Latest / Dugout Dish Baseball Recruiting Podcast powered by EMD Baseball / 2026 College World Series Preview — CWS Picks, Super Regional Recap & the All-SEC Bracket - Ep. 171

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2026 College World Series Preview — CWS Picks, Super Regional Recap & the All-SEC Bracket - Ep. 171 · Dugout Dish Baseball Recruiting Podcast powered by EMD Baseball

• 0:02
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• 1:10
  Speaker B: welcome to this week's edition of the Dugout Dish podcast. I'm Andy Kiri Kitties, joined by my Wonderful Co host, Mr. Keith Glasser. How are we doing sir?
• 1:18
  Speaker C: Great. How are you?
• 1:19
  Speaker B: Glad I didn't fumble that intro
• 1:22
  Speaker D: per
• 1:23
  Speaker B: this time of year. We are joined by Mr. Jonathan Grasse. How we doing?
• 1:27
  Speaker D: What's up guys?
• 1:29
  Speaker B: We're back. Whether you like it or not, we're back and we had a pretty electric. Although I would say I speak for the three of us here and for, for Eric who was on last week, little disappointing. We were hoping for a little bit more of a complete slate today on, on, on the Monday, June 8, but it was still a pretty electric weekend for a variety of different reasons. I know I enjoyed watching a lot of it. A lot of great baseball, super competitive. We had walk offs. We had, I mean, shoot. Athens was just a launching pad and it was obviously Georgia won that but it was tight the whole way through. Comebacks and guys making pitches and guys getting good swings off. Some really impressive baseball. All the stuff that happened down in West Virginia was electric. Troy's making their appearance. It was awesome. So Coach Glass, what do you got here? Some opening thoughts on as far as the super regionals go. What do you got for us?
• 2:38
  Speaker C: Sure, I thought the, I mean I thought it was amazing to start the probably I guess I'll give two because I won't give the most obvious one because someone else can take it. But I thought the game two of the North Carolina USC game was absurd. Going cg, getting a punch out and giving up zero to keep your season alive I thought was one of the more gutsy efforts we've seen at the collegiate level in a long time in a must win game. And the Sunday or yeah, the Sunday game ended up being ridiculous. I'm sure we'll kind of get into this. I think that you know, having a two run lead in the, in the eighth or excuse me, bottom nine, first and third, one out and the wheels fall off, you know and North Carolina survives in advances which I'm happy of because it's. I think I went 1 for 8 on my preseason people getting into Omaha. But you know, North Carolina had a. Not the easiest road in there and you know, they, they faced some adversity and got through it. I was impressed with how they kind of hung in there and, and played well. The other one, I think that I'm interested to see what's going to happen in the Georgia Texas game when we get into it in Omaha. That series was. I was glued to the TV watching Mississippi State, Georgia, it was, I think Atlanta air traffic control shut down planes for a while because balls were just getting absolutely tattooed out of that yard. I think they had 22 or 23 home runs as a total for the weekend.
• 4:21
  Speaker B: It was absurd.
• 4:22
  Speaker C: But guys were just launching baseballs left and right. So I'm interested to see how that kind of plays out at Charles Schwab Field. It generally is a little bit more of a graveyard than what you'll see in Athens, Georgia this time of year. But so I'm interested to kind of see how that, that matchup plays out. But I, I couldn't be more happy with where college baseball is at from a hole. You know, Division 2 and 3 wrapped up this past weekend where you had Tampa went back to back and back the Tom Amansky back to back to back national champions and Denison knocked down their first at the Division 3 level. So it was power packed with baseball. I did watch a decent amount of Division 3, the championship series, but I was glued to the TV for a good portion of the weekend watching the Division 1 stuff and it did not disappoint. The, the only thing like you said at the top at, you know, I wish we had a little. Couple more games to watch today on Monday. But you know, Friday, Saturday, Sunday was, was electric. If you followed along and watched a lot of these games,
• 5:30
  Speaker B: What do you got? Coach bro say yeah, I got a couple things.
