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The College World Series is set to kick off today (Friday) at 2 p.m. ET between UNC and Virginia with Tennessee and Florida State getting the evening slot (7 p.m. ET).
The action in Omaha is loaded with intrigue. Can the Vols end the No. 1 overall seed drought and win their first national title? Or will UK or A&M break through for the first time? Will Jac Caglianone have some vintage moments? Can anyone get in the SEC’s way? There are questions galore.
Here are my 10 SEC questions for the College World Series:
1. Will Tennessee’s bats travel to Omaha? And will they best 1997 LSU’s home run mark?
Here’s a thought — Tony Vitello’s Tennessee teams have averaged 2.6 runs in 5 College World Series games. For a team that swings the bat as well as the Vols, that’s pretty stunning. I don’t think you can credit that all to Charles Schwab Field. Putting up some crooked numbers early against Florida State will be pivotal. They don’t all have to come via the home run, but a few long balls in Game 1 would keep 1997 LSU’s home run record in play. Tennessee needs 16 to break that mark, so one would think the Vols would need to make the CWS final to do that.
2. Which version of Christian Moore will Tennessee get?
Speaking of the Tennessee bats, Moore’s up-and-down Super Regional was well-documented. The emotional leader of the Vols bounced back after his Game 2 struggles — he was hardly to blame for not coming up clutch in the final at bat — by blasting a pair of home runs to avoid elimination. He had a much better day with the glove, too. Any sort of run through Omaha requires the slugging second baseman to be the best version of himself.
3. What will Jac Caglianone do in his final act?
One would think that Caglianone’s biggest moments in Omaha would come with the bat, but the fact that it’s even a debate tells you everything you need to know about the All-American southpaw. Caglianone’s legacy as one of the best players in SEC history is safe, but he can add to that by coming up with some late-inning heroics. Of course, the question is how many pitches to hit that he’ll get (Caglianone’s discipline doesn’t get enough credit). Depositing a couple of those over the Charles Schwab Field fence would be a fitting final act for Caglianone as a Gator.
Related: Looking to stay on top of all the College World Series action? SDS has you covered with its CWS homepage!
4. How much does Brandon Neely have left in the tank?
It’s not often that you see a pitcher go 4 innings on consecutive days. Mind you, that was a week removed from a 104-pitch effort in a gem to fend off elimination against Oklahoma State. He’s got 19 innings of shutout ball in the postseason. For a group that was searching for answers in the postseason, Neely was monumental. But the Florida closer’s 4 appearances could impact his usage early in Omaha. I suppose it was beneficial that Florida avoided a Game 3 in the Super Regional, plus they’ll have the benefit of the late game on Saturday. Neely being a shutdown guy who could lock it down at any given moment would be a welcome trend to continue.
5. How will Texas A&M respond without Braden Montgomery?
The future top-5 pick went down in Game 1 of the Super Regional after a confusing round of 3rd base. Too bad. The Aggies managed to still light up the scoreboard without him. Shoot, that 9-run inning alone showed that the A&M offense has plenty of versatility (and patience not to bail out a pitching staff that can’t find the strike zone). Still, though. There’s a question of how the potent Aggies lineup will fare with a late-season loss like that for the duration of their time in Omaha.
6. Is Kentucky just happy to be in Omaha for the first time?
To be clear, I won’t knock the Cats if the answer to that question is a resounding “yes.” It’s a monumental feat that Nick Mingione just pulled off. If the experience in Omaha lasts 2-3 games, that won’t change. UK is trying to become the second team in the 21st century to win it all in the program’s first trip to the College World Series (2016 Coastal Carolina). It’s an uphill climb that the Cats are facing from a historical perspective (FanDuel has UK at No. 3 in the odds to win it all). But if Kentucky plays like the well-balanced, veteran-savvy squad that it’s been all year, maybe just “being happy to be in Omaha” is the right mindset to make a deep run.
7. Is NC State about to get its revenge on the SEC for 2021?
I’ve been wondering that the whole NCAA Tournament about this. The COVID-related cancelation of 2021 stopped what many felt was a national championship team. Maybe Mississippi State was indeed a team of destiny and that squad was always going to win its first team sports national championship ever. Whatever the case, NC State has been a thorn in the SEC’s side so far in the NCAA Tournament. NC State forced South Carolina into an elimination game in the Regional and it went into Athens and slugged its way into a Super Regional title. How fitting it is that NC State is surrounded by 3 SEC teams on its side of the bracket. There’s a world in which NC State coach Elliott Avent ends his illustrious career with a national championship run that sends a handful more of SEC teams packing.
8. What will Zander Sechrist’s usage look like?
My guess is that Sechrist will get the ball in Game 2, win or lose. That would put him on normal rest. As we saw with the gem he delivered to close out Evansville, Vitello has faith in the veteran southpaw to stop the bleeding. Maybe the question with Sechrist is what his usage could look like after Game 2. If the Vols continue to get quality starting pitching, that’s not much of an issue. But could he start on 4 days rest if the Vols are in a semifinal matchup? Would Vitello want to use him out of the bullpen if Tennessee is facing elimination a couple of days removed from a start? Those are the buttons that Vitello needs to push right if the Vols want to make this their first national title.
9. Is Florida going to complete the 2022 Ole Miss arc?
A sub-.500 record in SEC play didn’t stop Ole Miss from winning it all a couple of years ago. Tim Elko and Co. were an entirely different squad once May rolled around. Florida has been an entirely different squad since that regular-season finale series against Georgia rolled around. Three times, the Gators had to go into hostile territory and beat elite teams (Georgia, Oklahoma State and Clemson) in multiple games in order to keep their season alive. That’s incredibly difficult. Kevin O’Sullivan’s squad didn’t take a straight-line path back to Omaha, but it’s wild to think that the national runners-up boast the most popular player in the sport, yet they’re the long shot to win it all. Perhaps that’s exactly the way they like it.
10. Is the SEC’s annual flex about to become even more impressive?
In each of the last 4 College World Series, a different SEC team won it all. Go figure that the 4 SEC teams who made the field this year are entirely different than those 4 champs from 2019-23. That speaks to the depth of the league. Putting 11 teams into the NCAA Tournament was proof of that, as was the conference matching its record for most teams in Omaha. If the SEC were to close this out with yet another national title — and continue the streak of non-SEC teams coming up short dating back to 2018 Oregon State — then the “SEC bias” crowd would be quieter than ever.
Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Down South. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.
