© Espn.com
Everything is ready in Omaha, Nebraska to welcome thousands of fans who will fill the stands of the TD Ameritrade for the true annual celebration of NCAA baseball. They will be 10 days full of emotions and great plays as happened also in the approach path to the final appointment. For sure a new national champion will be proclaimed given the absence of Mississippi State, winner last year, which, however, will not be Tennessee a big favorite and at the top of the rankings for a large part of the season. The boys trained by coach Tony Vitello (a talented NCAA leader in home runs and points earned on pitchers) were in fact eliminated at the Super Regional level by Notre Dame after a hard-fought triptych and decided in Game-3 by a 2-point home run. by clearly Italian-born receiver David LaManna.
The three big favorites are undoubtedly Texas, Arkansas and Stanford who reached the final event at 8 not without some difficulties but who can count on complete rosters in every role and experience at this level of competition. Individual protagonists include powerful Texas first baseman Ivan Melendez (32 home runs), Arkansas starting pitcher Connor Noland (2 NCAA Tournament wins) and phenomenal Stanford first-year winger / first-year pitcher Braden Montgomery (. 297 average batting and 18 home runs).
Behind the aforementioned trio we find Texas A&M, Ole Miss of the paisà coach Mike Bianco, the surprise Oklahoma, Notre Dame and above all Auburn capable of ousting the always competitive Oregon State (of the Italian-Australian Travis Bazzana) also here after a very exciting decided not even to say it from yet another home run (the 22nd in the season) of first baseman Sonny DiChiara freshly nominated as Co-Player of the year in the Southeastern Conference.
The 8 participants, who will face each other with the traditional “double elimination” system (no direct exclusion but only after the second defeat), are divided into 2 groups of 4 teams each: the winners will then clash in the final proper to the best of 3 meetings scheduled between 25 and 27 June to win the national title.
It should be emphasized that 4 of the participants come from the Southeastern Conference which is once again confirmed as the best in the entire NCAA baseball scene.
The 2022 College World Series program foresees, to start, on one side of the board two very balanced and fascinating challenges such as Oklahoma – Texas A&M and Texas – Notre Dame, while on the other the confrontation between two of the Arkansas-Stanford favorites and to follow the challenge all Southeastern Conference between Auburn and Ole Miss.
A curiosity in closing: the “curse” of the seeded number 1 does not break given the elimination of Tennessee and we must remember how the last number 1 of the NCAA draw to win the national title was Miami in the now distant 1999 .
