College World Series 2021: TV Schedule and Predictions from Omaha

College baseball is back in Omaha. The College World Series has returned after a one-year layoff.

In a shade under two weeks, the eight-team field will be whittled down to two by a double-elimination tournament. The last two left standing then hold a winner-take-all best-of-three series.

This is the holiday season for college baseball fans, so let's see what kind of presents await.

TV Schedule

Date: June 19-30

Location: TD Ameritrade Park Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska

TV: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU

Live Steam: ESPN+

Tournament Breakdown

Six of the nation's top nine teams comprise three-quarters of the field. A pair of surprising ACC squads make up the rest.

Let's start with the Cinderellas, since those are often the greatest stories in college sports. First, there's Virginia, a team that avoided elimination in six of its eight NCAA tournament games before securing its spot with a seventh-inning, two-out grand slam by freshman Kyle Teel.

Then, there's NC State, a team that somehow escaped its Super Regional series against top-ranked Arkansas despite losing the opener 21-2. But the Wolfpack rallied to a pair of consecutive one-run victories, the second punctuated by freshman shortstop Jose Torres' ninth inning home run off Razorbacks' likely Golden Spikes Award winner Kevin Kopps, who carried a minuscule 0.66 ERA into the contest.

"They're a really good group of players and committed to one another," NC State coach Elliott Avent told reporters. "... They believed early on when we were 1-8 that we could rebound, and they stuck with it."

The rest of the field features No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Tennessee, No. 4 Vanderbilt, No. 5 Arizona, No. 7 Mississippi State and No. 9 Stanford.

Tournament Predictions

If you're peering into a crystal ball for this tournament, you'll first come across a picture of the Commodores.

Vanderbilt won this tournament the last time it was held, and it has the talent to repeat. That's thanks in no small part to starting pitchers Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter, who are respectively the first and second-ranked MLB draft prospects by D1baseball.com (via NCAA.com).

Rocker has gone 13-3 this season with a 2.46 ERA and 155 strikeouts against 36 walks in 106 innings. Leiter, the son of former MLB hurler Al Leiter, is 10-3 with a 2.16 ERA and 156 strikeouts versus 41 walks in 96 innings. As difficult as it is to choose the best of the pair, it's even harder to come up with offenses that can hit them hard.

But there are explosive offenses in this field, starting with Vandy's first opponent, Arizona. The Wildcats led all of college baseball with 526 runs this season, and they plated 25 of them during their two Super Regional wins over No. 12 Ole Miss.

Tennessee has boppers up and down the lineup. Seven different Volunteers had at least one multi-homer game this season, and the team leads the tournament field with 98 long balls.

Stanford scored 24 runs in its two-game Super Regional sweep of No. 8 Texas Tech, as sophomore outfielder Brock Jones belted three homers (including a grand slam) in the clincher.

Looking beyond the offenses, Texas might have the pitching to pull off a tournament title. The Longhorns lead the nation with a 2.89 ERA. NC State could have the defense to get this done. The Wolfpack's .983 fielding percentage ranks second overall and tops among CWS qualifiers.

Virginia posted a top-20 ERA (3.70, 16th overall) with senior Andrew Abbott doing the heaviest lifting. He has 152 strikeouts and just 32 earned runs. Mississippi State paces the nation with a collective 12.4 strikeouts per nine innings and ranks 10th overall with a 3.17 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

These eight teams are still standing for a reason, and any could go on a championship-clinching run.

Still, the 1-2 punch of Rocker and Leiter feels like the ultimate trump card here. Look for Vanderbilt to defend its throne with a championship win over Texas.