• 5:34
  Speaker D: I, I think I'm not gonna double dip on what Keith said. So I'll leave those two, those two pods alone. But I think, I think you got to give A shout out to the people of Morgantown, the people of Troy. I mean, those atmospheres were absolutely electric. Like, I mean, Morgantown on Friday at noon, place was packed. I mean, there was people showing up there. 8:30 in the morning, like just a wild atmosphere. Really, really, really cool to see. Same thing down in Troy. I thought that was awesome. I know Coach Mead joked about the fire marshal getting all bent out of shape, but, you know, they had too many people there. But what awesome atmospheres. You know, kind of. To start with those two, I thought Texas, Oregon was great, you know, kind of lived up to the hype, I think. Kind of what we thought, right. I mean, Texas had, you know, it was down two in the eighth, you know, in, in a, you know, in a winter bracket game, basically come back and win. You know, they end up just, you know, winning it in two games. But really good job. And then I think my other one was, you know, Oklahoma. Just really, really, really impressive without as good as Kansas looked, you know, last week in a regional setting, I mean, Oklahoma just, I mean, they just, they, I mean, they pounded them twice. There was never really, it never really felt like Kansas ever was really in it, you know, and I'm disappointed, you know, in that a little bit because I, I think a lot of that, that staff and I think a lot of the job that they did, you know, you hate to see them kind of go out that way. But I mean, Oklahoma, goodness gracious, ever since that, you know, that, that one loss down in, you know, in Atlanta, I mean, they have just been on a roll here. It'll be interesting if they can, you know, stay hot here for the next 4ish days and kind of keep that momentum in, you know, in Omaha. So all in all, though, phenomenal weekend. You know, obviously I would have loved the full Monday slate here, but, you know, really, really, really good, top to bottom, saw a lot of really good baseball. And I think we're in for a real treat here. You know, in the next, you know, we'll call two weeks or so.
• 7:49
  Speaker C: Can I, can I. Andy, before you go, can I, can I ask the group a question that you and I talked about? Jonathan, we didn't talk about this today.
• 7:58
  Speaker B: What?
• 7:58
  Speaker C: I have one critique of the Oklahoma, Kansas series, and I couldn't agree more. Oklahoma is red hot. It was impressive to watch. Why start Saturday night's game?
• 8:13
  Speaker B: It's a great question. It's a great question. Especially.
• 8:18
  Speaker C: Excuse me, Sunday night's game.
• 8:20
  Speaker B: Yeah, no, it's a great question.
• 8:22
  Speaker C: When you delayed to. You delayed an hour and a half start, played three innings and then whacked the rest of the night. You have two days to get it in. You can play a doubleheader if you force the winner take all game. I'm not saying it changes the outcome of the series, but in a super regional setting, like, why start that game?
• 8:43
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• 9:46
  Speaker D: no, I think that's a good point. I think you bring up a good point, right, like you're delayed. You have the window there. I don't know exactly, exactly. At, you know, my guess is that they probably thought that they had a bigger window than they obviously did. You know, I think it's, you know, sometimes it's tricky, you know, with, with these storms, you know, this part of the year. It's just, it's interesting. I, you know, kind of, to piggyback on that though, that if that's our only question coming out of super regional weekend, I think we did a great job. I think, you know, in terms of like officiating and, you know, umpiring, however you want to call it, right? Like they did a really good job. I felt like there was never really, you know, got a little bit close maybe in that St. John's Alabama game yesterday. But for the most part, they, they did a very good job, you know, keeping everybody in line. There was nothing egregious both ways. I just thought it was really good baseball. And you know, I think if, however many games it was, you know, well, 22 games or 24 games, something like that, like if, you know, our only critique is that, you know, they started one game and we ended up with weather. I think all in all, it was a very, very, very good weekend across the board.
• 10:58
  Speaker C: No, I agree. I was just posing a question.
• 11:00
  Speaker D: Yeah, no, I think they did a
• 11:02
  Speaker C: great job for, you know, for everything I saw. I was just as former coaches, like, because you're burning arms and you're like, you're getting everybody out. You know what I mean? Like, it's more, you know, I, I'm just thinking from a coaching perspective, like, why start that game if. And maybe the, the. You thought you had a window. I wasn't there. I don't have the window.
• 11:23
  Speaker B: Could have thought they had a window.
• 11:25
  Speaker C: That's the best line in college baseball.
• 11:27
  Speaker B: I think we got a window.
• 11:29
  Speaker C: I don't know what it's like in Lawrence, Lawrence, Kansas this time of year, but I imagine it's much like the.
• 11:34
  Speaker D: Something to do with the TV though too. Like, I mean, you know, you guys know how it works. Like when you're in these, like, you know, sometimes there's pressure from ESPN they don't want to, you know, mess around with tomorrow. Like, you know, who the heck knows, right?
• 11:47
  Speaker C: All right, I'm done. Go ahead, Andy.
