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The 2025 College World Series Finals matchup is set as the LSU Tigers will take on the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers in a best-of-three series beginning this Saturday in Omaha, Nebraska, which will air on ESPN. Both teams are undefeated in this year's tournament, with Coastal Carolina taking down Arizona, Oregon State and Louisville while LSU defeated Arkansas twice as well as UCLA. LSU is eyeing its seventh national championship, while Coastal Carolina can win its second. 

So what do the College World Series odds look like for this matchup? And who should you be backing? Here's what you need to know.

College World Series odds and preview

The Tigers are -166 favorites for Game 1 on Saturday at DraftKings Sportsbook to Coastal Carolina's +130, and they find themselves as -190 favorites to win the series while the Chanticleers are +155. Coastal Carolina enters Saturday on a massive 26-game winning streak. 

Coastal Carolina advanced to the finals with an 11-3 rout of Louisville on Wednesday for the school's 26th straight win, the third longest run in Division I over the past five seasons. CCU is 8-0 in the NCAA Tournament, the only club without a loss. Since the CWS championship became a best-of-three series in 2003, the previous longest overall win streak entering the finals was 13 games (LSU in 2009). Only three national champions have gone 10-0 in the postseason: UCLA in 2013, Arizona in 2012 and South Carolina in 2011. Coastal is in the final for the first time since its 2016 national championship. It seeks to become the fifth school (Texas, California, Minnesota and Michigan) to win the title in each of its first two trips to the CWS.

CCU's ace is Jacob Morrison, who is 12-0 with a 2.08 ERA and 0.91 WHIP. But he is coming off a career-high 109-pitch outing, so that's a bit concerning. If the Chants lead after six, it's likely over: they're 43-0 this season when leading after six innings. I don't generally recommend Unders in college baseball, but the Chanticleers have the second-best ERA (3.20) in Division I this season and the Tigers have the fourth-best strikeouts-per-nine innings mark (11.7) in the country.

An LSU title would make it six straight for the SEC, and the Tigers just won it all in 2023 led by Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews. Unfortunately, this isn't MLB where we know starting pitchers well ahead of time. But I'm assuming it will be Tigers lefty Kade Anderson, who is a +230 second favorite to be the top overall pick in the MLB Draft next month, on the mound in Game 1

Anderson is 11-1 with a 3.44 ERA and 170 strikeouts in 110.0 innings. He most recently pitched last Saturday and allowed one run over seven with seven Ks in a previous win vs. Arkansas. Even if it's not Anderson, the Tigers have another ace in Anthony Eyanson (11-2, 2.92 ERA). At this time of year, you use both in the same game if need be to take a 1-0 series lead.

College World Series Game 1 picks

  • LSU (-166)
  • Under 8.5 (-115)
  • LSU to win series (-190)

I would love to see CCU win its second national title (2016), but LSU is loaded with pro prospects and the NIL era, even in baseball, has separated the power schools from the rest. Thus, I expect LSU to win the opener and the series. There should be strong winds blowing in from right field, so go Under.