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

For a look at all the regional pairings you can find them on the NCAA website at http://www.ncaa-baseball.com/regionals2008.htm
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Fresno State's Steve Susdorf and the Big Ten Champ Michigan Wolverines

For a look at the final 2008 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association NCAA baseball poll of the year, go to http://www.sportswriters.net/ncbwa/poll/.

Perennial Powers University of Texas Longhorns and Cal State Fullerton Titans

Finally, the preseason NCAA Division I Baseball All-America teams can be found at http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/college/aw
ards/all-america-teams/2008/265574.html

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!