• 11:51
  Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I think the Georgia Mississippi State game for me series was, was super interesting for a lot of reasons. And I think there's a couple takeaways around. Like kind of the current state of college baseball, they hit 21 combined home runs in that series over two games. You would think that they were facing below average arms and dudes were just teeing off because the offenses were really good. It was not the case. Like Mississippi State's running out dude after dude. George is running out power. The Aoki kid was fantastic in game two and he does it with a little bit of a different style. It's a 90 mile an hour fastball at the top of the zone with a super high level, top to bottom breaking ball that's got elite spin across any level of college, any level of baseball, like major league, above average spin rate type stuff. But I think it says a lot about where hitters are in today's game, where velocity just doesn't. Guys aren't scared of it and we've talked about in this pod a bunch of times, but it just really stuck out to me watching some of the swings. These guys were getting off against premium stuff. These hitters are so well coached. It was really fun to watch, obviously, because home runs are flying all over the place. But I'm just sitting there just incredibly impressed watching some of these guys go about their business. And the quality of the bats, not just the big swings, but fighting stuff off, working walks, extending innings. It Was there's kind of a lesson in how to take a really good, high quality college at bat, like where you're getting really good swings off and plus counts, but none of these guys give in. It wasn't super high strikeouts during the series or anything like that. I was pretty blown away just with the quality of bat that those kids were able to continue to put together. The other thing about that series I thought was really interesting is that Georgia has built their roster in large through the portal, but they haven't been doing it with a ton of super highly recruited kids out of high school. And I think this is the other side of the portal that a lot of people don't like to be positive about. But it showcases the quality of baseball across Division 1. Daniel Jackson, who for my money should win the Golden Spikes. He's got a chance to go 30, 30 as a catcher. Started his career Wofford, Ryan Wind pretty much their everyday second baseman. Started his career at Wofford. There's people who are listening to this podcast who don't even know where Wofford is. Michael O' Shaughnessy, hit two bolts in Game 1, started his career at Davidson. Catcher, the Arimone kid. I watched him play at Richmond last year. Luho, fantastic player, is from Dayton and credit to Wes Johnson and his staff for being able to identify guys that are playing at, quote unquote, a lesser level of Division 1 baseball who are able to step up and be bros in the sec. But for me it just speaks to how good college baseball is if those guys go unnoticed coming out of high school. Fast forward a year or two and you got probably the Golden Spikes winner and three or four other major contributors to a team that if they can get through the hellish bracket that they're in, they got as good a chance to win it this thing as anybody else. So I thought that was that series to me just captivated me for that. For those two reasons. The, the quality of the bats and the talent on the offensive side of the ball. And then the fact that George is doing it with a bunch of guys who weren't recruited to play in the SEC out of high school. I think it just says a lot about college baseball, I'll be honest.
• 16:08
  Speaker D: And I actually I, I was talking to somebody earlier today and I, I brought that exact thing up, that exact point up and I was, I know we talked about it last week with, about Troy and Little Rock and I, I just, it, I think it's so cool, man. Like, you know, St. John's same thing like you. You look at this. I mean, the other one too is West Virginia. Look at West Virginia. West Jr's got guys, Chuko guys, Division 2 players, they got an NAI like this. This Omaha shows the great side of the ability to transfer. The transfer portal, era, whatever you want to call it, right? Like, it shows all of the best of it. Guys that were told, no. Guys that were told, yo, you're not good enough. Like, you got to go somewhere else. Hey, you got to take a small scholarship, you got to get no scholarship, you got to go to junior college. You got to keep getting better. That's what this Omaha is, which is amazing. Like, it's awesome.
• 17:02
  Speaker B: It's all the way down to Evan Hay, who is an Alabama commit coming out of high school, starts a game for St. John's at Alabama. And I left out the Ishikawa kid, who's fantastic. What a. I mean, plays left field. Froze mid-90s. You know, he started his career off at the University of Seattle. So, yeah, people want to complain about the Portal all the time, but to your point, I think we're in a new era of college baseball and I think that we're seeing it kind of unfold, you know, and this isn't Power 4 guys transfer into Power 4 schools. This is guys going and excelling at a, at a lower level and getting an opportunity to play in the SEC or the acc. I mean, starting center fielder for unc, who hit the walk off, who's going to be a super high draft pick when his time comes, was playing right down the road from where I live at George Mason last year. So, yeah, you can complain about it, but it also is kind of what makes college baseball really cool right now. Do we want to tackle the unc, usc, USC thing, or do you just want to let that thing sleep? Because that was tough to watch, honestly, as a fan watching just kind of how, you know, USC kind of had control of it and just kind of got away from them and it happened really quick.
• 18:32
  Speaker D: The one thing I will say about that, and I don't think it's a negative, I just think, you know, I know I texted our group this yesterday and I, I feel, feel confident about. I know we've talked about it on this, this particular pod, you know, because it's been brought up, the, the experience this time of the year is a big deal, man. That's just the reality, like, you can't get away from it. I mean, you hear. I mean, I remember, I think last year we brought it up About Schloss, you know, brought it up, like, when do you travel to Omaha? Like, how do you, you know, manage your practice time and how do you handle the media? And it's just part of it. Right. And you know, those guys at usc, like, they. They haven't been there. They haven't been there in that spot. Right. Like North Carolina. Scott Forbes, this is, I believe, his eighth or ninth time going Omaha. Not obviously all his head coach, but as an assistant. That staff look totally prepared for that usc. It just felt like the game got a little fast in the biggest spot.
