CWS Picks

The College World Series starts tomorrow, so it's about time that I came clean about my horrible predictions. In the early going last weekend, my picks looked flat out horrific. Miami, Georgia Tech, and Florida State (each from the ACC) were all swept; I had them picked for Omaha.

Later in the weekend, Tulane, Oregon State, Texas, and Baylor all came through. That made me four for eight on picks (I was also off on the Arizona State - Fullerton series). That's not too sparkling of a record. I will say though that I called Oregon State a few months back. So that should count for something (I also picked Miami and FSU with my heart and not with my head).

Excuses over. Now on to Omaha talk.

The opening round features some interesting matchups. Texas and Baylor are very familiar with each other. So are Tennessee and Florida.

I'm still getting used to the new CWS format - where there are effectively two four-team regionals, followed by one two-team super regional to decide the national champion. This year the brackets are: 1) Tulane - OSU, Texas - Baylor and 2) Tennessee - Florida, Arizona State - Nebraska.

My personal favorite for the rest of the tournament is Arizona State. I grew up following Arizona State baseball and they're the closest thing I have left to a school that I have any allegiance to. The Marlins Paul LoDuca is also a Sun Devil. Plus, ASU's come-from-behind series victory is also a good story, particularly after they lost the opening game against Fullerton last weekend on a phantom balk call. Arizona State is the Cinderella of this tournament, along with Tennessee, so I'm happy to cheer for them.

Unfortunately, they face Nebraska in the opening game and the Huskers are loaded with pitching. Even if the Sun Devils survive the opening game, they're likely to have to face the Huskers later in the week (keep in mind that the CWS is double elimination).

There are a lot of great players (as always) to watch in this year's CWS. Many of the players you'll see in the next week and a half will be major league stars in the coming years. Nebraska features Jeff Gordon. Tennessee features Luke Hochevar. Tulane features Micah Owings and Brian Bougesvic. Texas has Taylor Teagarden, who has a name that's as cool as he is a good player. Florida features, well... who cares.

I like Tulane to knock out Texas in the "left" bracket (based on how the form is printed, I'm not trying to get political). On the right side, I'll take Arizona State to knock off Nebraska (although that's another heart and not a head pick). In the championship round (best of three), I like Tulane over Arizona State. That Tulane was able to come back against Rice last weekend was very impressive. They have a team loaded with future pros (maybe not major leaguers, but pros). There is depth at Tulane, plus a number of special players. That's a winning formula at the CWS.