This Friday marks the beginning of the 34th Annual NCAA Division I Baseball Championship tournament. Sixty-four teams from around the nation have played their way into the tournament which will ultimately boil down to eight teams advancing to Omaha, Nebraska where the “College World Series” will determine the national champion.
Oregon State won the last two national championships but didn't make the field this year.
One of the intriguing stories to come out of this regular college baseball season is the play of the LSU Tigers. Just five short weeks ago the Tigers were mired in 11th place in the SEC standings, but, as baseball teams are sometimes able to do, the Bayou Bengals warmed up with the weather and reeled off a school record 20 game winning streak enabling them to claim their first conference title since the 2000 season. Propelled along by their Sophomore outfielder Blake Dean, pictured here, who hit .438 with three dingers and nine RBI’s, the Tigers won four straight games in the league championship series where he was named the Most Valuable Player. Blake’s performances were highlighted by a walk off game-winning home run in the 10th inning of a first round SEC Tournament game against South Carolina. LSU enters the national tournament as the 7th seed. Congratulations to LSU!
Just as in the NCAA Basketball National Championship Tournament, there are many great stories on how different teams have made their way into this national championship tournament. The University of Miami (FL) (47-8), fresh off its first Atlantic Coast Conference Championship title, will be making its NCAA record 36th consecutive regional appearance this week as they host a four-team regional for the 22nd time.
UC Davis Pitcher Andy Suiter
The University of California, Davis, in it’s first year of eligibility as a Division I school made it into the tournament after earning an at-large bid. They will appear in the regional hosted by Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.
The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers will host a regional for the second consecutive year as they claimed their sixth Big South Conference title in the last eight years. This will mark their eighth tournament seed in school history.
Despite a 21 – 32 season record, Mount St. Mary’s of the Northeast Conference won the conference’s automatic berth and enters the tournament for the first time in school history. The Mountaineers have the unenviable pleasure of beginning the tournament against the number two seed North Carolina Tar Heels in Raleigh, North Carolina no less…
Nebraska's Johnny Dorn, UCLA's Tim Murphy and Oklahoma State's Luis Flores
The SEC leads all conferences in the number of teams in the championship field with nine, followed by the ACC and Big 12 with six. Conference USA and the Pacific-10 have five teams each, while the Big West has four.
Arizona State Sun Devils' Ike Davis
Baseball fans, give these games a look as you will be watching very high quality competition with many future major leaguers.
The bottom line is that yet another NCAA sport’s champion will be determined under the au####es of what is supposed to be major college athletics’ administrative body, and it will occur on the field of play without a bunch of BcS in the mix. IT IS SO REFRESHING!
Florida State Seminoles', second only to the Miami Hurricanes in the number of appearances in the NCAA Division I Baseball National Championships.
Good luck to all the 2008 participants as they hold the outcome of their fortunes in their own hands. What a concept!
and (GRABBING KLENNEX) oregon state didnt get in!!!!! its so funny i heard recently the university of oregons new baseball coach said that he expects the ducks to get in the tourney the first year????? whats he smoking????
Dwindy,
No doubt my Tigers are hot right now. I can see them making a push for the Title. We've been waiting for another Title for a while now down here. nice post!
Your aren't disappointed that the Beavers didn't get in? I don't think the media gave Oregon State their due for winning back to back national titles in Division I... They didn't have a bade record this year either...
I know it's like the basketball deal with conference champs getting automatic bids, and there will always be teams that were right on the border in terms of qualifying...
D-One...college baseball is the best. It's great to watch these kids play with enthusiasm and love of the game.
Coastal Carolina is a great little school. It's about 10 miles from Myrtle Beach. The baseball team is becoming a national fixture, and the football team, which just started up a couple of years ago, is a power in their conference already.
Oh yeah! I absolutely love ESPN2 for airing all the games from Rosenblatt. Can you believe that the retarded mayor of Omaha, Mike Fahey, wants to tear down Rosenblatt stadium? To me, that would be like tearing down Wrigley Field.
http://www.saverosenblatt.com/
Let's not forget about Nebraska now. We are hosting a regional. Until 2 weeks ago we were in contention for the Big 12 title, but for some unexplainable reason we got swept by Mizzou in Columbia. If we can make it to a Super Regional (we probably won't be hosting one this year because of our late season collapse) I like our chances. We have a solid pitcher in Johnny Dorn (he is no Joba Chamberlain, but he is really good), and we can play small ball with the best of them. We are pretty good, for a Northern team.
Looks like Nebraska might meet up with LSU if they proceed out of the regional, now that would be an interesting series!
I don't understand why they want to tear down the stadium... Do they want to lose the CWS? I assume they plan on building a new stadium, but why tear down the monument to college baseball? It's always something isn't it?
Mayor Fahey is trying to improve the downtown area of Omaha. They have finished building the Quest Center a few years back which is a huge venue for the downtown area. Omaha was a regional site for March Madness this year. That is all great stuff. His plan includes a new baseball stadium downtown as well. His problem is getting the taxpayers to pony up the funds for a brand new stadium. He can get a big chunk of that money by not improving Rosenblatt.
He was misleading the public when he said that the NCAA wanted a new stadium for the CWS. The NCAA is not against the idea, but they are not pushing for a new stadium. The Omaha Royals (KC's AAA) play at Rosenblatt. The Royals are all for the new stadium. Getting a new stadium doesn't mean we lose the CWS, but the CWS loses something if it is not played at Rosenblatt.
Nebraska has a pretty good draw this year. Our toughest competition is UC Irvine. We should be able to handle them if we can get back on track with our defense. Hopefully we could avoid the Bayou Bombers in a super-regional.
Sounds like the axiom about change being inevitable... So they're holding off upgrading the stadium to win support for replacing it... You know there have been several cities over the years make overtures to the NCAA for moving or rotating the CWS... Omaha better be careful or they may have a very undesireable ending to this story...
good luck to all the schools at the tourney.as for me,i woudn't mind petting the tiger,but sometimes what seems harmless can be fatal.i would like to see rice go as far as they usually do,but my loyalty?hook em horns!!!!!
MO drew a tough region, wish them luck. Texas always gets hot torwards the end of the season. Nebraska, I'm holding my breath, they can, but will they. I love college baseball. LSU is good for Omaha, and it's nice to Rice back up.
I'm a sports fanatic living on the west coast of Florida. I'm a rare bird that moved here from the left coast a couple of years ago. I advocate an even playing field in all of life's endeavors.
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pictured here, who hit .438 with three dingers and nine RBI’s, the Tigers won four straight games in the league championship series where he was named the Most Valuable Player. Blake’s performances were highlighted by a walk off game-winning home run in the 10th inning of a first round SEC Tournament game against South Carolina. LSU enters the national tournament as the 7th seed. Congratulations to LSU! 
Miami (FL) (47-8), fresh off its first Atlantic Coast Conference Championship title, will be making its NCAA record 36th consecutive regional appearance this week as they host a four-team regional for the 22nd time. 
consecutive year as they claimed their sixth Big South Conference title in the last eight years. This will mark their eighth tournament seed in school history. 
Despite a 21 – 32 season record, Mount St. Mary’s of the Northeast Conference won the conference’s automatic berth and enters the tournament for the first time in school history. The Mountaineers have the unenviable pleasure of beginning the tournament against the number two seed North Carolina Tar Heels in Raleigh, North Carolina no less… 