• 19:34
  Speaker B: Yeah, I think that's probably the best way to put it. And it. I think it kind of goes back to what we've been saying about this UNC team for a couple weeks now. You know, shoot, not even a couple weeks. Probably close to a couple months that they just don't seem to ever really panic. You know, they kind of get it stuffed on them in game one. Certain media outlets may have said that don't be surprised if USC wins game one and UNC ends up winning that series. But. And Keith, you brought it up. Ryan Lynch's performance, like, that'll. That'll go down as one of the greatest pitching performances in UNC history. And there's a long list of guys who have thrown at that school, but him doing what he did in game two was, I mean, brass balls, just 117 pitches. Just give me the ball and I'll get us to tomorrow and we'll be loaded. And then the. The final game, they just kept playing. Guys stayed within themselves. I think the young man who hit the walk off even kind of talked about it at the end of the game is just continue to play, stick with your process, all of that kind of stuff. And I think it, you know, it's not a knock on usc. I think it's more a testament to UNC has been there. And, you know, there's a. There's a bunch of guys on that team that have played in that environment a bunch of times already, and I think that's ultimately kind of what came through to your point, Jonathan, that, you know, they gave themselves a chance at the end and they were able to capitalize on it. And I don't think USC is going anywhere. I think they're back. You know, we'll see. You know, a lot can happen in the. In the Portal era. I saw some crazy stat about UNC is the only team to make it back to Omaha more than once in, like, the last three years. Last three years, they're the only one.
• 21:35
  Speaker C: 23. 23 different teams have made it to Omaha in the last three years. UNC is the only repeat. 24.
• 21:43
  Speaker B: Yeah. Which is, I think it speaks to the parody to a certain extent, but just, there's a lot of really good programs out there. But I think USC being one of the more historic programs in college baseball, maybe the most historic. When you look at national championships, I think that. I think they're back and I think they're going to be a pain in the ass, and I think you're going to see them in super regionals, and I think it'll be, you know, won't be long before they're in a college World Series. They, they, they seem to have turned the corner that I think a lot of people were waiting for them to turn for the better part of five or six years. And, you know, Coach Dan has done an awesome job putting a team together to get them to where they are. So, yeah, you got St. John's like, what a cool story, you know, not to over, you know, not to overshadow Little Rock, which obviously is, you know, equally as cool as a four seed, but little, you know, having known Coach Brown for a while, was pretty cool to watch those guys. And they didn't go down there and lay down for Alabama, but then you got Alabama. College World Series, first time since 1999. There's a lot of cool story lines here. So let's, let's go ahead and get into it. Bracket number one, we got West Virginia versus Troy. It's going to kick off the College World Series. Then we got North Carolina and Ole Miss. What do you got here, Jonathan? Talk me through how you think you. This one's going to play out.
• 23:17
  Speaker D: I love West Virginia here in the early slot. I, I think, I think, see, I think they'll handle business on Friday. I do. I think it'll be interesting to see who they match up with, you know, on that in that Sunday game. But I, I think Western niggas, the one thing about West Virginia that's going to play to there to their style in this park because they like to run, right? So Keith really brought it up earlier with, you know, with Schwab, plays like more like a graveyard. Gonna play a little different. This ain't Athens, folks. So for anybody that got into college baseball the last like two weeks or so, we are. This is a new animal that we're going to. This is not, this is not, you know, Georgia Tech. This is not Athens. Like, this is a, this is a Different beast here. So, you know, I don't think we're going to see many 18, 17 games, I'll put it that way. Okay. I think West Virginia plays a really good style for this building because they're going to run. They're like the freaking king of 390s. I think their, their style plays in this building really well. Ole Miss is, you know, I mean, I had Ole Miss. They've been tough. You know, Coach Bianco has been there. North Carolina, same thing. Coach Forbes has been there. Right. Coach Bianca won a national championship. They're going to be really tough. I mean, I think, you know, you look at North Carolina, too, there, they've done it. They've been there. They're really good at playing in close games, which I think we're going to see a lot of. They can really pitch. They got to get that bullpen figured out a little bit. McDuffie didn't look overly great this weekend, but if they can get that figured out, they're tough. It'll be interesting. It'll be very interesting. This, that night game on Friday is going to be awesome with North Carolina and Ole Miss because Ole Miss can really hit the baseball. But again, it's. This is going to be a little different, right? Like, you're going to have to put the ball in the gap. You have to, you have to do some different things here. So I think I'm not going to. I think I'm going to take West Virginia against North Carolina here to play each other out of the winners bracket.
• 25:32
  Speaker B: All right. All right, Coach Glass, what do you got here in bracket one?
