As the College World Series begins this weekend in Omaha, the final eight teams are bound to make it an interesting one.
After the Florida Gators earned the final spot in the College World Series Monday night with a win over Wake Forest, five of the eight teams are ranked as national seeds, the most rankings since 2011.
The field will consist of Oregon State as the No. 1 seed, Cal-State Fullerton, LSU the No. 4 seed, Florida State, Louisville the No. 7 seed, Texas A&M, Florida the No. 3 seed, and TCU the No. 6 seed.
There will be three teams from the SEC heading to Omaha, but the Big 12’s TCU Horned Frogs will try to move past last year’s disappointing end.
In last year’s College World Series, TCU was one game away from advancing to the College World Series Finals against Arizona, but Coastal Carolina stood in the way and turned out to be too much for the Horned Frogs.
TCU lost, 7-5, and was ultimately eliminated from the 2016 College World Series. The Horned Frogs will be hoping for a different result this go-around at the 2017 College World Series.
The Florida Gators join TCU as the only two teams that will make back-to-back appearances in Omaha.
In 2016, Florida competed against Texas Tech in a seat-clinching 3-2 loss that resulted in its elimination from the tournament.
Both teams look to avenge last year’s miscues as they take the field for the opening games this weekend.
The schedule has opening day set for Saturday with the first game showcasing Oregon State taking on Cal State-Fullerton at TD Ameritrade Park.
– Jess Westendorf