The bracket committee went home last Sunday and felt pretty good about themselves. The top two overall seeds were locked in. The chalk was holding. College baseball was going to do college baseball things, sure, but within reason.
Then the weekend happened.
For the first time in the history of the NCAA Tournament, the top two overall seeds did not make it to super regionals. Both of them. Gone. The committee's bracket got folded into a paper airplane and thrown directly into a campfire.
Georgia Tech was the number two overall seed. They went home. That photo above is from the series that ended their season. Look at it. Appreciate it. That is what the most exciting regionals in recent memory looked like on the ground.
What we're left with is genuinely one of the most chaotic super regional fields the sport has ever seen. Seven number one seeds hosting and then Troy, a three seed, hosting in Alabama. But the real story is on the road. Two number four seeds are still alive. St. John's. Little Rock. Both of them beat their way through a regional and are now two wins from Omaha. The committee did not plan for this.
What we just watched
Let's not rush past this too quickly.
West Virginia hosted a regional that had no business being as good as it was. A walk-off in the regional championship, Country Roads shaking the stadium, the crowd so loud it stopped being a sports tradition and started being something closer to a revival. The Mountaineers are hosting a super regional now, which a week ago felt unlikely, and which feels completely earned.
Then there's Kansas. Hoglund Ballpark is already one of the most hostile environments in college baseball on a regular Tuesday in March. What went on in Lawrence this past weekend was something else. The Jayhawks are hosting a super regional and their ballpark is going to be an absolute madhouse. If you're the visiting team, your bus ride from the hotel is the most peaceful moment you will have all weekend.
The lock of the week
We are guaranteeing, in writing, on the internet, forever, that both a Bulldog and a Trojan are going to Omaha.
Mississippi State vs. Georgia is Bulldogs vs. Bulldogs. One of them is going to the College World Series. Done. Locked. Certified.
Troy vs. Little Rock is Trojans vs. Trojans. A three seed hosting in Troy, Alabama against a number four Little Rock team that earned every inch of this. A mid-major is going to Omaha from that series. That is not a projection. That is not a prediction. The bracket already decided. We're just the ones pointing it out.
Bulldogs are in. Trojans are in. You heard it here first.
What comes next
Super regionals are the best weekend in college baseball. Regionals have the chaos and the upsets and the late nights. Omaha has the pageantry and the history. But super regionals are where you find out who actually wants it.
Best-of-three. Home crowd. Win twice or go home. There is no neutral site, no comfortable draw. You're either playing at a place that hates you or you're defending a park that expects you to win.
Eight of those series start tomorrow.
Sleep is probably not coming easy for sixteen coaching staffs tonight. For the rest of us, it should be excellent.
See you on the other side.