• 25:38
  Speaker C: I think the, I think the Mountaineers are most likely to take care of business on Friday night. I, you know, you have two teams that are playing in Omaha for the first time. You know, I think that it's probably a little bit nothing against Troy. They had an electric atmosphere, but you know, Morgantown and playing in the Big 12, they've played in front of big crowds, they've played against tough teams. I just think that, you know, the nerves and everything that's going on, they're. They're probably a little better suited in that environment. I mean, that said, Troy's been outstanding the last month of the year, but I ultimately think that they are going to fall to the Mountaineers on Friday night. North Carolina in Ole Miss is an interesting one to me. I picked North Carolina, obviously, at the start of the year, so my, my heart is there. But I do think there's something to be said. We talked about this two weeks ago when I was on. The amount of quad one games that Ole Miss has had this year is damn near towards the top in the country. They've played really tough competition, obviously in the sec, but out of conference as well. They've played a really tough schedule and they've come out on top. They went into Nebraska, won that regional. They, excuse me, they win their super. You know, so I think that, I think Ole Miss is, is battle tested. They've played super tight games. I think Ole Miss is going to beat North Carolina on Friday night and I think we're gonna get West Virginia Ole Miss in the, in the winners bracket game with North Carolina playing Troy in the losers bracket.
• 27:26
  Speaker B: Okay. I mean, I'm on the West Virginia bandwagon here as far as, as far as game one. I just, I, I mean I had Mississippi State at the beginning of the year. There's something about this North Carolina team. I just love the way they play. And I think, to your point, Jonathan, I think this park plays well for them. If McDuffie can kind of get back to where he was. It looked like his stuff was down. Wasn't the 9394 that I think you kind of see out of him typically, which is pretty impactful for him with his slider. Like he kind of needs that fastball velocity to, to make a difference. I just like how they stack up and how the, the days in between games, I think is huge for a team that doesn't really want to go that deep into their, into their pitching staff. And I think it helps them tremendously. I think DeCaro and Lynch are both good enough to, to get you deep into games. Obviously lynch proved that this past weekend, but damn, this Ole Miss teams just kind of got something like they just haven't even wavered for the last couple weeks. I would have given a nod to North Carolina. I think North Carolina ends up getting out of this bracket is my guess. But I think West Virginia and Ole Miss are going to have something to say about that and I'd love to see Troy shake it up and it wouldn't surprise me if they found a way to win. One know, maybe Ole Miss comes out of game. The game against North Carolina. It's a tight game and it's a little bit deflated and Troy's kind of able to catch them on their heels. Maybe it gets a little bit saucy in that, in that losers bracket game, but I'm going to stick with North Carolina. I think North Carolina is going to make it out of this bracket and is. Is going to play somebody from the SEC when. When all said and done. So, Glass, you got Ole Miss getting out of this one?
• 29:31
  Speaker C: I do, yes.
• 29:32
  Speaker B: Okay, Grasshopper, you got.
• 29:34
  Speaker D: I have North Carolina on this side. Yeah. I just. I think the other. The other part of it too, I think that they're an advantage is that. And I said this, I think at the mid year or maybe a couple weeks ago at the. The end of the season when we. Before we did conference tournaments, when you, when you get to Omaha, you have the ability to line the pitching up and they're at a huge advantage because they only use basically five guys. But when you get to Omaha, you don't. You don't necessarily have to be that deep because of the rest days. So their ability to be able to run those guys continue back out again if McDuffie can figure it out. I just think North Carolina is gonna be really tough, but just be careful. West Virginia, they're gonna be all right.
• 30:19
  Speaker B: Bottom bracket, all sec, Alabama, Oklahoma, Georgia, Texas. This is a freaking gauntlet. I can't remember a bracket with teams that are playing as well as these four teams are right now. Like, Oklahoma is playing the best baseball that they've played all year. The last two weeks, they're doing things. I think they were second to last in the SEC in home runs. They're hitting the long ball. The offense is scorching. They're throwing two freshmen, which is just awesome. Glass, what do you got on this one? I need time to think. I'm kicking it over to you. Who?
