College World Series 2021: Latest Championship Predictions and Schedule

What was an eight-team field in the 2021 College World Series has now been sliced in half.

Only four clubs are still standing in Omaha, Nebraska, and by Saturday night (at the latest), that group will be halved again.

Defending champs Vanderbilt have turned this tournament into a tightrope act, playing three one-run games so far and surviving two of them. Texas, the highest-seeded team in the field, has rallied from its opening loss to win back-to-back games, but it needs two more triumphs without another defeat to make the final.

NC State and Mississippi State are positioned in the driver's seat in their respective sides of the bracket. Neither has lost a game yet, so if they need them, they'll get two cracks at claiming the final victory that pushes them into the championship series.

2021 CWS Remaining Schedule

Friday, June 25

NC State vs. Vanderbilt, 2 p.m. ET on ESPN2

Mississippi State vs. Texas, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN

Saturday, June 26

TBD vs. TBD, 2 p.m. ET on ESPN (if necessary)

TBD vs. TBD, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2 (if necessary)

Monday, June 28

CWS Finals Game 1, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2

Tuesday, June 29

CWS Finals Game 2, 2 p.m. ET on ESPN

Wednesday, June 30

CWS Finals Game 3, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2 (if necessary)

Championship Predictions

The margin for error in Omaha is so razor-thin that trying to predict what lies ahead is less about making an educated guess than it is throwing a dart.

I wish that was a joke, but the simple fact Vandy is still around shows just how unpredictable this tournament can be.

On Wednesday, the Commodores entered the ninth inning of their elimination game against Stanford trailing 5-4. Their first two hitters were retired, and the third fell behind in the count 2-1. Then, that at-bat suddenly stretched out to a six-pitch walk, the next was an infield single and the one that followed was a single to right that plated the tying run and put the winning run at third base.

Two pitches into the next at-bat, Stanford's Brendan Beck, the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year, lost grip of a curveball that sailed to the backstop and allowed the winning run to score on a wild pitch.

"That happens in Omaha sometimes," Stanford coach David Esquer told reporters. "You get in those late innings, and you have a magical ending for one team or the other."

All four teams in this field can relate. Of their combined eight victories, five have been decided by a single run.

But since you came here expecting predictions, let's break out the crystal ball and make a few, shall we?

While some prognosticators always seek out the biggest and boldest calls they can deliver, usually it's best to play the percentages. So, the first prediction is that Mississippi State and NC State will lock horns in the finals.

Why? It's pretty simple. They need one win this weekend to advance; their opponents need two. Plus, they're both playing great baseball, with the Bulldogs striking out everyone (27 through two games) and the Wolfpack showing they can win with offense (10 runs, two homers in their opener) or pitching and defense (two hits allowed, nine strikeouts and zero errors committed in their second victory).

Who gets the edge in a series between them? Great question.

The Bulldogs have great pitching and plenty of thump in their lineup. But this Wolfpack team, which started the year 4-9 overall and 1-8 in the ACC, has great pitching, great offense and gobs of momentum behind it.

NC State seemed left for dead when it opened the super regional with a 21-2 loss to the nation's top-ranked team, Arkansas. But the Wolfpack haven't lost since, finding their way past SEC Pitcher of the Year Kevin Kopps, Beck and potential top-five MLB draft pick Jack Leiter in the process.

"From the start that we had and where we've been ... we're really on top of the world right now," Terrell Tatum, who homered off Leiter, told reporters. "This feeling is unmatched."

Look for NC State to ride this wave all the way to a national championship.