College World Series: No. 9 Texas opens in primetime Friday against Notre Dame
Texas, the No. 9 seed, kicks off the tournament against the unseeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish, a team that pulled off one of college baseball's most incredible upsets by taking down No. 1 Tennessee in Knoxville during the super regionals.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The eight teams playing in the College World Series are now decided, and the Texas Longhorns will get the national spotlight Friday in their opening game.
Texas, the No. 9 seed, kicks off the tournament against the unseeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish, a team that pulled off one of college baseball's most incredible upsets by taking down No. 1 Tennessee in Knoxville during the super regionals.
They'll take Charles Schwab Field Omaha at 6 p.m. CDT in Friday's second game of the day. No. 5 Texas A&M takes on former conference rival Oklahoma in the first game at 1 p.m. All four teams comprise Bracket 1 for the tournament.
Two teams, No. 2 Stanford and No. 14 Auburn, were the last to qualify for Omaha with wins Monday. The Cardinal topped UConn at home 10-5 and the Tigers went into Corvallis, Ore., and knocked off the No. 3-seeded Oregon State Beavers 4-3 to win that super regional.
Bracket 2 matchups start Saturday with the No. 2 Cardinal taking on Arkansas and Ole Miss playing the No. 14 Tigers.
Texas breezed through its regional after beating Air Force, Louisiana Tech and then Air Force again in the championship. The Longhorns had a tougher time on the road against No. 9 East Carolina in the super regional round, coming from behind to win the second game 9-8 and then pouring 11 runs on the Pirates in Game 3 to win it 11-1. The Pirates won the first game of the best-of-three series 13-7.
It's the 38th time the Longhorns have been to the College World Series, and to put it in perspective, this year is the championship's 75th anniversary, so the Longhorns have been in half of them.
Last year, Texas nearly made it to the national championship series but fell to the eventual champions Mississippi State in the semifinals.
Half of the eight teams are from the Southeastern Conference, which both Texas and Oklahoma plan to join by 2025.
Here's a breakdown of the brackets and the complete schedule for this year's CWS that runs June 17-27 in Omaha, Nebraska:
Tournament format: Double elimination in bracket play, best-of-three championship series
Bracket 1
- No. 9 Texas
- Notre Dame
- No. 5 Texas A&M
- Oklahoma
Bracket 2
- No. 2 Stanford
- Arkansas
- Ole Miss
- No. 14 Auburn
Game schedule
Friday, June 17
Game 1: 1 p.m. | No. 5 Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma | ESPN
Game 2: 6 p.m. | No. 9 Texas vs. Notre Dame | ESPN
Saturday, June 18
Game 3: 1 p.m. | No. 2 Stanford vs Arkansas | ESPN
Game 4: 6 p.m. | Ole Miss vs No. 14 Auburn | ESPN2
Sunday, June 19
Game 5: 1 p.m. | Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 | ESPN
Game 6: 6 p.m. | Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 | ESPN2
Monday, June 20
Game 7: 1 p.m. | Loser of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4 | ESPN
Game 8: 6 p.m. | Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4 | ESPN
Tuesday, June 21
Game 9: 1 p.m. | Winner of Game 5 vs. Loser of Game 6 | ESPN
Game 10: 6 p.m. | Winner of Game 7 vs. Loser of Game 8 | ESPN
Wednesday, June 22
Game 11: 1 p.m. | Winner of Game 6 vs. Winner of Game 9 | ESPN
Game 12: 6 p.m. | Winner of Game 8 vs. Winner of Game 10 | ESPN
Thursday, June 23
Game 13 (if necessary): 1 p.m., if the undefeated team in Bracket 1 loses Game 11 | ESPN
Game 14 (if necessary): 6 p.m., if the undefeated team in Bracket 2 loses Game 12 | ESPN2
College World Series Championship Series
Saturday, June 25 | 6 p.m. | Bracket 1 champion vs. Bracket 2 champion | ESPN
Sunday, June 26 | 2 p.m. | Bracket 1 champion vs. Bracket 2 champion | ESPN
Monday, June 27 (if necessary) | 6 p.m. | Bracket 1 vs. Bracket 2 champion | ESPN