• 31:12
  Speaker C: This is a tough bracket. Really is. These, these teams are. Are very good right now. I'm inclined to think, and this is why I kind of brought this up earlier, I'm inclined to think that whoever comes out of the Texas Georgia game is the front runner to get to the National Championship Series when it's all said and done. The two of them are very close in team era. They're very close in fielding percentage as well, which is what you need in order to succeed out there. I really, really, really like Georgia. I do. I really like them. I want to. I want to see them launch baseballs and turn this into Athens. We know that's not going to happen. This is a completely different animal we're dealing with out there in Omaha than. Than what we're used to seeing at some of the other, other places. But I think they're going to hit enough. You know, Alabama is playing really good. Oklahoma might be the hottest team in the country. I just Think Georgia is that good? You know, I watched, I was glued to the TV for that entire series and even, I mean they were up 83 at one point and I was like this game is probably close to being over. I come back inside after talking to you, Andy, and it was 87 and then they lose the lead and then come back and hit a two run bolt in the top of the ninth and then close it out in the bottom of the ninth. You know, and I like, you need wins like that to propel you in these types of settings, in these types of games and these types of tournaments. And I think that they're battle tested. I mean, shoot. The SEC has had 11, 11 college baseball participants in the last three years at Omaha. 11 different teams in Omaha. Georgia ran away with the SEC this year. You know, they've been there start to finish. I think they, I think they're going to finish it off. I'm going to take the Bulldogs and I think on the other side, I do think Oklahoma is going to beat Alabama. I think you're going to see Georgia, Oklahoma in the winners bracket. But ultimately I think that it's going to be a Bulldogs and Rebs national championship and we're going to have our seventh SEC national champion in a row.
• 33:43
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• 34:09
  Speaker B: who are the right fit.
• 34:11
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• 34:26
  Speaker B: okay, Jonathan.
• 34:31
  Speaker D: Yeah, I think you're right, Keith, about a lot there. Unfortunately I'm going to agree with you here a lot. I am also very inclined to believe that the winner of the Georgia Texas game will ultimately come out of this thing and maybe I'm wrong and Oklahoma's magic, you know, carpet ride will continue here because I mean, what the on is insane. I, I said this to you guys yesterday and I know I, I said this right via text. I said, you know, I think Mississippi State's going to win today, right? And, and, and obviously we're shooting Monday here and you know, Georgia won yesterday. I said I think Mississippi State's going to win but nothing that Georgia has done all year would make me believe that Georgia was going to lose that game because they haven't lost in any big spot. They won the SEC championship outright with over a week to go. They won the SEC tournament. They swept, they breezed through a regional. They didn't breeze through this super regional, but they wanted in two games. They didn't even, they didn't need the if necessary game. So if you wanted to pick against them on, on Saturday, my question to you would be is what would make you think that they will lose this game other than if you're just saying, hey, I'm just going to play the odds. And I think they, they can't possibly win all the big ones. But other than that, if you're, if you're saying to yourself, okay, well, what would make me pick against Georgia here? I don't know what. I don't have anything for you. So like I said at the midway point, and like Keith said at the midway point, I am going to take Georgia to advance on Saturday into Monday winter or Saturday. Yeah, win Saturday winter bracket game on Monday and they will advance to the championship series and play for a national title.
• 36:28
  Speaker B: I'm on the same path with the Georgia stuff. Like, I keep waiting for Bulls goal to just not be good enough in any particular time. Like, he has moments where the stuff is so good and then he leaves something to be desired. But when he's not super sharp, somebody picks him up. Either somebody out of the bullpen ends up throwing real well or the offense is really electric. The Aoki kid just, I mean, he's a pitcher's pitcher. It's high level command. It's really knowing what you do well with your stuff. Big time breaking ball. The offense is obviously electric. I freaking love this Texas team though. And I got to imagine they're going to throw Volantis, which is a tough matchup for anybody. I shouldn't bet against them. You know, like, it's one of those things I just like, all right, well, maybe Volantis is good enough to just stuff it on him for seven and like you just know, you just move on. But even if they lose that game, like, that offense is so dynamic and yeah, it's a different kind of ballpark, but I don't know if for those of you who weren't watching, there wasn't a lot of balls that were scraping walls that they were hitting.
• 37:50
  Speaker C: No, I mean their eight hole guy is hitting.295 with 18 bolts and he,
• 37:56
  Speaker B: he karate chopped 96. Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna, I'M gonna come back to them. Okay. What. What I'm hoping for out of this bracket, for a pure viewership perspective, is I want to see the best version of Justin lebron.
• 38:16
  Speaker D: Okay?
• 38:17
  Speaker B: I want that dude to. To put it all together for everybody to see what that kid's capable of. It's been up and down for him this year. It hasn't been the year that I think he wanted, which I also think is one of the more impressive things about Alabama and Jonathan, you brought this up, is that he's arguably the best player in the country. Right. When you're talking about pure physical talent, I mean, he's a 40 stolen base guy. I think he's got 20 home runs. He hasn't played defense at the level that he's capable of. But if he wants to go in superstar mode, like, Alabama is going to have something to say about this for sure. I'm hoping as a fan, that we see the best version of that kid, because when he's right, he's as fun to watch as anybody in college baseball. So I hope we see the best version of him. Back to Texas, Georgia. I don't think I can go away from it. Like, I think Georgia just at this point, yeah, they're gonna. They're gonna play North Carolina in my bracket. They're gonna play them in the final. We'll see if the ACC can. Can win their second title since 1950. I think, for those of you who don't know, Virginia is the only team to win a national championship out of the ACC since, like, 1950. I think it's 50, 53, I think.
