Road to Omaha: Full NCAA Baseball Tournament Reaction and Breakdown
We're here. The Road to Omaha is officially underway as we have the 64 teams which will compete for the 2021 national title. So without further ado, let's take a closer look at the bracket and some of these Regionals.
Initial Thoughts:
- Man, Tennessee got a tough draw. The No. 3 overall seed gets ACC champion Duke on a 12-game winning streak, a Liberty team which beat the Vols in the 2019 Chapel Hill Regional and Wright State, the highest-scoring team in Division I, as its 4-seed. Not exactly what anyone expected for the Vols.
- Nebraska would have probably rather been a 3-seed than getting sent to Fayetteville to take on Arkansas. The 31-12 Big Ten champs get rewarded with a road trip to the best team in the country. Yikes.
- LSU and Alabama sneak in, but Georgia gets left out. Of the three SEC bubble teams, Alabama would have actually been third on my list to make the Tournament, but they got in there by the skin of their teeth. UGA was one of the First Four Out, alongside Baylor, Pitt and Ball State.
- South Carolina will host a Regional, but will do so as a 2-seed. No. 11 Old Dominion will be the 1-seed in the Columbia Regional, thanks to how things were done this year due to Covid. It's been a while since we've seen a traveling 1-seed, so I'm curious to see how that Regional shakes out.
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Most Intriguing Regional: Eugene
The Knoxville Regional is probably the toughest pod of the 16, but there are some great storylines among the four teams in Eugene. LSU snuck into the Tournament in Paul Mainieri's final season, but absolutely has the talent to find itself in Omaha. Gonzaga was also one of the best stories of this season and easily could have been one of the 16 host sites. I wouldn't be surprised at all if whichever team wins that game ends up coming out of this Regional.
Lower Seeds You Do Not Want to Play:
- Fairfield
The Stags finished the season with a 37-3 record and No. 2 in the country in RPI. They got a tough draw in Texas, but that's a team the Longhorns definitely did not want as a 3-seed.
- Wright State
I mentioned the Raiders earlier, who scored an NCAA-leading 488 runs in 46 games this season. In a four-game series against Purdue Fort Wayne, Wright State put up 88 runs. Obviously a lineup you do not want to catch on the wrong day.
- Michigan
I'm still not quite exactly sure what to make of that South Bend Regional, but I know I don't want to play whoever wins between Michigan and UConn if I'm Notre Dame. The Wolverines flew a little under the radar in the Big Ten this year, but still have plenty of talent from that 2019 team which fell just a game short of a national championship.
Best Potential Super Regional: Arkansas-Louisiana Tech
There aren't too many potential Super Regional matchups that jump out at me very much, but this one could end up being the best out of any of them and be a lot closer than people think. If Arkansas and Louisiana Tech both advance out of their respective Regionals, the teams would meet for a Super in Fayetteville.
The Hogs actually traveled to Ruston earlier this season and the Bulldogs shut out Arkansas in one of the games and narrowly lost another in 10 innings. I'm sure Tech wouldn't mind another shot at the top team in the country with a trip to Omaha on the line.
So those are my initial thoughts on the field of 64. We get it all going on Friday and we'll be down to just 16 teams by this time next week. I can't wait.