip up and succumb to the pressure in later rounds, but not here. The Diamond Heels should get by Wilmington, Elon, and Mount St. Mary's quite easily.

Going back to the basketball comparisons, interesting coincidence that UNC and the Mount will meet again in the first round of a tournament. Expect a similar blowout.

College Station Regional

This regional features three teams familiar with each other in hosts Texas A&M, No. 2 seed Dallas Baptist (yes, it exists and its team is actually pretty good), No. 3 seed and C-USA tourney champ Houston, and No. 4 Illinois-Chicago.

All four of these teams are actually pretty good, and I won't be surprised if a lower seed took this bracket. As well as Houston has played recently, I still think the Aggies will take this region. But don't be surprised if the hosts drop a game in this wild one.

Conway, S.C. Regional

The Conway, S.C. regional is one of the more ridiculous ones, in my opinion. The tournament directors obviously took "geographic proximity" to an extreme here. Coastal Carolina is a worthy No. 1 seed, but not THIS worthy.

The No. 2 seed is East Carolina, arguably one of the weakest No. 2 seeds in recent memory. Yes, the Pirates finished 40-19, but they were the fifth best team in C-USA and went an unimpressive 1-2 in their conference tourney.

Being a bubble team is one thing. A No. 2 seed with a relatively weak No. 1? Ridiculous.

Alabama is the No. 3 seed, and Columbia is the No. 4. Honestly, I have no idea who will win this bracket, but my gut instinct is to go with the hosts over Alabama.

I wouldn't be surprised if Columbia took the consolation game from East Carolina, that's how shocked I am at their seeding. Coastal Carolina moves on from this regional. That should infuriate teams like Miami and Rice.

Fullerton Regional

The Fullerton Regional may pose some problems for the host. Yes, the Titans took one from No. 2 seed UCLA on May 20, but the Bruins come into the tournament winning five of their last seven and were thought of as a potential No. 1 team by many at the beginning of the season.

Fullerton isn't exactly playing its best ball right now, dropping their last series to tourney-participating Long Beach. Virginia has stayed in the middle of the ACC all season, but comes into the tournament peaking. Don't be surprised if they knock off UCLA in their opener.

Rider's magical run through the MAAC tourney won't last more than two games in Fullerton. I'll take the Titans to advance in this region, but don't think they'll advance past the super regional.

Just to review part one of this two-part preview, I have the following eight teams moving on so far: Miami, Kentucky, Georgia, LSU, Texas A&M, UNC, Coastal Carolina, and Cal-State Fullerton.

My predictions for the other eight regions will come in part two of this preview.