• 39:39
  Speaker D: Isn't it?
• 39:40
  Speaker B: Wake Forest had won one. And to be honest with you, if it's Georgia, North Carolina, like, go Dogs. I think it's. I think it's Georgia. As much as I love that North Carolina team, this Georgia team, they just. They just seem to win however you need to win. You need us to score 12 or score 12. You need Aoki to stuff it on somebody for six. He stuffs it on him for six. Give me the dogs. Let's see some fireworks. Let's see a bunch of home runs. Could be fun.
• 40:16
  Speaker E: Yeah, it's going to be electric.
• 40:18
  Speaker C: This is the moment where I wish I had that Pat McAfee when he does the Georgia chant. I think. Yeah, from game day. Game day. I mean, I think Ole Miss has been very, very good this year. I mean, you go into Nebraska and win that regional. You into Auburn and win that regional.
• 40:42
  Speaker B: Super.
• 40:43
  Speaker C: Excuse me. Like, I just. They've Been very, very good. I think, I do think the championship series goes three, but I think ultimately Georgia is going to end up winning the whole thing.
• 40:56
  Speaker B: Here's another thing to watch. Three of the best catchers in college baseball are playing this week. The janicky kid from Troy, he's going to play on Team usa. He's as talented as anybody in the country. He is a fantastic player. Troy's got a lot of really good players, obviously, but that kid's a stud. Gavin Kelly is going to be a first rounder for West Virginia next year. I believe he's a sophomore. And then Daniel Jackson, I mean he's, he's, he could go 30, 30 as a catcher. Three just absolute bros behind the plate. And I think that's kind of rare in college baseball. Similar to having like really high end shortstops, really high end catchers. And really high end shortstops typically don't make it to college because they end up getting drafted out of high school. Well, you're looking at three in all likelihood big leaguers catching this weekend in Kelly, janicki and, and Mr. Jackson, which is, is rare. It's rare in college baseball to have that kind of talent behind the dish. And they're going to be fun to watch and they're going to have a lot to say.
• 42:02
  Speaker D: You know what though? And yeah, I think, I think it goes back to what we talked about last week though, right? Like, the defense is, is so important and it's being played at such a high level, you know, in these games and late in the year that like, on one hand you're like, yeah, I'm surprised. But on the other hand, like, are we though, really, like with, with how good some of the defense has been, you know, like why, like really, why should we be surprised that, you know, that we have three high, high, high level catchers still, still playing at this point in the season. Right. Like, it just goes to show you like the depth of how good this game is right now.
• 42:41
  Speaker B: Very true. Anything we need to keep an eye out for, for the listeners. Anything in particular to watch here.
• 42:52
  Speaker D: I think the biggest thing for me is, you know, with these offenses, with some of the offenses coming in, like, especially with Georgia. Right. Like, and really the way Oklahoma swung it to like, you know, and even Alabama. Really, does this park play a factor at all? Like there's going to be some balls that are going to be caught. Like you're gonna, especially when George is playing. You're those guys pretty deep. Like, you know, if you get, you know, and I Know, you know, I can't remember if it was you or Keith who said it. Like, there's not a lot of scrapers, like fence scrapers, but when that. When that wind is blowing in, that building plays very, very, very, very big, and it's very difficult to get it out of there. So I think it'll be interesting to see what the wind pattern looks like. I think it'll be interesting to see what the weather is, because we've seen weather play a factor, too, with some rain and some overcast skies have played kind of tricks on people a little bit. So I think that will play, you know, just something to kind of keep an eye on. But, man, like, if you just started watching, you know, college baseball or, you know, if you're kind of a nerd, like, you know, I know at least I am. I think I probably speak for all three of us. But if you're a nerd and you're really into it, like, this, this. The next two weeks is going to be so awesome. Like, it's. It's going to be so awesome. And the depth of college baseball, how good it is, you know, Keith said, At 23, you know, teams have made it to OMaha the last three years, like fires. Yeah, man, this is. This is going to be an awesome tournament. There's going to be good game after good game. Just lock in. If you got hooked in, you know, in regional weekend to see, you know, when. When you got a chance to see some of these good games, like, more are coming. Just keep watching. More coming.
