NCAA Baseball Super Regional predictions, picks: More upsets ahead with CWS berths at stake
The road to Omaha has already featured a number of surprises and this week's super regionals promise more of the same
And then there were 16. After a chaotic regional round that saw each of the top two national seeds eliminated in their own home stadium, the NCAA Baseball Tournament is on to the super regionals.
It's the last stop before Omaha and the College World Series. It's also the last chance that the eight host teams will get to play in front of a mostly friendly crowd this season.
What a weekend of baseball it should be. No. 3 Arkansas' clash with No. 14 Tennessee is arguably the headliner, given the tremendous amount of talent and the shared history between the two teams. Oddsmakers at FanDuel Sportsbook give Arkansas (+380) the second-best national title odds with defending champ Tennessee tied for third (+650). But fellow traditional powers No. 8 Oregon State and No. 9 Florida State should bring plenty of fireworks of their own.
Then, of course, there are all the underdogs to keep an eye on. Murray State, as a 4-seed in the Oxford Regional, was perhaps the most stunning team to make it out of the first round, though the Racers are legit after sweeping the Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles. They'll try to keep their Cinderella run alive in Durham against non-seeded host Duke.
UTSA also sent shockwaves through the college baseball world by winning the Austin Regional in three games, including two wins against No. 2 national seed Texas. The Roadrunners will have to be road warriors again as they travel to UCLA.
With so much on the line, CBS Sports college baseball experts Will Backus and Carter Bahns have made their predictions for each of the eight matchups in the super regional round of the NCAA Baseball Tournament.
All times in Eastern
Auburn Super Regional
Teams: No. 4 Auburn vs. No. 13 Coastal Carolina
Schedule: Fri. 9 p.m. (ESPN2) | Sat. 3 p.m. (ESPN2) | Sun. TBD (TBD)
Location: Plainsman Park -- Auburn, Alabama
Prediction: Coastal Carolina has one of the best pitching staffs in the country. The Chanticleers boast a team ERA of 3.24, which is first among teams left in the tournament and second nationally to Northeastern. Their weekend rotation legitimately goes three deep with Jacob Morrison, Riley Eikhoff and Cameron Flukey. There's not much dropoff in the bullpen, either. CCU has six relievers that have pitched in at least 15 games with an ERA below 4.00. While Auburn is literally a tough out -- the Tigers have only struck out 422 times, fewer than any other team in the SEC, and they put a ton of balls in play -- its pitching is susceptible enough that Coastal has a distinct advantage in this one.
Backus' pick: Coastal Carolina in 3
Baton Rouge Super Regional
Teams: No. 6 LSU vs. West Virginia
Schedule: Sat. 2 p.m. (ESPN) | Sun. 6 p.m. (ESPN2) | Mon. TBD (TBD)
Location: Alex Box Stadium -- Baton Rouge, Louisiana
West Virginia swept the Clemson Regional in three games. That's impressive for a non-host. The Mountaineers have a great pair of starting arms in Griffin Kirn and Jack Kartsonas, who has been a revelation for WVU since shifting into a starting role midway through the season. LSU, meanwhile, struggled against Little Rock after it got past its pair of aces in Anthony Eyanson and Kade Anderson. Both teams want to avoid this getting to a Game 3. If it does -- and I think it's a real possibility -- LSU's bats (especially Jared Jones) turned a corner against Little Rock, and that pushes the Tigers the distance.
Backus' pick: LSU in 3
Chapel Hill Super Regional
Teams: No. 5 North Carolina vs. Arizona
Schedule: Fri. 12 p.m. (ESPN2) | Sat. 12 p.m. (ESPN2) | Sun. TBD (TBD)
Location: Boshamer Stadium -- Chapel Hill, North Carolina
If everything Arizona has done since the start of the Big 12 Tournament is for real, then North Carolina is on upset alert. Behind a three-homer regional finale from Mason White, the Wildcats defeated their last six opponents by a combined 49-9 margin. The pitching staff went nuclear, too, seemingly out of nowhere. The competition gets massively more challenging, though, when Arizona trades regional No. 3 and No. 4 seeds for the top-ranked team in the D1Baseball poll in UNC. The Tar Heels have no obvious weaknesses and are as strong of national championship contenders as any.
