NCAASports.com
June 5, 2007
Notebook: Three's the charm
By Amy Farnum
NCAASports.com Staff Writer
THREE’S THE CHARM: Who says you have to be a top-seeded regional team to keep playing in June? Not third-seeded squads Oklahoma State and Louisville.
The Cowboys and Cardinals both advanced through regional play to earn Super Regional bids, and will face each other beginning June 8 in Louisville, assuring a No. 3 seed will make the trip to Omaha. OSU downed No. 7 national seed Arkansas twice en route to its first regional championship since 1999, while the Cardinals cruised to a 16-6 win over top-seeded Missouri in the regional final in Columbia, Mo.
Oklahoma State has a chance at advancing to the CWS for the 20th time in school history, while Louisville is vying for its first bid. In fact, the Cardinals are only making their third appearance in the NCAA postseason, while OSU won the national title in 1959.
A No. 3 seeded team has advanced to the CWS just three times since Super Regional play began in 1999. San Jose State won the Waco Regional and defeated Houston in the Super Regional to earn a bid in 2001, Missouri State came out of the Lincoln Regional and downed Ohio State in the Super Regional in 2003, and Arizona won the South Bend Regional and beat Long Beach State in Super Regional action in 2004.
WHAT A THRILL: Not only did the University of Michigan eliminate No. 1 national seed Vanderbilt in the Nashville Regional on June 4, but the Wolverines did it in dramatic fashion.
With the regional championship game tied at 3-3 in the 10th inning, and Vandy’s All-American left-hander David Price on the mound in a rare relief appearance, freshman Alan Oaks made sure his name would be remembered by Michigan fans for years to come. The pinch-hitting Oaks belted a solo home run in the top of the inning, giving the Wolverines a 4-3 lead that they would not relinquish. It was his second pinch-hit homer of the season.
Michigan earned its first trip to the Super Regional round in program history with the upset. Before the new bracket format was introduced in 1999, the Wolverines had won seven regional championships, with their last coming in 1984.
The Wolverines, however, will have to wait a little longer to find out where they will travel to play in their first Super Regional. Michigan will play either defending NCAA champion Oregon State or Virginia (playing on June 5) on the winner’s home field.
ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN: For the first time since national seeds were introduced in 1999, there will be a maximum of just three teams with the distinction that will advance to Omaha. Only No. 2 Rice, No. 3 North Carolina and No. 5 Arizona State survived the regional round as No. 1 Vanderbilt, No. 4 Texas, No. 6 Florida State, No. 7 Arkansas and No. 8 San Diego’s seasons ended over the weekend.
The least amount of nationally-seeded squads to earn berths at the CWS is four, twice, in 2000 and 2004. In both 1999 and 2001, seven of the eight teams in Omaha were nationally seeded.
Before this year, the most national seeds to be knocked out in the regional round were three in 2004 (#5 Stanford, #6 Rice and #7 Arizona State). The last three teams to win the NCAA championship – Oregon State in 2006, Texas in 2005, and Cal State Fullerton in 2004 – have not been nationally seeded.
NOTABLE: With No. 6 national seed Florida State headlining the group of Sunshine State teams making an early exit, the College World Series eight-team field will be without a squad from Florida for the first time since 2002. Miami represented the state last year, while Florida advanced to the 2005 national championship series, falling to Texas … At least one California team is assured a spot in Omaha as UCLA and Cal State Fullerton will face each other in Super Regional action. UC Irvine also has a shot to advance to Omaha in the Anteaters’ first Super Regional berth, but will have to get past Wichita State first.