NCAA Baseball Tournament: Biggest Winners and Losers from a Shocking College World Series

There will be a new national champion in 2025, that much is guaranteed as the College World Series moves to Omaha, Nebraska.

Arkansas upset the Volunteers in their best-of-three series, defeating defending champion Tennessee in super regional play. Together with LSU, the Razorbacks make the SEC the only league with more than one school in the eight-team field.

Rather, the World Series consists of a eclectic makeup of national programs from six conferences and one independent, Oregon State. Murray State’s Cinderella tale continues as they defeated Duke 5-4 in their elimination game on Monday, continuing their incredible playoff run.

This year’s College World Series is a long-awaited return to Omaha for a select few teams. This includes UCLA, who hadn’t made it to the final eight since winning the 2013 national championship, and the Beavers, who hadn’t made it this far since 2018.

This appears to be a wide-open CWS that may conclude with any one of the teams rejoicing on Charles Schwab Field, as there isn’t a clear favorite going into the weekend. On paper, the Razorbacks and LSU are likely the teams to beat.

The top two teams will play a best-of-three championship series to wrap up the double-elimination World Series format. Arizona against. Coastal Carolina, Louisville vs. Oregon State, UCLA vs. Murray State, and Arkansas vs. LSU will be the first games.

Let’s take a look back at the major winners and losers from the super regionals before heading to Omaha:

Winners

Murray State

The Racers, who defeated the Blue Devils 19-9 on Sunday and 5-4 in the decider on Monday, will make their first appearance in the program’s College World Series. With this defeat, Duke’s World Series drought, which began in 1961, continues. The Racers defeated the Rebels 12-11 to advance to the program’s first super regional after being underdogs against Mississippi in the Oxford regional. They then overcame yet another setback to become just the fourth regional No. 4 seed to make it to Omaha. Murray State was simply not anticipated to make it this far.

Coastal Carolina

The Chanticleers, who defeated Auburn 7-6 in the first game and 4-1 in the second, will make their second appearance in the World Series in program history. Coastal lost the first game 6-1, but they took the lead again in the top of the 10th inning thanks to a solo home run from one of the best backstops in the nation, sophomore catcher Caden Bodine. Walker Mitchell singled to put the Chanticleers ahead 1-1 in the seventh inning of the second game. They subsequently scored two more runs on a fielding error and a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch. Be mindful of these men: Now, CCU has won 23 straight games. It took first place the previous time Coastal was here, in 2016.

Arizona

For one of the more renowned programs in the country, reaching this point is an incredibly uncommon achievement. Arizona advances to the College World Series for the 19th time after defeating North Carolina in Chapel Hill, but the team hasn’t taken home a championship since 2012. And after struggling through the end of the regular season and losing five of six games in May against mediocre opponents, including two of three in a series against Utah, the last-place Big 12 team, this year’s team was not anticipated to make it this far. However, after winning the Big 12 tournament, sweeping the Oregon-hosted regional, and defeating the Tar Heels two out of three, Arizona is now 8-1 in postseason action.

Variety

There are some heavyweights in the field: Arizona has won four times, Coastal has won in 2016, UCLA won in 2013, LSU won its seventh championship in program history in 2023, and Oregon State has won three, most recently in 2018. After making it to the finals twice, in 1979 and 2018, Arkansas is still seeking for its elusive first championship. However, none of the Omaha teams advanced to the World Series the previous season, giving college baseball’s largest stage a new vibe.

Losers

The ACC

First, the good news: Louisville advanced to the sixth CWS in program history after defeating Miami in three games. However, the ACC saw two more teams lose in super regional play, joining Duke. at the first game of this past weekend’s series at Chapel Hill, North Carolina dominated Arizona 18–2, but they then suffered their first back-to-back defeats since March. Despite pushed Oregon State to the limit, Florida State lost the first game 5-4 in extra innings, went down 13-3 in the decisive game, and then rallied to defeat them 14-10.

North Carolina

It was a terrible second defeat to the Wildcats. Senior Jackson Van De Brake’s three-run homer put UNC ahead 3-1 going into the eighth inning, but two infield errors cost them the game. The first cost the Tar Heels a potential double play on a grounder booted by Van De Brake. Walker McDuffie, a freshman, was substituted for starter Ryan Lynch by UNC, but he made a throwing mistake on Arizona’s bunt attempt to move runners over, allowing a run to score. A two-run single by Aidan Haugh, who was working on consecutive days for the first time this season, gave Arizona the lead and ultimately a spot in the College World Series.