Bahns' pick: North Carolina in 2
Corvallis Super Regional
Teams: No. 8 Oregon State vs. No. 9 Florida State
Schedule: Fri. 6 p.m. (ESPN2) | Sat. 9 p.m. (ESPN2) | Sun. TBD (TBD)
Location: Goss Stadium -- Corvallis, Oregon
Prediction: As the seed lines suggest, it does not get much more evenly matched than this. The Beavers and Seminoles will go strength-on-strength when the former's searing-hot offense steps into the box against Jamie Arnold and Joey Volini. Both have been hittable of late, so if Oregon State can chase them and get to the subpar bullpen, the floodgates could open like they did when the home squad racked up 53 runs in regional play. Expect Link Jarrett's side to plate more than enough runs to make this series uber-competitive or win it outright, though.
Bahns' pick: Oregon State in 3
Durham Super Regional
Teams: Duke vs. Murray State
Schedule: Sat. 1 p.m. (ESPNU) | Sun. 12 p.m. (TBD) | Mon. TBD (TBD)
Location: Jack Coombs Field -- Durham, North Carolina
Prediction: Murray State showed tremendous grit and toughness to not only make it out of the Oxford Regional, but it beat host Ole Miss two times in three games to secure the first super regional appearance in program history. The Racers staved off rally after rally from the Rebels and showed that they're not to be taken lightly. Their gas runs out in the supers, though. Even without AJ Gracia suspended for Game 1, Duke has tons of power throughout its lineup. The Blue Devils will give a Murray State pitching staff that doesn't have a ton of velocity fits.
Backus' pick: Duke in 2
Fayetteville Super Regional
Teams: No. 3 Arkansas vs. No. 14 Tennessee
Schedule: Sat. 5 p.m. (ESPN) | Sun. 3 p.m. (ESPN) | Mon. TBD (TBD)
Location: Baum-Walker Stadium -- Fayetteville, Arkansas
Prediction: This is one of the most intriguing super regionals we have seen in a long time. There will be future MLB talent all over the diamond. Arkansas and Tennessee have 10 of the top 100 prospects in the 2025 MLB Draft, per MLB.com's rankings. Tennessee coach Tony Vitello was at Arkansas as an assistant before the Vols hired him, and there's an interesting history between Vitello and Razorbacks skipper Dave Van Horn. Tennessee should win with SEC Pitcher of the Year Liam Doyle on the mound, especially given his scorching-hot performance in the Knoxville Regional, and Marcus Phillips gives the Vols a chance, but Arkansas' immense pitching depth carries the series in the end.
Backus' pick: Arkansas in 3
Los Angeles Super Regional
Teams: No. 15 UCLA vs. UTSA
Schedule: Sat. 7 p.m. (ESPNU) | Sun. 3 p.m. (TBD) | Mon. TBD (TBD)
Location: Jackie Robinson Stadium -- Los Angeles, California
Prediction: UTSA is the betting underdog in this super, but the matchup makes the Roadrunners a tantalizing upset pick. These teams are spitting images of each other as they lean on their offenses to do the heavy lifting for vulnerable pitching staffs, and UTSA's is the statistically better lineup as only six teams nationally scored more than its 528 runs on the year. Both sides' bats are hot and Roch Cholowsky will not let the Bruins go down quietly, so this has all the makings of an extremely high-scoring weekend series.
Bahns' pick: UTSA in 3
Louisville Super Regional
Teams: Louisville vs. Miami
Schedule: Fri. 3 p.m. (ESPN2) | Sat. 11 a.m. (ESPN) | Sun. TBD (TBD)
Location: Jim Patterson Stadium -- Louisville, Kentucky
Prediction: These ACC squads avoided each other in the regular season but square off this weekend with a trip to Omaha on the line. Neither is particularly trustworthy, but Louisville fared far better against tournament-caliber competition all year and is in many ways just a more talented and refined version of Miami. The Hurricanes are streaky, and it feels as though they will either sweep the super regional series or fall out in two games. Staying hot against a team that features Patrick Forbes as its Friday starter is a tough ask.
Bahns' pick: Louisville in 2
