Super Seeded or Soon To Be Superseded?
Webster defines “seeding” as to schedule teams in a tournament so the superior teams do not meet in the early rounds. He also defines “superseding” as displacing one in favor of another and to force out of use as inferior. So my next question is are the eight teams seeded by the NCAA Division One baseball committee last Monday Super Seeds or soon to be Superseded? The truth is that the last five College World Series winners were unseeded at the beginning of the tournament including last year’s champion Fresno State Bulldogs who went all the way despite going only 33-27 in the regular season. The tournament starts this weekend with four teams each at sixteen locations trying to avoid two losses and elimination from the tournament. One team from each region will advance to the Super Regionals which begin next Friday and the teams switch to a best two out of three games format. So only five victories separate each team from a trip to Omaha, Nebraska for the College World Series. Six of the eight top seeds made it to Omaha last year but only three did so the year before so it goes without saying that if you do your homework there is some money to made wagering on this event. Let’s take a look at the current Las Vegas odds to win it all on the top eight seeds.
| 1 | Texas | 4/1 |
| 2 | Fullerton | 5/2 |
| 3 | LSU | 65/1 |
| 4 | UNC | 10/1 |
| 5 | Arizona State | 3/1 |
| 6 | UC Irvine | 7/1 |
| 7 | Oklahoma | 12/1 |
| 8 | Florida | 15/1 |
Any of the above eight teams could get hot and run the table to and through Omaha. Texas second to only USC in titles has probably the deepest pitching staff with starters Ruffin, Green and Workman and proven closer Austin Wood. They will be tough to beat but I am a little biased towards a team who opens play tonight about two miles from my home…..the Anteaters from UC Irvine. They are armed with a couple of killer B’s named Bibona and Bergma both junior starters who have gone a combined 20-3 this season for a team that won 43 games. Southpaw Danny Bilbona starts tonight against the defending champion Bulldogs of Fresno State and rightie Christian Bergma is scheduled to take the mound on Saturday. Anteater fans should know by Sunday whether they have a shot at going to “corn country” this year. Also in the Irvine regional is San Diego State (40-12) coached by Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn and led by projected number one draft pick pitcher Steven Strasburg who went 13-0 this year with a 1.24 ERA. The current odds on the Aztecs are 75/1. Interesting, VERY interesting!!! Personally I will be waiting for the field to be in Omaha before wagering on my pick(s). Remember these are young kids not professionals and a lot can happen between here and Omaha.