The double-elimination tournament features the winners of the eight
super regionals, and includes four teams that did not make it to Omaha
last year and two teams (Louisville and UC Irvine) making their
first-ever trip to the Men's College World Series.
The first game on Friday is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. (central
time) and features No. 2 national seed Rice (54-12) and first time
MCWS participant Louisville (46-22). Friday's second game pits No. 3
North Carolina (53-13) against Mississippi State (38-20), and is
scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. (central time). North Carolina was the
runner-up at the 2006 MCWS, while Mississippi State is making its
first MCWS appearance since 1998.
The doubleheader on Saturday features UC Irvine (45-15-1) squaring off
against #5 Arizona St. (46-13) at 1 p.m. (central time), and the
defending national champions, the Beavers of Oregon St. (44-18) will
take on Cal St. Fullerton (38-23) at 6 p.m. (central time)
The losers of Friday's two games will play one another at 1 p.m. on
Sunday, while Friday's winners face off at 6 p.m. Sunday. The losers
of Saturday's games will play each other at 1 p.m. on Monday, while
Saturday's winners meet Monday at 6 p.m.
The winners of the two brackets will play a best-of-three championship
series, with the first game set for 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 23. The
second game is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Sunday, June 24, while the
third and deciding game (if necessary) is slated for 6 p.m. on Monday,
June 25. Every College World Series game will be televised live by
ESPN or ESPN2, and all are available in high definition.