• 44:45
  Speaker B: Yeah, there's a lot of cool storylines. I mean, you got West Virginia and Troy, first timers, you know, Alabama back for the first time in 25 years. What? Or 27 years. Excuse me. Oklahoma, looking for their first title. North Carolina, probably the most storied program in college baseball that hasn't won a national championship, looking to get one. Ole Miss Coach Bianco looking to get his second. And Coach Schlossnagel. This is a third team he's taken to the College World Series. Like, is he. And this is as good of a team as he's ever. As he's ever brought to Omaha. Like, does he knock down a national championship? And then you got West Johnson, who's won a national championship as an assistant. Guy's coached in the big leagues. He's done pretty much all you can do except win a national championship as head coach, and he might have the best team in the tournament. So, yeah, I mean, there's. There's some really cool storylines here. And I'm sure there's going to be some, some heartbreaking moments and some great baseball and I think that's kind of what makes Omaha fun. Right?
• 45:53
  Speaker C: Yeah, I think it's, I think Coach Last Eggo bringing a third different program. What did you say before we started this is. He's only the third guy.
• 46:01
  Speaker B: The third guy ever.
• 46:02
  Speaker C: Yeah. To bring a three different programs to Omaha, it's
• 46:08
  Speaker E: legendary stuff.
• 46:09
  Speaker C: Like to go at TCU, A&M and then now Texas is, is a huge accomplishment. There's obviously not many people who have done that. So, you know, I, there's a lot to watch. I think Georgia, Texas is going to be really good. Honestly, I, I'm not going to be shocked if all four of these games are one to two run games. Like, I don't think you're going to see a lot of, there's not going to be a lot of like seven, two ball games. I think with, with the, the offenses, the defenses and the pitching that there is like we're going to see a lot more 5, 4, 7, 6, 9, 8 type baseball games where you know, it's going to get, it's going to get very interesting in the back half of games and you know, it's going to be awesome to watch. I'm going to be sitting on my couch watching ESPN for the next two weeks hoping that awesome stuff happens every time I'm watching college baseball.
• 47:15
  Speaker B: And don't use the World cup as an excuse to not watch.
• 47:18
  Speaker C: Correct.
• 47:20
  Speaker B: I love the Twitter banter going on right now where people are saying if you're, if you're just starting to be a college baseball fan, don't act like you know what you're talking about. You know, people hopping on the bandwagon because it's gotten pretty electric here. And you know, Jonathan, you always keep talking, keep, you always bring this up, that college baseball continues on its upward trajectory. And I think, I think this is another year where Omaha, it might go to a different level. You got some different fan bases that are engaged. West Virginia might bring break the jello shot record set by lsu. Something to keep, something to keep an eye on. I'm sure that like the Ole Miss fans,
• 48:03
  Speaker D: the Ole Miss fans are claiming that they, they don't have any competition. That's what I, that's what I'm just, I'm just reporting the news here. That's what I'm seeing is that Ole Miss is saying West Virginia's got nothing. I think the entire state of West Virginia is going to Omaha, though. So make sure you just shut the lights off. You're the last one out of there.
• 48:20
  Speaker B: There were people wearing coonskin caps. It had taxidermy deer strapped to their chest at the West Virginia game. I'm not betting against that fan base.
• 48:34
  Speaker D: A guy had a deer on his chest.
• 48:36
  Speaker B: Yes.
• 48:38
  Speaker C: Yeah, they did indeed.
• 48:41
  Speaker B: It's going to be electric. Some of these fan bases, I'm sure, are going to show up in droves. Shoot. Let's get. Let's get frisky. I hope it's. I hope there's some upsets. I hope there's some late game comebacks, some walk offs, like, bring it on. I will enjoy every second of this, as I'm sure you guys will, too. Anything else you two gentlemen would like to add?
• 49:07
  Speaker C: No?
• 49:08
  Speaker B: All right.
• 49:10
  Speaker D: Thank you both for having me on. I know this was a. This was our prior biggest season yet, so I, I appreciate the ability to come on here and get to chop it up with you guys. So thank you for that.
• 49:22
  Speaker B: I think we're. Yeah, of course. You're. You're always welcome. And I'm. We might just have to have a recap, a recap episode because two weeks from now, I'm sure there's going to be plenty to talk about, so. Might have to open up your schedule on a Monday evening.
• 49:39
  Speaker D: I could do that.
• 49:40
  Speaker B: All right, well, thank you for listening, everybody. Tune in to the College World Series. It's going to be awesome. Thanks, everybody. Thank you for listening this week.
• 49:49
  Speaker F: If you're watching on YouTube, go ahead and hit that subscribe button and smash
• 49:53
  Speaker B: that like button for us. Check us out on Apple Podcasts, Google podcasts, as well as Spotify.
• 50:00
  Speaker F: You can follow us on Twitter and Instagram MD Baseball. If you want to find out what
• 50:05
  Speaker B: me and Keith do to help families and players navigate the recruiting process, go ahead and check us out on emdbaseball.com
• 50:13
  Speaker F: take a few minutes to check out
• 50:14
  Speaker B: our new online academy. I promise you'll get some good information out of that. Thanks again for listening. Check in with you next week.