College World Series 2015: Bracket, TV Schedule and Favorites Entering Omaha
Another memorable College World Series is all but guaranteed entering the 2015 edition, which kicks off Saturday, with the NCAA's best eight clubs descending upon Omaha, Nebraska for a chance to crown themselves national champions.
Squads had to fight through a 64-team tournament, including a super regional, just to get here and now will have to do the same in a double-elimination bracket chock-full of national powerhouses. Now that the MLB draft is in the books as well, big league fans can see their newest prospects on the biggest stage possible.
The action is set to begin in Omaha this weekend, so take a look below to get tuned in.
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TV Schedule
| Sat., June 13 | Virginia vs. Arkansas | 3 p.m. | ESPN |
| Sat., June 13 | Miami vs. Florida | 8 p.m. | ESPN |
| Sun., June 14 | TCU vs. LSU | 3 p.m. | ESPN |
| Sun., June 14 | CSU Fullerton vs. Vanderbilt | 8 p.m. | ESPN2 |
Live streaming available at WatchESPN.
Bracket
Ross Dellenger of the Advocate provided the tournament bracket graphic below:
Favorites
LSU
After emerging from a tough SEC tournament semifinal defeat to win their regional and super regional in resounding fashion, the LSU Tigers are primed as perhaps the greatest threat to hoist the trophy come June 23.
The red-hot Tigers didn't lose their 10th game of the season until Florida bounced them from the SEC tourney three weeks back, and they followed it up by rummaging through the NCAA tournament. Their five wins that punched their ticket to Omaha were by a combined score of 24-9.
LSU's dominance carries over to the stat sheets. Not only are the Tigers one of just two CWS teams with a top-10 batting average (.316), but they're the only squad that ranks in the top 10 in earned run average (2.84) as well.
Both Alex Lange and Jared Poche are aces on the mound for LSU, headlining a versatile rotation that helps the Tigers in tournament settings such as Omaha. As Glenn Guilbeau of USA Today noted, both should see the ball early:
The Tigers will face another squad used to making appearances in Omaha to start out play, as the TCU Horned Frogs loom. The Horned Frogs will be making a repeat trip to the CWS and their third in six years, but they had to pull out an incredible 5-4 win in 16 innings over Texas A&M to get to this point.
Having lost just three games by a combined five runs since the start of May (a span that includes 17 contests, many of which had high stakes), LSU looks the part of a squad that will be around for the final few days of action.
Vanderbilt
It's an SEC-heavy College World Series and not just in terms of total numbers. Four of the eight teams are from the nation's premier conference, but Vanderbilt joins LSU and perhaps Florida as the teams with the best chance of winning it all.
When it comes to these Commodores, their prowess is far from surprising. After all, they took home the title last year, and they return a crop of impact players from that squad poised to go out with a championship repeat.
They have the first overall player taken in the MLB draft, shortstop Dansby Swanson, who sets the tone both at the plate and on the field. Add on No. 8 overall pick and ace pitcher Carson Fulmer along with 24th-overall selection Walker Buehler, and you have a pitching rotation capable of carrying them through. ESPN Stats & Info noted what the three players have brought Vandy from a historical perspective:
A bunch of big names doesn't necessarily translate to success, but it's been apparent that the Commodores have found their gear after some late-season struggles. They averaged just 6.5 runs per game during the season, a number that they improved to 9.2 over the postseason.
If Vandy can continue to get that potency from the plate and lean on Fulmer and Buehler to keep things under wraps, the Commodores could stroll to a second-straight national title and send their future MLB stars out on the right note.
Miami
The sizzle may be coming from the SEC, but when it comes to just getting it done on the diamond, nobody has been quite as impressive as the Miami Hurricanes entering the CWS.
The 'Canes aren't just beating their opposition, they're beating them into the ground. Ever since a two-game skid to Florida State back in April, they have nine victories of the double-digit variety.
Their only loss in NCAA tournament play was a 3-0 loss to Columbia, which prompted a resounding 21-3 drubbing in the third and decisive game. They rank atop the entire nation in runs by a wide margin, sixth in batting average and can score in a bevy of ways, as NCAA Baseball demonstrated:
Of course, their impressive style of winning will be tested very early on in Omaha, as they play in-state rivals Florida—arguably an even bigger title contender. They played an early-season series that Florida won two games to one, but that was then and this is now, second baseman George Iskenderian told Miami Herald's Andre C. Fernandez:
“I think we’re two different teams since the first time we played,” Iskenderian said. "They turned it around and so did we. The bats have heated up and both teams have great pitching so it will be a great game."
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